Posts Tagged ‘flies’

The Ongoing Maggot War

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Jan 01 2008

Today I performed the horrid task of removing maggots from the worm farm. As mentioned in my Disaster in the Worm Farm post these horrid creatures invaded over Christmas and quickly became the dominant critter in the worm farm. As per the advice of a number of sites I placed milk soaked bread in the farm. This produced limited success. I though will try it again next week to hopefully remove the remaining pests.

I was thus expecting to turf an incredible amount of material, if not the lot. I was thus pleasantly surprised to see that the worms were launching a fight back. There seemed to be an abundance of worms, so I suspect they have managed to breed over Christmas which is great news. The worms had in fact almost taken over the top and bottom layers, thus banishing the majority of the maggots within the second layer.

The second layer stunk to high heaven, thankfully my nose was blocked and I could only get a hint of the stench. and was by far the most empty. This is due in no small part to the maggots physiology that is simply made to chomp through materials. Unfortunately, their produce is pretty useless in it own right, although the worms process that further. At any rate I spent an hour or so going through the semi-decayed materials and removing any maggots, or suspect materials (including a tetra pack that some put in there). I believe I have removed 80-85% of the infestation. Which is great news.

I have also reorganised the layers so that the bulk of the processed soil is once again on the bottom layer. The second layer has a considerable food source on offer and the top layer has some scatterings. I will be slowing the feeding down until I am confident the worms have managed to win the war against the horrible maggots.

I am though much more confident that the worms will endure and commence producing large volumes of compost and worm juice soon. I am in need of more worm tea as I have today exhausted my bottled supply. I felt it best to fertilise and water everything today due to the warmth of both yesterday and today. The spinach had wilted significantly during the day, however after the watering and fertilising is looking fantastic once more.

On the water front I am essentially out of rain water. The great weather of 2 to 3 weeks ago has ceased. I am hopeful though it shall return shortly. I thus have had to resort to mains supply today to water the plants. I am still watering from a watering can though to ensure that I do not overwater due to a never ending supply of water.

I will keep you up to date on how the worm farm tracks over the next week or so. I am confident that I have largely restored the balance to the ecosystem, however the war is not over. Not yet. I will also be posting a blog in the coming days of a fantastic fly control system that is available from the big kids toy shop that is both economic and environmentally friendly.

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Disaster in the Worm Farm

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Dec 28 2007

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later but disaster has struck in the worm farm. The worms are not the only creatures in the compost, which is normal. However when checking various layers today I saw a pulsating mass of white. On closer inspection it was a group of horrible maggots all eating the compost. I felt physically ill upon seeing this and then decided to inspect other layers. I have found that each layer is laced with the horrible creatures. How did they get in there?

Green Bottle Fly
Picture Credit: Joseph Berger, United States, Bugwood.org (Creative Commons license terms)

Clearly, sometime over Christmas some meat that had been infected by one of the hundreds of green bottle flies that mysteriously appeared has been introduced to the worm farm. Unfortunately the ideal condition for the health of the worms is also a flies breeding ground. The maggots have now taken over. There is still a heap of worms in the system, but I must get the maggots out as I do not want to breed flies. I could think of nothing worse actually.

After performing some research I have found that the suggested technique is very straight forward. The removal of the maggots is performed by baiting them with bread soaked in milk and leaving it for 2-3 days. This apparently is a maggot magnet and will allow for their collection and removal from the farm. I will be throwing the maggots immediately in some boiling water, so the final disposal should be quite simple. But it is a pain in the backside. Given the numbers I may well be performing this task over the course of the next week or so. Needless to say I will be being much more vigilant in vetting what goes into the worm farm ecosystem.

Another suggestion is to dust the farm with lime. I will thus be getting some soon and adding it to the mix. I will though be careful to use this sparingly so as not to impact the quality of the produced vermicompost. If too much much lime is administered it will simply be passed straight to the compost. Not all plants appreciate lime, so it could have a negative impact, rather than the expected and required positive effects.

Some of the posts on blogs and forums from experienced vermiculturalists suggest to ignore the presence of the maggots. I though can not do that. I simply can not stand the thought of bringing the world even more flies than occur naturally. I must remove them.

Finally, the research also suggests that I am feeding my worm friends too much. At present I am sure this is correct as I do not have the commonly suggested 1000 worms per head of residents. Thus, I need more worms, and I need them soon. Unfortunately when I was last at the big kids toy shop Bunnings Warehouse they were out of stock. Yet had more Can’O'Worms farms than were able to be counted. Does not really make sense to have a heap of the farms but no worms in my opinion. I am sure that will soon be fixed. That said I am considering an alternative suppliers for the interim purchase to help clear the current plethora of available food. This will also deny the maggots of their food source.

I will post an update soon and let you know how I go.

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Thats it I am Banned

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Herb, Fruit and Vegetables, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Dec 20 2007

Well today I have once again spent too much money in the big kids toy shop Bunnings. This time I went with the intention of purchasing 1000 more worms for the farm, however over $90 later I walked out with:

  • 500 Worms, unfortunately the 1000 packs were out of stock, as such I have settled for an additional 500. These cost less that 30% of the shop.
  • Some Basil seedlings. It was one herb we did not have in the garden as no one seems to use it. That said I have picked some up for use as a natural mosquitoes and fly repellent. Two things in abundance in our area.
  • 8 x Bean seedlings that my Mum is keen to plant and grow.
  • 2 x Downpipe trellis that the beans will have to climb. They will be laid out back to back.
  • 6 x Carrot seedlings. The variety grows in little round balls, so should be an experiment worth undertaking.
  • 3 x Rich Gro Pro Mix that I love so much.
  • 1 x Storage Tub to be converted to a planter like the original two.

So as a result of this visit I am banning myself from the big kids toy shop until the second week of the new year.

On the good news front the Beefsteak Tomato has fruit. 2 little ones in fact. They should be good for picking soon and I hope this is only the start of the crop. The mysterious chilli is also producing strong fruit. They are long, slender and green. They look like real rockets. I am still yet to attempt the ebony fires that I harvested last week, though I may do so now.

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