This Summer has been brutal, and can be very stressful to your worm bins and beds. Redworms perform best in temperature ranging from 40 F – 80 F., and keeping them moist is essential to their survival in these less than ideal conditions. Don’t drown your worms, but error on the side of wet in this blistering heat.
I posted earlier, how to keep worm bins cool by adding frozen water bottles. This works great, but w/ temps hitting 100 in the shade this week, I began having to use more and more ice bottles. I was running out of freezer spa, and was able to convince my wife to let me bring my smaller bins indoors.
My larger worm bins kept in full shade, have faired well. Size of the bin is a big factor. Larger bins or containers will naturally have more volume to allow for greater insulation and protection from extreme temperatures. Smaller bins will “feel the heat” and not have as much buffer or room for protection. I keep old rugs on top of the bedding that are sprayed down daily to keep moist and cool. Add a few more inches of mulch to in ground worm beds and keep as moist as possible in these tough conditions. The mulch added to worm beds or flower beds will add organic matter, protection, and an additional moisture barrier.
I am just about to get started on this worm adventure and wondered if you thought sinking/burying a container farm (double-tub or triple-tub) into the ground to beat the heat, and possibly beat the cold in the winter, would work? thanks, chris
Yes, In ground is a great way to insulate from extreme temps.