Avoiding worm prison(!)

[Right Shed Fred]

I have a hot(ish) composter in the garden, hotter at the top, cooler at the bottom. (Aerobin).
The compost coming out of the bottom is absolutely chock full of worms - much, much more than my usual allotment compost heap which sits on the earth. It’s an extreme number of worms.

I’m mixing my aerobin compost together with some bagged compost to lighten it a bit for my bigger flowering plant containers. Can anyone recommend a way to get the billions of worms out? I feel bad putting them in a container, it seems like a worm prison!
I suppose they could wriggle their way out of the drainage hole at the bottom, but the containers stand on the patio, so it’s still a sad life for the worms even if they make an epic bid for freedom. I spend a lot of gardening time trying to make worms happy, and this feels wrong. Though these are a reddish colour, so I suppose are compost worms rather than earthworms? Does that make a difference?
Am I worrying about nothing?(!)
I think I spend too much time thinking about worms.

[Plot70]

They are most likely brandling worms and will die out as the compost becomes fully rotted. Common earth worms will then take over.
I would expect them to be like these from the horse manure pile at the allotments.
https://www.ispotnature.org/communit...randling-worms

[Bren In Pots]

Not sure if this is a daft idea or not how about taking the compost and worms to your allotment compost heap in hope that the worms move to that instead.

[Snoop Puss]

If you pile the compost out of your Aerobin in a high mound, the worms will eventually migrate to the bottom to get away from the light. Take the (relatively worm-free) stuff off the top for mixing and put the stuff at the bottom back in your Aerobin to start your next lot of compost off.

Congratulations, by the way.

[ameno]

I wouldn't worry about it. As Plot70 said above, most of them will die outside of the compost bin, anyway. Also, as long as the pot has holes in worms are more than capable of making their way in and out on their own. They'll crawl across open ground in the dead of night; it's how my back-up compost bin always ends up full of worms, despite the fact that it's on plastic sheeting on a patio.

[rary]

As Snoop has said spread the compost out and the worms will move away from the light, a simple way of doing this is using a garden riddle rest it on top of compost and spread compost over it, the worms will go down the way to avoid the light, you will get relatively worm free compost and keep the worms

[Right Shed Fred]

Thanks all - they do look like brandlings - thin, red and numerous, rather than the pinker, fatter loan rangers who are free range in the plot / garden.
I’ll leave them in their compost in a riddler to give them a chance to wriggle away from the light and not worry about those that remain 🙂