SYMPTOM

PROBLEM

SOLUTION

odor

exposed food

cover food scraps with bedding

too much moisture

add dry bedding; reduce the amount of food placed in the bin; avoid adding food with high percentage of water (such as melons)

not enough oxygen

add dry bedding; mix bin contents daily

food in bin is naturally odorous

avoid foods that smell unpleasant when they decompose; don't feed meat, bones, dairy, and oil products to the bin, since these become rancid when decomposing

worm death

(dead worms decompose rather quickly; if you don't monitor these conditions, you can have a bin with no worms before you realize it)

bin is too wet; worms are drowning

add dry bedding; avoid adding foods with high water content

bin is too dry; worms are drying out

lightly moisten bedding; add moist foods

not enough air; worms are suffocating

mix bin contents to aerate; be sure bin is adequately ventilated with holes

not enough food

add food

bin is too hot or too cold

keep bin in a location where it will be between 50°F and 80°F

an overabundance of mites

remove any food that has a congregation of mites

fruit flies

(if fruit flies become a problem, you can try using flypaper traps or make your own fruit fly trap; house flies should not be attracted to your worm bin if you cover the food scraps with bedding material)

exposed food

bury food under bedding material; cover the contents with a dry sheet of newspaper

too much moisture

avoid overfeeding; add dry bedding

fruit fly eggs in food scraps

wash all fruits and peels—even those you remove, such as bananas and citrus—to remove any fruit fly eggs

TRAPPING fruit flies

Here are two kinds of fruit fly traps you can make yourself:

1. Funnel fly trap (left). Pour some apple cider or beer into a glass jar and add a drop of detergent. Cut the corner off a plastic sandwich bag and place it into the jar; secure the plastic-bag "funnel" with a rubber band around the rim of the jar.

2. Bottle fly trap (right). Cut a small plastic water or soda bottle in half. Fill the bottom half with some apple cider or beer and a drop of detergent. Turn the top half upside down and place it into the bottom half so that the neck forms a funnel. Secure the two halves with tape.