Thur 100° 63°
Fri 102° 63°
Sat 102° 61°
Fri 102° 63°
Sat 102° 61°
While things have been busy here on the farm, the issues that keep me that way must be shared. The issue is HEAT!!! As you can see the temps are soaring and the shade has been stripped from my worm shed by a recent storm.
Remember, I have told you that your worms will die faster from being hot and dry than from being cold and wet. But there is more to the picture than that.
As the temperature rises, the top layer of bedding is harder to keep moist as the moisture evaporates. The delicate balance of moisture in your bedding becomes harder to maintain as you add water to try and keep the top layer moist. Unfortunately, your attempts to keep the top layer moist are creating a wet and soggy condition deeper in the bed. This is serious, as your worms need air and too much water means not enough air.
Remember, I have told you that your worms will die faster from being hot and dry than from being cold and wet. But there is more to the picture than that.
As the temperature rises, the top layer of bedding is harder to keep moist as the moisture evaporates. The delicate balance of moisture in your bedding becomes harder to maintain as you add water to try and keep the top layer moist. Unfortunately, your attempts to keep the top layer moist are creating a wet and soggy condition deeper in the bed. This is serious, as your worms need air and too much water means not enough air.
That means you need to be turning your bedding. But be careful. If you turn too much fresh bedding into the existing bedding you will start composting and the heat build up could kill your worm population. So all the fresh bedding has to come off the bed before you turn.
The other issue with the heat is the worms are not coming up to the top layer to eat. They are remaining dispersed throughout the bed, down where it is moist and cool. This means
harvesting worms is more time consuming and labor intensive. Instead of being able to scrape the top of the bed and scoop up handfuls of worms I have to turn the bedding and pull bedding out that has less worms and more bedding.
My worm populations are doing well despite the heat, which has been in the 90’s and 100’s. Hope yours are doing well also.
Happy worming…
The other issue with the heat is the worms are not coming up to the top layer to eat. They are remaining dispersed throughout the bed, down where it is moist and cool. This means
harvesting worms is more time consuming and labor intensive. Instead of being able to scrape the top of the bed and scoop up handfuls of worms I have to turn the bedding and pull bedding out that has less worms and more bedding.My worm populations are doing well despite the heat, which has been in the 90’s and 100’s. Hope yours are doing well also.
Happy worming…
Christy
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