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Happy worming! The first tray that they are living in looks awesome and ready to use if they would move out. One way to encourage red wigglers to leave a tray is to expose it to bright light. Place the active tray above the one you would like them to migrate to. The worms will move downward away from the light source into the dark tray below. Then you can reset the trays and get to using that beautiful worm compost! Thank you for the most informative article. Being new at this brings up more questions than I would have believed possible.
Hi, Joyce! Always learning, right?! Stay tuned, we are planning even more informative articles on feeding your compost worms what would otherwise be waste. If you have any more questions, feel free to throw them our way.
Happy to help! Vermiculture is on the rise here and we are working on beautiful timber worm farm. I am a builder and have developed a Cedar Worm Home, fully waterproofed and with a tray to collect tea. Perfect for balconies and garages. Plastic gets too hot in our climate. You can email me to further discuss, Warm Regards Ingo Boscheinen.
Hi, Ingo! I love your enthusiasm! Cedar contains toxins that are harmful to worms. Glad to know that vermiculture is alive and well around the world! Thanks for sharing! Thank you so much for sharing your info. So I found your blog very valuable.
Was also concerned that my castings are very clumpy and moist and the videos all looks nice and dry — you explained that very well. Thank you. I love to see how vermiculture is spreading! Thank you for picking it up and starting a very good thing in your corner of the world! Please share what you are learning. Let us keep you in the loop, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.
Nick from South Africa again. I have been harvesting and never concerned myself with eggs. So, Is there a way of separating the castings from the eggs without a sieve? Hi, Nick. Yeah, those little egg sacks are easy to lose track of in all that worm cast compost! I still need to pick them out by hand, but its way easier when there are no clumps for cocoons to hide in. Best of luck! Let us know if you come up with another brilliant method!
L K Mishra, Interesting! But help what exactly? I would think if they consume it, it would help break down the food just like it could in a gizzard. Furthermore, if that sand ends up in a beautiful worm compost, it will be a benefit to your garden. Great question. Living in Maine, USA and we gather mushrooms regularly on our walks — some we eat but others — of course not. Still, would the worms be fussy? If yes to the idea of adding wild mushrooms — should I run the through the blender first or let them rot a bit before adding them to the menu?
Is it okay to blend up moldy fruits or veggies and feed them to the worms? Yes, Sean. Blending up molding fruits and veggies to serve to your worms is still safe. There are microorganisms in the bin that feed specifically on mold. Go for it! Love this information very helpful! How long does it usually take them to eat a small handful of leafy vegetables? I just use a blender, grind up food to a slurry, then dig a trench about 3 in.
Deep and fill it he trench. Then cover With about an inch of cover. When I remove the inch of cover, I find solid worms down there all wiggling. So glad to have stumbled upon this site! I am about to harvest for the first time. My question is how long can the castings be kept and do they need to be stored in a certain manner? Hi Cindee! Thanks for asking! Damp castings remain a very nutritious fertilizer for up to 3 years when kept aerated and adequately moist.
The living organisms within the compost require fresh oxygen to have a healthy aerobic environment. Good information, thanks. One more question, can the worms thrive on weeds from my garden.
How about a small helping of grass clippings? Thanks for your efforts. Hi, Lorraine! Worms are happy to eat up lots of different vegetation. Watch that your clippings are also pesticide-free as that is harmful to the ecosystem of the worm bin. Also, avoid all known toxic plants- poison ivy, sumac, etc. I have moved my worms into the house for the winter but now I have a gnat problem.
Any suggestions? Indoor pests are no bueno. Fungus gnats, like many other small flying insects find the worm bin the ideal place to breed. Prevention is key! Aside from that I suggest vacuuming up the adults or catching them on fly paper or in a solution they may not be able to fly away from. Gnats do show up. Been told by my mother that the gnats are on the fruit, so always wash your fruit and vegetables.
In my worm factory I put apple cider vinegar in medicine bottles and place in the corners. Gnats are attracted to the sweetness. I am new to this site but find it very informative.
