After the first few days of Posting the Poll, “Were you successful with your first batch of Composting Redworms”? …. The results are exactly 50-50. Initially I had a voter that voted 3 times and skewed the numbers. By looking up his IP, I was able to eliminate the duplicate voting.

Look at the distribution…Pretty amazing!

Please vote only once, but Please tell your friends to VOTE!

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/9394/764/

Read all about Lake County’s 42nd Annual INTERNATIONAL Worm Race.

Trophy’s, Cash Prizes, Worms…What more could a Worm fanatic want?

Sounds like a good time!  Great publicity to learn about the benefits of worms.

Thanks to Bob P. for sending this in.

I went fishing and used nightcrawlers as bait. I have like seven or eight
worms left. MY fridge is too cold for them, i have been told by other sites.
Can i put them in my garden. I am an animal freak and i hate to put them
somewhere they will die so please answer soon!
-Ginny

Hi Ginny,

“Nightcrawlers” is a name without a solid definition.  Basically it just means a large worm.

I need more information before I can answer your question as some nightcrawlers require refrigeration, others live in compost, others live in dirt.   Are these worms pinkish or grey?  About how large are they?

“Nightcrawler” Basics:

Canadian Nightcrawlers – HUGE worms, Great for fishing, require refrigeration.  

European Nightcrawlers/African Nightcrawlers – Both are composters.  Both are Amazing fishing worms and Great for composting!  No refrigeration needed….just keep in your garage or outside in the shade.

Alabama Jumpers – Amazingly strong worms.  Great for aerating your Soil.  Even heavy clay!

Here are some of the more frequently asked questions I receive.  I’m featuring them for the benefit of all.

Hey wormdude,

I have been doing research on starting a worm farm for my home/garden. I am concerned however about the Texas heat and that the worm bins will become too hot and kill them off.

My other concern is if I bring them inside will it smell?

-Jennifer S.

Hi Jennifer,

Two very common questions.  Both easily avoidable.

WORM BINS AND HIGH TEMPS:

Worms can tolerate pretty high AMBIENT temperatures. This is because their bedding
stays much cooler than the ambient temperatures, PROVIDING the outside of the
worm bin does not get warm to the touch.  If it does, you have a “Frying Pan” situation, and your worms will cook. 

I’ve had worms in my bins with 108 degree temps.  The worms were fine.  I haven’t tested the max ambient temperatures that worms can take, but 108 is pretty warm.  The bottom line, keep the worms in total shade.  Avoid exposing them to high DIRECT temps.

WORM BINS AND SMELL:
Worm bins do not smell if set up correctly.  A couple of things will cause a worm bin to smell.

1.  Bedding is not fluffed up, just soaked and thrown in the bin. If oxygen
cannot penetrate through the bedding, you will have anaerobic bacteria
growing.  That is why a gym bag stinks…no air flow.

2.  Overwatering of bedding, creating mud.  Again, oxygen cannot penetrate
mud, creating an anaerobic environment.  This is easy to prevent by not
overwatering your worms, and when you do need to water, only using a mist
bottle.

3.  Overfeeding of your worms creating a sewer.  The amount of scraps that
your worms can process is directly related to the worm mass that you have in
your bin.  If you start with a pound of worms, that is about
the maximum amount of scraps you want to begin with.  Excess scraps can be
dealt with in various ways, but you do not want to use your worm bin as a
holding area for excess scraps.

Every stink problem can be traced back to overfeeding and/or overwatering of
your worms.  If your bin is set up correctly, this is a non issue.

Yes, they really jump!

I had a funny comment from a customer that just bought his first batch of Jumpers.  Apparently, one of the Jumpers fell a short distance to the ground. 

His comment:

“You know how hard it is to pick a worm off of the ground?  Actually, the first time he jumped, I missed him as I was not prepared for that.  The second time, I got him”!

If you like worms, these are lotsa fun…plus, they’ll aerate your soil!

Just throw some mulch on the ground, add some moisture, and the worms will have a reason to…..PARTY!

LOTS of people are growing their own produce these days.  It just makes sense.  When you grow your own fruits and vegetables, you have the opportunity to eat produce the way it is supposed to be enjoyed….FRESH AND NATURAL!

Some people plant their garden, and then add Synthetic Fertilizers to stimulate growth.  WHY would you want to add a poisonous substance to something that you, your family, your friends and neighbors will be eating???

Instead, try ALL NATURAL worm castings!  If you really want to have some fun and kick up the bacteria levels in your castings, I can send you the recipe for THE WORM DUDE’S AMAZING TEA!  This is real worm tea, not the runoff that comes out of a worm bed spout.

