Red Mites killing a red worm
Red mites on watermelon rind.
I’ve encountered these red devils before but not at this level. Unlike most visitors in your worm bin, these guys are parasites to worms. (see top picture). Red mites flourish and can become a problem in a bin that is too moist, has too much food, or too acidic. Don’t panic if you have a few mites, but a bin that is has been neglected and unkept in these conditions can pose a problem. My outbreak was caused by overfeeding before we headed out for our July 4th vacation, and was left to fester for more than a week. Getting rid of a red mite infestation can be a challenge.
I’ve tried several methods and have shown below a little experiment I began today. I scraped the top of some red mite infected bins and partially filled some small shoebox containers. From Left to Right in pic below 1. control 2. diatomaceous earth 3. watermelon rind 4. agricultural lime.
1. The control bin will be left open and scraped from time to time to see how long it takes to get rid of the red mites.
2. Diatomaceous Earth has been applied to top of #2. DE needs to be kept dry in order for it to stick to bugs and make tiny cuts that will dry them out and kill them off.
3. Watermelon rind placed on top to attract red mites and discard. I will replace with a new one and repeat and see how this does.
4. Ag Lime dusted on top. Ag lime is alkaline and will hopefully bring the acidic bedding closer to neutral. The high alkalinity concentrated on the top should burn up the red mites and not harm the worms.
4 methods for getting rid of red mites
These methods have been used before and should all work. I just kind of wanted to see them head to head. We’ll see how this turns out. The good news is most of the red mites have been dismissed without harming too many of my bins and worms. Additionally, I learned a valuable lesson about overfeeding, and next time I’ll use more composted manure and less of my worm chow mix. My mistakes were 1. overfeeding 2. too wet 3. too much peat moss and too little composted manure (which made my bedding a little acidic) 4. My infected bins were unattended for a week. Had I caught them sooner it wouldn’t have been much of an issue.
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This is what I like to see. Pictured above are some chunks of clay with some of my Texas Jumpers working through them with no problem. The ability of these native Texan worms to work in clay is what makes them suitable for adding directly to your garden or raised bed. They are a hearty worm that grows to 6 inches or more in a few months time. The strength that they have at a few weeks old and small size is what separates them from European Nightcrawlers or Red Worms (eisenia foteda). This strength makes them great aerators and tunnelers for your soil. They can dive and tunnel several feet and can survive through our extreme temps. Pick a spot that has good shade for these worms, keep it composted, covered (old carpet or something similar), and watered for best results. Once your population is established in several weeks, you’ll be ready to start moving them around a couple of handfuls at a time. With a little patience and persistence, you’ll have worms all over.
Texas Jumpers 