Hi all,

Sorry, figured the existing worm threads are really far back by now :)

We’ve got another week of awful weather coming up, and I’m trying to organise the troops at work to put in some extra effort to look after the worms – don’t want to lose a whole farm again.

Below is the email I just sent out at work – please let me know if you have any tips of advice I haven’t thought of yet?? :)

“Here are my ideas:

1. Shade – can we rig up any additional shade over the farms, especially the one on the left? I have finally remembered to bring in my bright pink beach shade thing, so I’ll have a look tomorrow and see if it will help in any way. Any other ideas for shade?

2. On hot afternoons, I think it will help if we go out and take the lids off, to let the hot air out. But I think taking them off entirely will just let the sun beat down on them too much. I’ll also bring in some old rags which we could soak in water and drape over the top – alternatively we can just tilt the lids a bit? Not sure which works better.

3. Newspaper – Particularly for the long weekend, would adding some wet shredded newspaper on top help insulate them a bit? I’m thinking it might also help add moisture without making them too wet.

4. If we do add cold water during the day to cool them off, it’s important to check frequently and drain the drainage layers, so there’s not steaming hot water stewing in the bottom.

5. Ice packs. Could get some of the empty juice bottles, fill with water, freeze, and stick on top of the carpet layers??

It would also help I guess if whenever you go past the kitchen over the week, you pop out and check on the farms – make sure the moats aren’t empty, drain the drainage layers, and open them up to see if they seem to be struggling…”

Can’t help you bon. We don’t have a worm farm…planning to get one someday, just not sure if we’ll be able to generate enough food for them though

bon008 said:

Hi all,

Sorry, figured the existing worm threads are really far back by now :)

We’ve got another week of awful weather coming up, and I’m trying to organise the troops at work to put in some extra effort to look after the worms – don’t want to lose a whole farm again.

Below is the email I just sent out at work – please let me know if you have any tips of advice I haven’t thought of yet?? :)

“Here are my ideas:

1. Shade – can we rig up any additional shade over the farms, especially the one on the left? I have finally remembered to bring in my bright pink beach shade thing, so I’ll have a look tomorrow and see if it will help in any way. Any other ideas for shade?

2. On hot afternoons, I think it will help if we go out and take the lids off, to let the hot air out. But I think taking them off entirely will just let the sun beat down on them too much. I’ll also bring in some old rags which we could soak in water and drape over the top – alternatively we can just tilt the lids a bit? Not sure which works better.

3. Newspaper – Particularly for the long weekend, would adding some wet shredded newspaper on top help insulate them a bit? I’m thinking it might also help add moisture without making them too wet.

4. If we do add cold water during the day to cool them off, it’s important to check frequently and drain the drainage layers, so there’s not steaming hot water stewing in the bottom.

5. Ice packs. Could get some of the empty juice bottles, fill with water, freeze, and stick on top of the carpet layers??

It would also help I guess if whenever you go past the kitchen over the week, you pop out and check on the farms – make sure the moats aren’t empty, drain the drainage layers, and open them up to see if they seem to be struggling…”

shade is a good thing to do. Worms will disappear from an unshaded soil. If you do shade them with shade boxes or roofing.. leave room for air to circulate and assist in cooling.

They won’t enjoy you taking the lidsoff unless you replace the lid with wet jute or hessian., wet newspaper. Probably wouldn’t hurt to set up a fine mister on a timer.

Think you are probably wasting your time with ice packs.

roughbarked said:

shade is a good thing to do. Worms will disappear from an unshaded soil. If you do shade them with shade boxes or roofing.. leave room for air to circulate and assist in cooling.

They won’t enjoy you taking the lidsoff unless you replace the lid with wet jute or hessian., wet newspaper. Probably wouldn’t hurt to set up a fine mister on a timer.

Think you are probably wasting your time with ice packs.

Thanks RB. Unfortunately I don’t have any hessian these days, but I do have an old towel I can wet and put over them.. maybe that and newspaper would do.

no old potato sacks or wheat bags left? Yes towelling will probably do but make sure it is well rinsed of washing powders or bathroom scents.

roughbarked said:

no old potato sacks or wheat bags left? Yes towelling will probably do but make sure it is well rinsed of washing powders or bathroom scents.

Nah, round here wheat comes in a.. actually I don’t know what it’s made of! A white bag, which seems to be some kind of woven plastic material? Which breaks down in the sun.

Yep, no worries – we don’t use washing powder or anything scenty.

Whew. Well, we’ve just been outside moving the worm farms to a cooler spot, on the south side of the office. It’s a little bit further from the kitchen, but the difference standing in the spot where they used to be, and then standing in the new spot, is amazing. It’s so cool and shady!

We’re not sure if they’ll be allowed to stay there indefinitely, as they may be in the way of the gardeners and they’re outside the windows of a different company :D But hopefully they’ll be fine there for this hot week. We also have a beach shade, and old towels (for wetting) on standby, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary in the new spot. There is also a hose nearby so if it gets really awfully hot, we thought we’d be able to rig up the beach shade, put a wet towel on top, then slip the hose between the two and leave it dripping.

We harvested one farm while we were at it – planned to do the other as well, but the castings layers are in a bad state – it’s the farm where we lost all the worms previously, so each layer has uneaten, pickled looking scraps at the bottom, and castings on top. Hopefully that will sort itself out. We will also add wet shredded newspaper to both farms towards the end of the week.

Worm farming at work can be a bit tricky due to the “committee” nature of all the decision making, but it’s really fun in spite of that :)

bon008 said:

Whew. Well, we’ve just been outside moving the worm farms to a cooler spot, on the south side of the office. It’s a little bit further from the kitchen, but the difference standing in the spot where they used to be, and then standing in the new spot, is amazing. It’s so cool and shady!

We’re not sure if they’ll be allowed to stay there indefinitely, as they may be in the way of the gardeners and they’re outside the windows of a different company :D But hopefully they’ll be fine there for this hot week. We also have a beach shade, and old towels (for wetting) on standby, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary in the new spot. There is also a hose nearby so if it gets really awfully hot, we thought we’d be able to rig up the beach shade, put a wet towel on top, then slip the hose between the two and leave it dripping.

We harvested one farm while we were at it – planned to do the other as well, but the castings layers are in a bad state – it’s the farm where we lost all the worms previously, so each layer has uneaten, pickled looking scraps at the bottom, and castings on top. Hopefully that will sort itself out. We will also add wet shredded newspaper to both farms towards the end of the week.

Worm farming at work can be a bit tricky due to the “committee” nature of all the decision making, but it’s really fun in spite of that :)

sounds like you have done all you can. well done :)