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  • Worms in Enviro-Cycle “liquid collection” base

    Created by gj on March 22, 2008 at 2:25 am

    I have an Enviro-Cycle Composter. The liquid fertilizer/ compost tea that I collected from the base had some worms in it — they looked like leeches. Is this good or not?
    gj

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  • June 5, 2007 at 3:58 pm #13822

    pn-admin
    Member

    GJ – I am not that familiar with leaches, but I could see how a worm or two could get caught in the base of the Envirocycle, especially if they where somehow added to the rotating drum with the compost. Are you sure that they are not drowned worms?

    December 6, 2007 at 9:48 pm #13865

    glowbugg
    Member

    I find it slightly unusual for a leech to make its way into your composter. However, leeches are closely related to worms. A leech can be identified by two vacuum-like suckers on both ends and exactly 34 segments.

    Leeches don't eat a lot but they will eat worms from time to time. It is very common to see other insects in your compost bins, but most are beneficial. Watch out for predatory consumers such as centipedes, ground beetles, rove beetles, and ants.

    March 22, 2008 at 2:25 am #13876

    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It appears I have springtails in my worm bin. Do I need to get rid of them or are they harmless? My worms are now thriving. I have a 3 stack system worm bin. thanks

    July 1, 2016 at 1:55 pm #203332

    Eric Vinje
    Keymaster

    Springtails seem to be mostly harmless in a garden compost. They are secondary consumers who eat fungus and microorganisms. They probably don’t do much to help or harm your compost for this reason.

    Happy composting!

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