Why do worms in a worm farm try to escape?
- Aunt Plantsy
- Aug 18
- 2 min read
If you just received your worms, they will try and wander until they settle down and get familiar with their new home.
If they are trying to escape after they’ve been there awhile, it could be several things.
1) Are you adding potting soil, newspaper or anything that has harmful chemicals in it?
2) Is the soil material too wet and they are trying to escape so they don’t drown?
3) Is there too much food in the tray and it is causing excess heat and/or too much nitrogen? Avoid nitrogen-rich foods, which includes grass clippings. Also avoid too many acidic foods (tomatoes, onions, pineapples, excessive coffee grounds, tea bags or citrus). Try adding some crushed egg shells or wood ashes to help balance the pH.
4) Have you been aerating the soil each time you feed?
5) If they are gathering underneath the lid, is there a rain storm approaching? They are sensitive to the weather and this is their way to move up so they don’t get flooded out. You can add dry bedding to the top of your tray (being careful not to smother the worms).
6) Are they getting enough food? Sometimes they will leave to look for food so they don’t starve.
7) When the worms reproduce, hundreds or even thousands of baby worms hatch. The adults might feel crowded and try to leave. You can just ignore the problem and the population will balance itself.
8) When is the last time you harvested the castings? Sometimes if the bin becomes all castings, it can be toxic for the worms. It is necessary to harvest the castings every 3-6 months depending on the size of the bin and the number of worms you have.
The next and last topic covered later is “When do you harvest the worm castings and how is that done?”
For previous topics, please visit these blogs: To view the first blog topic "Raising a worm farm and harvesting worm castings" - click here: https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/raising-a-worm-farm-and-harvesting-worm-castings To view the second blog topic “What kind of worm farm should you start with?” – click here: https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/what-kind-of-worm-farm-should-you-start-with To view the third blog topic "How to begin the first tray of your worm farm" - click here:
https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/how-to-begin-the-first-tray-of-your-worm-farm To view the fourth blog topic "How many worms should you get and what kind?" - click here: https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/how-many-worms-should-you-get-in-a-worm-farm-and-what-kind
To view the fifth blog topic "How much should you feed, what should you feed, and how often should you feed the worms?" - click here: https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/how-much-should-you-feed-what-should-you-feed-the-worm-farm-and-how-often-do-you-feed-the-worms To view the sixth blog topic “How much water should you give them and what do you do with the excess run-off?” – click here: https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/how-much-water-should-you-give-your-worm-farm-and-what-do-you-do-with-the-excess-run-off
To view the seventh blog topic "What temperatures can the worms tolerate and when should you add the next tray?" - click here: https://www.peasbeewithewe.net/post/what-temperatures-can-the-worms-in-a-worm-farm-tolerate-and-when-should-you-add-the-next-tray
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