After brewing a batch himself, here is a quote from my friend, Bill S., “I’ve never seen anything like it.  That tea is so good, you can almost watch plants grow right before your eyes”!

You can make your own tea quickly, easily, and inexpensively. 

Even better, you’ll never use synthetic fertilizer again!

Email me for details!

Crazy Worms on YouTube

Your worms are munching away in their bedding.  It’s time to relax.

Turn on your speakers, grab the kids, and enjoy this short video.

You can’t help but smile!

I receive certain questions that get asked often. Because of this, I’m going to start including some of the most frequently asked questions right here…under my latest addition to my blog, “Featured Customer Questions”.

Here’s a question regarding composting pet poo from John M.

Will the giant reds eat dog waste?

Hi John,

Yep. The giant reds will eat all the same foods as normal red wigglers.

A couple of caveats:

1. If you give your animal(Dog, horse, cow), worm medicine, while active, the worm medicine will kill all of the worms that eat the feces.
2. It is usually not recommended to compost dog or cat manure(or any meat eating animal). This is due to the possibility of pathogen cross contamination.
3. If you decide to compost your carnivorous animals’ manure, make sure the worm castings are placed only on ornamentals. You do not want the worm casts on any fruits or vegetables that you would eat.

Other than that…the worms will absolutely eat manure.

Do you enjoy gardening?

Do you get excited when you see plants blooming well beyond anything you ever thought possible?

Do you wish your daisies looked like this?

I walked out front this morning and thought, “These plants are so healthy, I need to take a picture”. This is the result of using worm castings on plants. Are worm castings “Miraculous”? Nah, I reserve Miracle status for things that don’t occur all the time. When I use worm castings, results like this occur EVERY time. It’s just expected.

I hate wasting money on liquid chemicals in plastic bottles. You never know what the results will be. We’ve all killed plants using liquid chemicals. By using worm castings, you are assured of NOT killing your plants and NOT harming the environment. You are simply adding beneficial bacteria and microorganisms to make your soil healthy…..and you’ll make your PLANTS HAPPY!

Now that you know, why would you ever go back to synthetic chemicals in a bottle?

Here are “Common questions” that people ask when learning about Red Wiggler Worms.

How fast do Red Wigglers eat?
What do Red Wigglers like to eat?
How fast do Red Wigglers reproduce?
How long will it take the Red Wigglers to turn the bedding into Vermicompost?
Where can I place my worm bin (IE. How will cold and heat affect my worms)?

Today, we are going to talk about worms and heat.

I ran a heat experiment with 6 containers of worms in bedding with some rabbit pellets for food.

I kept 3 inside the house (Guest bathroom-Gotta love an understanding wife). The temps never exceeded 79 degrees in the house.

I kept 3 in the garage, where temperatures hit 99.9 degrees during the experiment.

CLICK to see The Worm Dudes Heat Experiment with Red Wigglers

Now for my real world experiences with large amounts of worms……

I can tell you that Red Wigglers can withstand a wide variety of temps. I’ve successfully maintained worms in ambient temps of up to 108 degrees in my garage during hot summer days last year.

From experience, I can also tell you that I have killed worms outside in 80 degree temps?

You’re probably wondering why worms would die at 80 degrees, yet thrive at 108?

Last year, we had a heat wave. At the time, I had around 200 pounds of Red Wigglers. When temps hit over 105 degrees and continued to climb, I panicked. The first thing I did was start adding extra water to some of my bins. Big Mistake! Here is what happens when standing water is left in a worm bin. Some worms start to gravitate to the water. They will rot. More worms gravitate to the water. They will also rot. Soon, you will have a big ball of stinky mush as your worms all start to rot in the standing water. Not fun! Before I realized it,  I had over 50 pounds of dead worms….and counting.

Thankfully, I  did not overwater all my bins. The bins that I just maintained normally were fine even in the hot temps!

My experience in 80 degree temps was different. I was selling worms at a flea market in 80 degree temps. A guy next to me selling auto parts said, I smell something dead. Sure enough, I felt my tubs and they were warm to the touch. This means the bedding inside was starting to roast. When that happens, the worms cook! The smell he was smelling was my worm stock!

What’s the moral of the story? It’s not the ambient temps that normally kill worms. It’s the radiant temps of the sun beating on your worm bin. If the bin is hot to the touch….your worms are cooking.

Because plastic bins absorb more heat than wooden bins, plastic bins are especially prone to heat problems with even small amounts of DIRECT sun.