The Worm Dude » How to Raise Worms

Do You Have Questions About Worms?

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:28:08 +0000

Do you want to raise worms, but don’t know the difference between a Red Wiggler and a Canadian Nightcrawler? Fear not!

http://www.thewormdude.com/forums/

Is the place to go for questions about worms. With a current registration of over 2,000 people, I provide same day answers to your toughtest Worm questions.

Bookmark WWW.TheWormDude.Com as your first stop for practical and experienced information about Worms.

Featured Customer Question – Susan K.

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:30:07 +0000

I have been looking through your blog, but did not yet find any questions about small white larvae in the composting stuff. I have had my worm bin for about a year, and my worms are alive, but I think just barely. It is a wriggly ranch 3 layer bin, and in the bottom layer, with the spigot, there is alot of what I think is worm poop, which is quite damp, but with no standing water, with some worms crawling around here and there, and a lot of very small white wiggly things I think are maggots of some very small fly. It does not smell bad, but those white things kind of gross me out. In the bin just above where I put food, there is more worm poop, food that is being worked on by worms, and again, alot of those icky small white things. No more newspaper or other bedding is still there. Should there always be paper bedding available for the worms? And how do I get rid of those white things? And when do I get to put the next layer of the worm bin into place?
Thanks,
Susan

Hi Susan,

What you are describing as larve are probably potworms. At first I thought you might have been describing soldier fly maggots (Also white, but nobody describes them as maggots of some very small fly). Regardless, Potworms and Soldier flies come when conditions are starting to break down for the worms. Sounds like your bin has far too much moisture in it, and likely too much food for the amount of worms, and not enough beddding material.

You always want a nice thick layer of paper in your bin. The more, the better. It is your buffer between the rotting vegetation and every flying bug in the state. The only time you should let your bedding run low is when you are about to harvest your castings. Then you will add bedding to the next tray up, along with fresh food. The worms will follow the food. Understand, it takes a good month for most of the worms to leave their old bedding.

You can get rid of the white things by getting conditions in your bin less wet and acidic. Stop feeding the worms for a bit and just add a bunch of dry shredded paper of cardboard. It will wick up the excess moisture. Without a wet, acidic environment, the bugs will go away. The worms can live off the paper for awhile.

Because muddy castings are hard to work with, I’d add the paper for now. When the worms process it all, and you no longer recognize the paper….add your next tray filled with damp shredded paper and buried food scraps.

Do you have a piece of weedcloth lining the bottom of your bottom tray? It works well for letting the water flow through, but not the worms. It will leave much less mud in your base.

How to Raise Redworms and Easily Create Your Own Castings!

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:47:36 +0000

At a presentation I gave recently, one of the club members took great notes. I thought I would share her notes here. Very useful, as they condensed an hour presentation into an easy to read outline.

Worm Castings – Natures Finest Soil Amendment

Red Wigglers are eating machines, and their deposits (Worm Castings) make an incredibly microbiologically rich compost. Loaded with beneficial bacteria, all natural, non-burning, and odor-free, Worm Poop is truly a miracle of nature.

“When done right, raising worms takes only a few minutes a week, and very little space”, said Jerry Gach, our March speaker. “The biggest mistakes people make are overwatering, and overfeeding, reducing air flow throughout the worm bin”.

Gach outlined several simple steps to composting with worms.

Drill several holes in your worm bin to allow for air flow, then drill a hole in the bottom of the bin for drainage.

Keep the bin out of direct sunlight at all times.

Create worm bedding by soaking 1 inch strips of newspaper (Lots and lots of newspaper) in water for 24 hours. Then wring it out and fluff it up to about a depth of 6″-10″ in your bin.

Add your worms, keeping a light above them for 24-48 hours to get them to burrow into their new bedding.

Bury a handful of produce scraps into the bottom corner of the bedding, making sure to cover the scraps completely with bedding. Let the worms come to the scraps.

Add food when the existing food has been eaten, and add water as needed using only a mister.

Harvest the castings when they look rich and black, and the original bedding is no longer recognizable (Usually in 60-90 days).

To harvest, simply dump the processed bedding (Complete with worms) on a tarp outside. Make some piles and allow the worms an hour or so to make their way to the bottom of each pile, as worms will always slither away from light. Retreive the worms from the bottom of each pile, and place the worms in some fresh bedding with fresh food to start the process again.

Want Healthier, larger plants? Raise some worms!

For additional information, visit WWW.TheWormDude.Com

What is “The Common Sense Approach to Raising Redworms”?

admin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:09:14 +0000

Raising Redworms is not difficult, but there are some strategies involved that will make sense once you read them. Over the next few weeks, I’ll give you the same tips that I give everyone that buys worms from me.

Let me start out with a few facts:

A worm bin should not stink!

Worms are simple to raise, and require only minutes per week
of care!

You can go on vacation for weeks and not worry about your worms!

Your worms can survive just fine, even if you run out of food scraps!

You can easily turn your junk mail into Castings (Worm Poop)!

The Castings your worms produce are the Finest Soil Amendment
available! Full of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms to make
your soil healthy!

Want LARGER, HEALTHIER Plants….Raise Worms!