Mould In A Can-O-Worms Worm Farm

Guides to Making Worm Compost

“We have an indoor Can-O-Worms composting system and there have been problems with mould growing shortly after we throw in any wheat or flour products. Is the mould harmful to the worms? If so, how do we stop the mould?” ~ John Price

Mold is a very natural process of vermicomposting and shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Wheat and flour products are great targets for mould spores, and especially with the moist dark environment in a worm bin, the growth of mould can be substantial!

Mould is not directly harmful to the worms.

In fact the worms need the mould to break down the food waste. The worms then eat the mould itself and the smaller pieces of food matter. Without mould you will still have the piece of bread lying in the bin for quite a while, and your worms will not be able to process that!

With the addition of a lot of flour products, there will be a danger of over heating in the bin if your worms cannot process it quickly enough. Once the heat in a vermicompost bin starts rising above tolerable temperatures the worms will start working a lot more slowly and eventually die.

Also do be aware of mould spores if working around a wormery system with a lot of mould growing. Mold spores are airborne and I would not recommend breathing too much of it in, especially when some people are allergic to them!

Allotment Growing UK has been granted exclusive & sole permission to republish the above article for the benefit of it’s visitors who are interested in composting with worms. Originally published in the excellent free worm composting newsletter – Worm Farming Secrets

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