In high summer we have accepted having a few share
our kitchen along with the enormous spread of ripe and ripening
tomatoes atop the kitchen counter. When we're making fresh "V-7"
juice on demand throughout the day, they tend to congregate over the
juicer's discharge pail that holds a mixture of vegetable pulps. If
your worm bin contains these types of materials, fruit flies may
find it attractive.
Appelhof suggests sucking them up with a vacuum cleaner hose if
their numbers become annoying. Fruit flies are a good reason for
those of Teutonic tidiness to vermicompost in the basement or
outside the house if possible.
Maintenance
After a new bin has been running for a few weeks, you'll see the
bedding becoming darker and will spot individual worm casts. Even
though food is steadily added, the bedding will gradually vanish.
Extensive decomposition of the bedding by other small soil animals
and microorganisms begins to be significant.
As worm casts become a larger proportion of the bin, conditions
deteriorate for the worms. Eventually the worms suffer and their
number and activity begins to drop off. Differences in bedding,
temperature, moisture, and the composition of your kitchen's garbage
will control how long it takes but eventually you must separate the
worms from their castings and put them into fresh bedding. If you're
using vermicomposting year-round, it probably will be necessary to
regenerate the box about once every four months.
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