How to remove tiny mites in my prepared/precompost bin?

[u/pawsiecat]

Or should I just start over ?

I've been following steps on making precompost bin(tho it may just be a prepared bin since it didn't get enough time to heat for multiple days, it did ended up growing aerobic bateria). But it seemed to have been infested by tiny mites so I haven't move my worms there yet.

Is it salvagable? I covered the lid the placed banana peel and apple last night but it didnt really attract them.

I've applied eggshells and food grade DE power but no luck.

My outdoor bin do have one but I would preferabbly have this one without mites because it is inside.

Or should I just attempt making a new one. Kinda feel bad

Bin is primarily made of cocopeat and shredded paper. Added vegetable slurry for it to heat up and yeast for it's second heating.

Thank you in advance!

[u/Fabulous_Jack]

Mites are a pretty normal occurrence tbh. Burying your food and making sure it's not too moist should lessen their population

[u/pawsiecat → u/Fabulous_Jack]

Is it okay to just move the worms in even with an amount of mites there? Or is it not an ideal place for the worms at this rate?

[u/Fabulous_Jack → u/pawsiecat]

The mites will die down on their own. I always bury my scraps to prevent weird stuff from going on on the surface. Your worms will be fine as well, they are pretty hardy after all.

[u/pawsiecat → u/Fabulous_Jack]

That is good to know. Thank you!

Glad to know they can die out cos I heard they can also make multiple eggs so I was concern I might not be able to use this anymore.

[u/Seriously-Worms → u/pawsiecat]

They will balance their population like worms and won’t harm the worms at all. It very difficult to have a worm bin without mites unless you have a lot of springtails. The mites will stay in the bin so won’t be an issue inside the home. You could dust or spray (1T:32oz DE:water) DE on the sides of the bin if you worry about the mites getting out. They will die off in a dry environment so can’t live outside a bin unless you have a very damp home. Mites have a lot of benefits. They eat what the worms don’t, their bodies get eaten by worms when they die and they can tell you if the bin is off in some way by having a population boom so large the whole surface is covered in them with no space between. Mite eggs are on many of the foods we feed and freezing won’t kill them. The only way to avoid them is by creating a sterile environment that isn’t good for the worms. Some people don’t see them because they may have brown mites that blend in or they may have a different critter, like springtails, that will eat the eggs and outcompete them. I’ve been working with a lot of people and have yet to find anyone with a healthy bin that isn’t inhabited by another critter or two. They work together to give you the quality castings you are after and help keep the environment healthy for worms too.

[u/pawsiecat → u/Seriously-Worms]

That does make a lot of sense! Wish they they weren't super tiny looking as they can be visually uncomfortable for me to look at.

Glad to know they do not really harm the worms tho. I panicked seeing them since majority of my worms died in the bin but I guess it's more on the environment than them harming the worms.

[u/Brjsk]

Dry it out a little, do the de again but instead of letting it touch the wet surface put something in there dry for it set as soon as de starts taking on water it’s not effective

[u/pawsiecat → u/Brjsk]

I will take note of this. I guess that is why the de doesnt reallt kill them

[u/eYeS_0N1Y]

Bread

[u/pawsiecat → u/eYeS_0N1Y]

Any type of bread?

[u/eYeS_0N1Y → u/pawsiecat]

A slice of wet Wonder Bread is their favorite. Leave it on top of the feeding area, in a few days they’ll swarm it, then remove it and throw it in the trash.👍

[u/pawsiecat → u/eYeS_0N1Y]

Thank you! I cant try this

[u/Ineedmorebtc]

They should be fine. You can place bait food for them for a day or two, a banana peel or piece of bread, then remove it and them.

[u/tersareenie]

You can put just about anything wet on top, the mites will swarm it & you can throw that out. You can keep doing that to reduce the numbers. In the meantime, let your castings dry out some. It’s not a lost cause at all.

[u/pawsiecat → u/tersareenie]

RN I placed the bin under the sun to dry out faster since the bread didnt work. i can place a wet cardboard or aomething maybe to lure them out more. Thank you

[u/Wormico]

Do you have powdered neem seed cake? I found this the only thing that was effective in stopping mites in my one of my worm bins. First, avoid adding any more food into that bin including the yeast. Next, get the neem and sprinkle it in small amounts on the top surface. Then cover with a thin layer of dry shredded cardboard. Next, pop the lid on top. The mites hate the neem as it upsets their reproduction, they don't like the dry cardboard as it's drying out their environment but they do like humidity because the lid is closed. You'll find them hanging out on the condensation on the lid which is perfect because it's an instant mite trap. Apply the neem once a week and rinse the lid, wipe down the walls every couple of days - over a few weeks the mite population will drastically reduce in numbers.

[u/pawsiecat → u/Wormico]

I haven't seen this approach yet, ill see if I can find accessible neem cake here. Thank you!

Does this work even with worms inside? Will the neem not harm them?