How to Raise Red Worms
Whether you wish to raise red worms for profit or for composting, it is not at all difficult if you keep a few key principles in mind. In fact, it is a lot of fun to raise red worms. Raising worms is referred to as vermiculture. Once you start raising red worms, you can brag to all your friends that you are a vermiculturalist.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Rubbermaid Container
- Water
- Organic Scraps
- 2 Sheets of Cardboard
- Potting Soil
- Peat Moss and/or Shredded Paper
Instructions
-
-
1
Prepare your worm bin. Purchase a large Rubbermaid tote and cut tiny holes in the bottom for drainage and air flow. Set your red worm bin up on blocks of some sort so the air flow is not impeded.
-
2
Place a piece of cardboard at the bottom of your bin. This will help retain the moisture while still allowing sufficient drainage.
-
-
3
Fill your red worm bin with worm bedding and mix in a few handfuls of potting soil. Peat moss or shredding paper both work fine as bedding. Peat moss is nicer to deal with as its light but shredded paper has more nutritional value for your worms, believe it or not. Commercial worm bedding is also available, some with worm food mixed right in.
-
4
Add your red worms to the top of your bedding and place a piece of cardboard on top for a lid.
-
5
Wait about 3-4 days before adding feed to a new container of red worms. At that time, feed them in spots - do not cover the entire surface of your worm bin. Larger feed should go to the edges and smaller bits in the center. This is because the adult red worms prefer the outside edges while the young worms prefer to congregate at the center of the worm bin.
-
6
Feed your worms things which will naturally compost. Paper and cardboard (wet it first), coffee grounds, manure, rabbit pellets, vegetable matter, grass clippings... you get the idea. Avoid meats, dairy products and onions. If you do give them meat or dairy, be certain to remove it from your worm bin after 3 days and keep it limited. They may get some beneficial protein from it but you will also be introducing bacteria that could be harmful. Do not overfeed your worms. The food can get quite hot. Only add fresh when the other is gone or nearly gone.
-
7
Water your worm bin. Keep it moist at ALL TIMES but not soggy. Your red worms take a lot of water but they can also be easily drowned.
-
8
Red worms will double in population numbers every 60 - 90 days. Overpopulation can be a serious issue for their health so you must remove worms regularly. Sell them, start a new worm bin or take some along on a fishing trip. Be sure to visit the link in the resources section below this article to learn more.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Keep the water from your worm bin's drain off for watering plants. 'Worm tea' is wonderful for plants.
Worm eggs look like seeds
Dry castings can be sold to gardeners
Resources
- Photo Credit Dreamstime
More Like This
Comments
View all 7 Comments-
so cool, I now have worms.......for my garden.
-
Please consider what you compost. What goes in comes out. When composting for consumption news paper, cardboard contains toxins which are carcinogens. Try to trace the origins of what to compost. Composting some manures contain wormers that are very dangerous. Also consider what worms to use. CAUTION IN BUYING THESE WORMS, Eisenia foetida, or"European Night crawlers."are non native worms, Eisenia foetida Eisenia foetida, or"European Night crawlers."are non native worms, This is why we. with any non-native species, it is important not to allow them to reach the wild. Their voracious appetites and reproductive rates (especially among the red wigglers) have been known to upset the delicate balance of the hardwood forests by consuming the leaf litter too quickly. This event leaves too little leaf letter to slowly incubate the hard shelled nuts and leads to excessive erosion as well as negatively affecting the pH of the soil. So, do your best to keep them confined! CAUTION IN BUYING THESE WORMS, Eisenia foetida, or"European Night crawlers."are non native worms, Eisenia foetida From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Eisenia fetida, known under various common names, including redworms, brandling worms, tiger worms and red wiggler worms, are a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material. They thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure; they are epigeal. They are rarely found in soil, instead like Lumbricus rubellus they prefer conditions where other worms cannot survive. They are used for vermicomposting. They are native to Europe, but have been introduced (both intentionally and unintentionally) to every other continent except Antarctica, occasionally threatening native species. Google the story of Hongkongwillie. Use a native worm from your region. Thanks Hongkongwillie.
-
where is phone number to order.
-
asapfarm
Aug 11, 2009
Good info. Thanks! -
mizchulita
Dec 07, 2008
My husband is into this. Great article! We plan to do it this spring when we start gardening.
