Hello again,
This week I reinstated my worm farm. But I now have lots of black flying insects that are above and below the covering. They are getting in through the air vents so they are very tiny. Is there anything I can do?
my understanding is these are called vinegar flies and they are quite harmless to your worm farm. However if you find them a nuisance I think adding a bit of lime helps (but I could be wrong here).
pepperspray said:
Hello again,This week I reinstated my worm farm. But I now have lots of black flying insects that are above and below the covering. They are getting in through the air vents so they are very tiny. Is there anything I can do?
could you fashion a sheet of flyscreen/shadecloth over the top of the wormfarm and then secure the lid???
bluegreen said:
my understanding is these are called vinegar flies and they are quite harmless to your worm farm. However if you find them a nuisance I think adding a bit of lime helps (but I could be wrong here).
That’s what I would have said, BG. In fact I did it today because I had all sorts of uninvited guests in one farm :(
That’s a great idea re shadecloth, I have lots in the shed – do it tomorrow. Thank you.
BG is right. If there are vinegar flies, you need to adjust the Ph. It means your worm farm is too acidic. Adding a bit of dolomite will correct this. It’s better for the worms too. If you just use shade cloth, it won’t treat the problem, just the symptom.
Just dust some dolomite over the surface and water in lightly.
Longy said:
BG is right. If there are vinegar flies, you need to adjust the Ph. It means your worm farm is too acidic. Adding a bit of dolomite will correct this. It’s better for the worms too. If you just use shade cloth, it won’t treat the problem, just the symptom.
Just dust some dolomite over the surface and water in lightly.
Having never owned a wormfarm myself, I’m glad youse guys are here :)
Hi Longy, I remember you as Longfellow. I will do the dolomite first then. Doesn’t it hurt the worms? I can’t understand how it is too acid – all I did was put cardboard from the worm box in the bottom and then the worms, in their own soil stuff. Then fed them. Boy, are they growing already, they are big and fat now in only a few days, maybe a week.
pepperspray said:
Hi Longy, I remember you as Longfellow. I will do the dolomite first then. Doesn’t it hurt the worms? I can’t understand how it is too acid – all I did was put cardboard from the worm box in the bottom and then the worms, in their own soil stuff. Then fed them. Boy, are they growing already, they are big and fat now in only a few days, maybe a week.
Nah it won’t hurt the worms. It may be acidic because there is no airflow, or what you fed them may have been a bit too wet, so it becomes anaerobic. The vinegar fies are just an indication.Do you have names for your worms?
I put the dolomite on them this afternoon and the flies didn’t like it. I will check them tomorrow. Names??? Fatso and all combinations of same!!!
pepperspray said:
I put the dolomite on them this afternoon and the flies didn’t like it. I will check them tomorrow. Names??? Fatso and all combinations of same!!!
Cool. It worked then.
Good names.
Goodnight Pepper.
vinegar flies are also a slight nuisance in some inside pots, where bark is primary potting mix.
you can either go with lime…go easy a bit at a time as it can burn all life forms if too much and of the hydrated/builders lime variety. garden lime is probably more suitable. OR use dolomite, which will gently bring the ph up without going too alkaline if too much applied, as it only brings ph up from acidic to neutral and no further.
also check your moisture levels…as too much moisture (h2o) tends to make soil acidic over time…as hydrogen (negative ions) from h2o is an acid…whereas the oxygen escapes, during the h2o interactions in the soil. sorry about the high tech talk…just trying to say that waterlogged materials/soil goes acidic.
i can’t find the worm farm & ants thread…how lazy is that….anyway, ants were crawling into my worm farm so i sprayed the outside of the worm farm with pyrethrum. pyrethrum does have residual action on hard surfaces. so it works also a bit like a “surface spray” — without those nasty chemicals.
back to the acidity problem that causes vinegar flies….as an alternative or in addition to dolomite lime, crushed eggshells provide a stable source of calcium and lime.