Gross.
I have an explosion of maggots in my worm bin and most of my worms have disappeared. Did the maggots eat my worms? How do I get rid of them?
Maggots don't eat worms, so no, that's not why they've disappeared. Maggots may compete for food, but generally they can coexist with worms without incident. However, maggots thrive in wet, soggy environments, so chances are that your bin is too wet. Sometimes when a bin gets overly saturated the compost compacts. This compaction causes two problems: it doesn't allow air in and also produces noxious gases, both of which will kill your worms.
Maggots should be seen as a warning sign that something may be amiss in your bin maintenance.
If you notice lots of maggots in your bin, the first thing to do is to mix in plenty of dry, absorbent bedding (peat moss if possible). Chances are as you mix it down you will start to find anaerobic (no air flow) pockets. The drier the bedding, the fewer maggots will hang around. Keep the lid off the system for a week or two if you have a lid. But, of course, you want your bedding to stay moist enough for the worms.
You will have to spend a couple of weeks working on the problem of the maggots. Start using a thick layer (3-4") of dry bedding on the top, preferably coconut coir or peat moss. Canadian peat moss is great because it is thick enough that flies can't get through to lay more eggs (thus producing maggots), but still allows air flow; in addition, canadian peat moss is farmed, unlike European peat moss which is harvested from natural growth.
If you have tiny little white critters, they may not be maggots. Springtails are actually helper worms, and look like the image below. If you have these there is no need to freak out.
If you're just too grossed out by the whole thing, you can always chuck it and start again with new worms. But be careful... if you don't pay attention then the same thing will only happen again. As I've learned over and over again, it really is true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Good worming!
Hi there,
Just found you so a little late with this comment.
I think maggots do actually eat worms if they have to, that is other food stuffs have run out.
Years back I used to add old fish waste to large open worm bins that were covered in old carpets for protection.
All the fish waste was fine as long as it was buried 4" into the worm compost already there. The worms thrived on it (all that protein).
But I got it wrong with one bin and did not bury the fish deep enough. Sure thing flies got to it and maggots took over.
There was no way the large culture of worms could escape, but the majority just disappeared. Maggots could be found throughout the compost. So I could only surmise that they did eat the worms when there was no other protein left.
The compost by the way I spread on the garden and the birds ended with a feast of maggots.
Posted by: Neil | 10/03/2009 at 03:33 AM