My worm farm has developed maggots

[hutch]

I think my old man has added some meat products to my worm farm and left it uncovered for awhile and it is now being over run with maggots. some are like snails with out shells in size....Any thoughts on best way to rid them with out having to start again...

[Alice]

Doesn't need meat to develop maggots. I have a worm farm which I thought was pretty well sealed against flies and the fuckers still got in. Nothing you can do about it but pick them out, some say dosing with lime (which you should be doing for the worms anyway) keeps them at bay, but not for me. Just leave them, they're not doing any harm, if anything they assist the decomposition process.

You could leave the lid off for the birds, they'll pick them out, and some worms will probably be deep enough to avoid being eaten (not sure how deep they go to avoid light).

[hutch]

Doesn't need meat to develop maggots. I have a worm farm which I thought was pretty well sealed against flies and the fuckers still got in. Nothing you can do about it but pick them out, some say dosing with lime (which you should be doing for the worms anyway) keeps them at bay, but not for me. Just leave them, they're not doing any harm, if anything they assist the decomposition process.

You could leave the lid off for the birds, they'll pick them out, and some worms will probably be deep enough to avoid being eaten (not sure how deep they go to avoid light).

 

Make good fishing bate I suppose...after the rains are gone I might open them up to some of my chooks...thanks for the idea....

[Foo]

Ive never had maggots in mine. What am i doing right?

My old mans setup does attract mice though.

[lickapop]

black soldier flies....score;)

 

 

[themallacht]

I've never had maggots in mine as well and I DO also add garden lime to aid in correct pH

[hutch]

I've never had maggots in mine as well and I DO also add garden lime to aid in correct pH

 

Thanks mate and welcome to our forum...

[bℓσωηG]

There is nothing wrong with a few maggots in a worm farm as far as i can see, they act as primary decomposers, their lifespan is short, they don't burrow down and interfere with the worms in any way. It's probably seasonal anyway , id be more worried about mice , the fuckers ate holes in my plastic worm factory / farm, to gain easier access, the egg cartons i put in as worm food they use as nesting material.

[s4L]

Try adding a handful of sandy potting mix or soil every so often, since worms can't chew they need grit to eat their food. After I learned this my worm farm doubled in speed and got rid of my fruit fly problem.

[hutch]

Try adding a handful of sandy potting mix or soil every so often, since worms can't chew they need grit to eat their food. After I learned this my worm farm doubled in speed and got rid of my fruit fly problem.

 

Thanks for that s4L, I do that now and I also buy dirt cheap coffee and sprinkle that on top alternate times and they thrive.....The maggots just don't do it for me like the worms do...the smell just isn't the same. It has stopped raining now so I'm putting it out to the chooks for awhile and let them clean up a bit.

Cheers

Hutch

[Foo]

My farm is really low teck.

Started with potting mix. All i add is water, food stuffs and news paper.

Only issue i have is when its really hot and i forget to water them, in that case they try to crawl out.

[bℓσωηG]

maggot farm!

[bℓσωηG]

anyone watch "the worlds dirtiest jobs" when he goes to a maggot farm? That was a funny episode

[IceCube]

I had a maggot problem at home when I went to clean up a place where I leave mangos to ripen, the ants around the house made short work of them once they found them though!

[hutch]

I had a maggot problem at home when I went to clean up a place where I leave mangos to ripen, the ants around the house made short work of them once they found them though!

 

I tried the chooks but they couldn't be bothered but I think meat ants might be the go and I have a huge meat ant nest on my property....wonder if they will eat too many worms?

[tripsis]

You can't just chuck some lime in there? Surely meat ants would hammer your worms too.

[hutch]

You can't just chuck some lime in there? Surely meat ants would hammer your worms too.

 

Yes I will chuck some lime in but I don't have any and at present we are flooded in and have been since the 20th of Dec. As of yesterday there was still 8 meters over the bridge. Might just put up with them a bit longer....good fishing bait as they are the size of witchity grubs...

[hutch]

The maggots won this battle....they used lime like talcum powder...I swear they were mocking me... they took over the whole farm bar a few worms that hung on to the side..my vege garden is loving them at the moment....I have had to start again with the hand full that survived...

Maggots do give off a very powerful tea (burnt the leaves back on a few plants) but they don't have that earthy smell of a worm farm...

[ThunderIdeal]

MAGGOTS

would you fucking believe they have GOOGLY EYES and NOVELTY VAMPIRE TEETH??? hmmm?

(well they do)

[Magicdirt]

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Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt

[Amazonian]

That's a great image Thunderldeal , Plasticine walrus looking. . I will look at maggots with a whole new perspective now . Maggots are just natures way of cleaning up.

Hutch, maybe you are over doing it with the food scraps. Try adding more leaf litter. If you are putting bread in the mix, this will attract house fly larvae. What type of fly do you think the maggots might be from? Could they be fruit fly maggots ?

[hutch]

Its a home made job...a plastic box about 500 X 250 and about 300 deep with 4 holes in the base about 10mm covered with fly wire mesh...It sits on two buckets which catch the tea...I cover it with a lid from one of the foam vegetable boxes...

It was working well when it was just worms but when the maggots got in they turned it into a soup and the worms were drowning in the bottom...I may need to add some breather holes up the sides and maybe a few more in the base...a bath tub would be ideal...

[Amazonian]

Better drainage wouldn't go astray either.

[hutch]

That's a great image Thunderldeal , Plasticine walrus looking. . I will look at maggots with a whole new perspective now . Maggots are just natures way of cleaning up.

Hutch, maybe you are over doing it with the food scraps. Try adding more leaf litter. If you are putting bread in the mix, this will attract house fly larvae. What type of fly do you think the maggots might be from? Could they be fruit fly maggots ?

 

I do put a small amount of bread in but not too much.....might try your leaf litter idea though....as for what type of fly....they were big maggots with stripes....and they loved lime.....they weren't your basic house fly maggots....

I killed a beast on Saturday morning and due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't get to burn the guts,hide, head and hocks until Monday morning....The whole pile was a moving mass of maggots...except her eye had popped out and was staring up at me through the wiggling mess....If I could just describe the smell

I threw a log on the fire and her stomach burst open a spat hot tummy juices and grass on my dog...funny as...It was like a little explosion..burnt my dogs nose....

[Magicdirt]

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Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt