What kind of worms do you want wiggling around your house? Red wigglers, of course. Red wigglers, or Eisenia foetida, are the best compost worms. Unlike your everyday night crawlers, they live well in close, highly populated conditions and don't burrow. In nature, you would almost never find a red wiggler worm heading deep underground.
If you decide to start a compost bin, you can get your Red Wigglers HERE. Like African night crawlers, they make a tasty meal for fish. These usually come packaged in small containers and at a relatively high price. It's better to get your worms online from a reputable worm farm. The advantage to this is that they sell worms by the pound -- and knowing how much your worms weigh is vitally important to your compost.
You'll find when you begin vermicomposting that your worm population will double every 90 days or so. That's how you know that your worms are healthy and happy. Just be sure you weigh your worms before you put them in the bin.
Why is it important to weigh your worms? Fat worms are good. Red wiggler worms can eat about half of their weight in food every day. This means if you put one pound (16 ounces) of worms (about 1,000 worms) into your bin, you will be able to feed them one half of a pound (8 ounces) of food every day. The best way to decide how many worms you'll need for your bin is to weigh the amount of organic waste you throw away each day for about a week. When you know about how much you toss on average, buy twice as many pounds of worms as the amount of waste. For example, if you average one pound of organic waste per day, you should buy two pounds of worms.
Reports vary on how long worms will live. Some say only a few months, some say up to 10 years. No matter what, the worms will reproduce; however, you don't need to concern yourself with buying an equal number of male and female worms -- they're hermaphroditic. In other words, they have both male and female sex organs, yet it still takes two worms to reproduce.
Sexually mature worms have dark red bands around their necks. The Red Wiggler breeds by lying next to another worm but in opposite direction. They secrete thru the clitella and this secretion is collected in storage sacs. After the worms separate, the clitellum secrete albumin which forms a cocoon. The Red Wiggler is able to lay 3.3 cocoons a week. These cocoons are round in shape and change color during the development cycle, first white, then yellow and lastly brown. The cocoon can produce 3 to 4 baby worms.
These worms are sensitive to vibrations so its best to feed worms once or twice a week. Make sure not to over feed worms, by alternating locations of food within the bins. Make sure to cover food with bedding after feeding. The use of egg shells sprinkled on top of bedding helps control PH level.
Where to Purchase Red Wigglers Worms
You can purchase Red Wigglers on our website, click HERE to buy your Red Wigglers Worms shipped on your doorstep with free shipping.