Worms for a worm bin

happychick · October 18, 2007

I wasn't sure where to put this.

Do I need to special order worms for a worm bin? I'd like to start one and my compost seems to have tons and tons of tiny worms in it. They look like what I'm imagining the red wriggler type worms do - they're small, red and they wiggle like crazy when you pick them up. But for all I know about worms, maybe they're just baby night crawlers in my pile. I have no idea. Can I use them - they're in there by the thousands, I think! - or should I order some?

Worth1 · October 18, 2007

They are babies and are the right kind, no need to order worms I have the same thing in my pile and they are BIG.

Worth

dice · October 19, 2007

From what I have read at a local vendor's
site that specializes in earthworm compost,
earthworm compost tea, and earthworms,
"Red wigglers" are "manure worms", they
seek out manure piles, pastures, and fields
that have had manure spread on them.

If you drop them in your compost or garden
beds, they'll hang around as long as there
is manure there, but they'll freely migrate
elsewhere looking for it if there is none.

Regular yard/garden worms of whatever kind
you find digging around in the yard, underneath
stones or cardboard or whatever after a rain, etc,
generally do fine in worm bins and compost piles.

Worth1 · October 19, 2007

Red wigglers are fine in a compost bin.
They tend to stay at the surface and deposit their castings at the surface.
Night crawlers and what some may call yard worms burrow deep and deposit their castings deep in the ground.
Red wigglers are not the kind of worm to feed your snakes and such as I have read they are poisonous.

All of these links and more say the red wiggler is the right worm to use as a compost worm.
http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening...omposting.aspx
http://members.tripod.com/~AngieCooks/index.html
http://www.cathyscomposters.com/worms.html

Worth

dice · October 20, 2007

Earthworm biology:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in047

the999bbq · October 29, 2007

you don't want the earthworms for your wormbin; dig in any healthy compostbin and you will find thousands of the right kind, just borrow some of these and they will procreate fine ;-)

dice · November 1, 2007

(re: red wigglers, found the link I quoted above)

http://www.kitsapezearth.com/fact.html

They say that red wigglers don't digest tomato
seeds. Big deal, something else will (bacteria,
etc.) They say "no eggshells". I always add
eggshells to compost. The worms do not seem
to mind, and the plants likely appreciate the
calcium source, but then I add whatever worms
I find to the compost pile, not exclusively red wigglers.

Maybe compost piles and "worm bins" (for specifically
making and collecting worm castings) have slightly
different requirements (maybe they mean "you do not
want undigested tomato seeds and chunks of eggshell
in your worm castings", although I do not see why that
would be a big problem for the plants that are eventually
fertilized with the worm castings).

Worth1 · November 3, 2007

No egg shells

I wonder where my egg shells went?

Worth

October 18, 2007	#1
happychick Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 37	Worms for a worm bin I wasn't sure where to put this. Do I need to special order worms for a worm bin? I'd like to start one and my compost seems to have tons and tons of tiny worms in it. They look like what I'm imagining the red wriggler type worms do - they're small, red and they wiggle like crazy when you pick them up. But for all I know about worms, maybe they're just baby night crawlers in my pile. I have no idea. Can I use them - they're in there by the thousands, I think! - or should I order some?

October 19, 2007	#3
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	From what I have read at a local vendor's site that specializes in earthworm compost, earthworm compost tea, and earthworms, "Red wigglers" are "manure worms", they seek out manure piles, pastures, and fields that have had manure spread on them. If you drop them in your compost or garden beds, they'll hang around as long as there is manure there, but they'll freely migrate elsewhere looking for it if there is none. Regular yard/garden worms of whatever kind you find digging around in the yard, underneath stones or cardboard or whatever after a rain, etc, generally do fine in worm bins and compost piles. __________________ -- alias

October 19, 2007	#4
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Red wigglers are fine in a compost bin. They tend to stay at the surface and deposit their castings at the surface. Night crawlers and what some may call yard worms burrow deep and deposit their castings deep in the ground. Red wigglers are not the kind of worm to feed your snakes and such as I have read they are poisonous. All of these links and more say the red wiggler is the right worm to use as a compost worm. http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html http://www.taunton.com/finegardening...omposting.aspx http://members.tripod.com/~AngieCooks/index.html http://www.cathyscomposters.com/worms.html Worth Last edited by Worth1; October 19, 2007 at 06:17 PM. Reason: borrow/burrow:>(

October 20, 2007	#5
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Earthworm biology: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in047 __________________ -- alias

November 1, 2007	#7
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	(re: red wigglers, found the link I quoted above) http://www.kitsapezearth.com/fact.html They say that red wigglers don't digest tomato seeds. Big deal, something else will (bacteria, etc.) They say "no eggshells". I always add eggshells to compost. The worms do not seem to mind, and the plants likely appreciate the calcium source, but then I add whatever worms I find to the compost pile, not exclusively red wigglers. Maybe compost piles and "worm bins" (for specifically making and collecting worm castings) have slightly different requirements (maybe they mean "you do not want undigested tomato seeds and chunks of eggshell in your worm castings", although I do not see why that would be a big problem for the plants that are eventually fertilized with the worm castings). __________________ -- alias Last edited by dice; November 3, 2007 at 05:01 AM. Reason: typo

October 29, 2007	#6
the999bbq Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 191	you don't want the earthworms for your wormbin; dig in any healthy compostbin and you will find thousands of the right kind, just borrow some of these and they will procreate fine ;-)

November 3, 2007	#8
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	No egg shells I wonder where my egg shells went? Worth