White worms

[Fingol]

HI I hope this is the right section for this question; I have two ice cream containers with white worm cultures going. One of them is being overrun with what looks like mites, really small brown critters. They form clumps and communities just under the surface of the dirt. I am sure they are planning to take over the world, how do I stop them?

Thanks in advance!

[Ktttk]

Mites aye... really annoying things they are!

I find that the mites tend to build up if there is left over food. So you want your worms to eat all the food preferably in 3 days or less.

Sometimes when the soil surface becomes too dry, the worms won't come up to eat and the left over food go to the mites! So I find that if I add a bit of water to the cultures every now and then, the worms are always feeding and no mites accumlate!

[Alan]

They are not a problem, take them as a bonus of live food but they are a mite difficult to harvest.

If you are too annoyed with them, flood the container and wash them away, but make sure that you don't leave the worms in saturated base.

Have drain holes in their containers.

Alan 104

ps, just re read my post.

woops, sorry about the pun there.

Al

[Fingol]

It was likely that the soil was a bit dry in the container being overrun. I added water, cut holes in the bottom of both, and a minimal amount came out the bottom so far.

Checked a couple of hours later and more whiteworms are under the glass coasters than before. Still mites though but maybe they will go when I put smaller food portions in. If not I'll try the flooding method.

Anyone out there found a good way of harvesting mites?

Thanks!

[steve sisson]

hi guys what size is glass where do you put it and what does it do

[alanmin4304]

I find I have best success in wooden boxes, they seem to breath better. They get too moist in plastic and tend to climb the sides of the container. I use glass about half the area of the contaier and it sits on top of the media with the food under it.

[Fingol]

I use those square glass coasters in my icecream containers, I was lucky enough that my wife was given some of these for her birthday.

She solved the riddle of the missing coasters last week and wasn't too upset, I pointed out there was still a packet in the cupboard not opened. In hindsight I should have used those instead of the ones from the coffee table...

[Faran]

You can get a packet of 3 glass coasters at the $2 shop. You can also find a cheapy glass cutter there and make your own. Just use a sharpening stone to sand down the edges after cutting. Saves the fingers and makes the glass much stronger.

This thread has finally taken care of my mite problem in my WW cultures, thanks!

[steve sisson]

cheers on info will try this out