The least I can do is thank them and check how they are right??? Any other ideas on what I need to keep track of in my little black book? Thank you Keanu Pool. Hi Keanu! Things you can add to your vermicomposting bin that you might not necessarily think of. Worms can eat roughly half their weight everyday. You can use this fact to calculate how much you should be feeding your worms.
When you start your bin you will usually start with 1 pound of worms. If you want your worms to eat faster, chop the food scraps into small pieces ahead of time and throw them int he freezer overnight.
Chopping some people even use a blender increases the surface area of each piece of food making it easier for the worms and the bacteria to eat. Freezing and then thawing your worm food breaks the cell walls of the food which makes it more mushy when thawed and easier for the composting worms to eat. Earth worms do not have teeth. They have very small gizzards like chickens that they use to grind up their food.
Therefore, they need to wait until the food scraps begin to rot and get soft and mushy. This is why freezing and thawing your food scraps is helpful. Feeding Your Worms. Home Feeding Your Worms. What do Red Wiggler Worms Eat? What do worms eat? Well, worms feed on bacteria, fungi, dead leaves, tiny seeds, among other things. By going about their everyday activities, eating, moving, and excreting, earthworms recycle nutrients that plants find useful.
Earthworms are hermaphrodites, and they have both female and male reproductive organs. Although a single worm has the organs to reproduce by itself, most earthworms need a mate to reproduce.
Earthworms do not have lungs but breathe through their skin by diffusion. These are popular bait worms. They are hardy and able to tolerate a large concentration of decaying organic matter. Red worms mature within days and produce at least 79 cocoons per year. They grow to a varying length of 1 to 4 inches and live for about days. These grow best at a higher temperature than most earthworms. Under an ideal room temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit, a nightcrawler will mature in days and produce 38 cocoons per year.
These worms can grow to a length of inches. They find it easy to compost very large scraps of organic matter. If handled roughly, they can emit an unpleasant odor, and some people may find themselves allergic to it. Red wigglers live close to the soil surface. Earthworms, although small, have the power to change soil and plant communities. Little wonder they are called "the ecosystem engineers".
Endogeic worms live deeper in the soil in permanent burrows, and they feed mostly on soil and microbes. Anecic worms live near the subsurface of the soil. Earthworms are known to survive best in aerobic systems. Most people agree that earthworms are beneficial to the ecosystem, but a few researchers point out some negative effects. Worms disintegrate plant residue and drag them deeper into the soil. Thus allowing the nutrients from these plant matter to get deeper into the soil. They feed on decaying plants and manure.
Their digestive system mixes the mineral and organic substances in their food to form highly concentrated castings. Worm castings are rich in nutrients beneficial to plant growth. Earthworms generate tons of casts per hectare every year.
And when worms die, their bodies decompose quickly, adding more nitrogen to the soil. The casts of earthworms glue soil particles together to form water-stable aggregates. They also enhance soil porosity and significantly improve soil drainage and water holding capacity. Their upwards and downwards movement moves topsoil deeper into the ground and pushes up the soil in the lower strata to the surface. This mixes up the soil thoroughly.
Earthworms consume microbes for food but release many more microbes in their feces or cast. Higher microbial activity is beneficial to plants. Tunnels dug by earthworms form a network of passages. That enables easier plant root penetration deeper into the soil. They line the tunnels with their cast, which is rich in nutrients.
This allows plant roots to absorb nutrients with relative ease. When making compost, you can speed up decomposition by introducing earthworms to your compost bin. Red wigglers, Nightcrawlers, and red worms are common composting worms used in vermicomposting. Several animals find worms to be a delicious meal and source of nutrition.
Birds, frogs, weasels, turtles, otters, and raccoons are some animals that eat worms. The eastern earthworm snake is a species of snake that feeds on worms. December 14, at PM. April 26, at PM. July 13, at PM. September 26, at AM. January 28, at PM. April 12, at PM. January 17, at PM. May 1, at PM. January 26, at AM. February 26, at PM. March 8, at AM. March 27, at PM. March 29, at PM. May 15, at PM. November 22, at PM. March 24, at PM. April 19, at PM. May 13, at AM. August 23, at PM.
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