What are those tiny white little worms on my bin?
What are those tiny white worms that sometime can outbreak in our worm bin?
Let's talk about Pot Worms
Do you have a lot of tiny white worms in your worm bin? Chances are they’re not baby Red Wiggler worms, but a species of worms known as Potworms.
The common name Potworms comes from the fact they’re often found in, you guessed it, pot plants! Their scientific name is enchytraeids (in case you’re wondering).
Potworms are a common sight in worm farms. They tend to only show up when things are very wet and acidic, and will flock to fermenting food. So if the conditions in the bin are sour or anaerobic, you could have a serious outbreak of Potworms on your hands. Are Tiny White Worms Bad for the Worm Farm?
Potworms do no harm in the worm bin. In fact, these tiny white worms are actually quite beneficial to help break down the compost. However if their populations get too high, they will compete for food with Red Wiggler worms.
How to Prevent an Outbreak of Potworms?
An explosion of Potworms inhabiting the bin is avoidable through worm farm maintenance. This helps to ensure you have the right conditions for Red Wiggler worms.
This includes: 1-Not overfeeding the worms 2-Not adding too many starchy materials (e..g. bread, pasta, rice, oats etc…) all at once 3- Ensuring the worm bin is not too wet or too acidic How to Reduce the Population of Potworms?
The easiest way to reduce Potworm populations is with bread and milk. They will flock to a piece of soaked bread and can be lifted out and destroyed in large batches.
To fix the problem, the worm bin conditions need to become less acidic and a little bit dryer. The tiny white worm population should slowly disappear with the following tweaks: Add more carbon (e.g. cardboard, paper etc…) to soak up some of the moisture.
Cut back on the nitrogen (e.g. fruit & vegetable scraps), Remove any excess food that is fermenting in the bin, Aerate the soil and avoid adding water for a while so that the bin dries out a little, Add crushed eggshells or agriculture lime to neutralize the pH levels (acidity).
Reduce the potworm population is a easy fix and is better if you take care of the problem