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View Full Version : I think I Learned Redworms & Vermiculture ! :-)



gunDriller
19th May 2010, 12:51 PM
About 2 years ago I took a composting class, and we had group projects. Our group project was "Vermiculture" - that's where you let worms eat food scraps or manure, and then use the castings in your garden. One of the other students gave me a bunch of redworms, and I took them home, and put them in a bucket, and they were fruitful and multiplied.

http://lifestyle.resourcesforattorneys.com/fishing/images/red-worm-fishing.jpg

Then, i gave them too many food scraps, and not enough dry leaf material. And they died.

So I saw the instructor and he straightened me about not using all food scraps. So I started adding dry leaves to their food mix.

Then I wondered, why aren't they all fruitful & multiplying like my first experiment ?

And I realized, DUH, I'm keeping them in an un-heated room where it's going down to 35 degrees F at night.

So I was thinking about buying some more redworms to get the project going, and talked to the owner of a local worm company.

She was nice enough to tell me - if you build a compost pile in the winter, the kind that heats up (hot compost), when it cools off, worms tend to crawl into it. And those worms are redworms - the same kind as when you pay $50 for 2 pounds of worms including shipping.

So when I was spreading out this year's compost pile, I noticed that some parts had a LOT of worms. I loaded up a 5 gallon bucket and took them home.

http://www.aquarticles.com/images/S.Redworms/Redworms%201.JPG


So, in the vein of Learn by Doing, I learned worms & vermiculture. Basically, it's easy to do, but it's also easy to have a population of worms completely die off, leaving you scratching your head.

MNeagle
19th May 2010, 01:09 PM
Very interesting. Good luck with your worms!

Heimdhal
19th May 2010, 03:01 PM
good post and good lessons learned!

Dont be too distressed if you do wind up killing off your worms. Theyll come back in time from nature as long as you provide (as you learned). They never really die off, since there are so many of them out there in the world.

Temperature isnt as important either, because their eggs will survive some pretty good freezes. Active adult worms will continualy produce eggs throuh their lifetime, and the eggs will stay in the soil through most conditions, even drying out to a degree, as I've found in florida. Once the temperature and wetness return to a good condition for a few weeks, youll be crawling with worms again.

StackerKen
19th May 2010, 03:32 PM
Yep those red worms are great. We have lots of them too. :)

I have mentioned this before but it bares repeating. We grow veggies and raise worms and Compost all at the same time, in the same place.

http://i.acdn.us/image/A1011/1011988/470_1011988.jpg
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2790432/lasagna_gardening.html?cat=44
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2790432/lasagna_gardening.html?cat=44)

Works Great! :)

gunDriller
20th May 2010, 05:19 AM
i've been training myself to eat them as part of survival training.

the trick is, you don't chew. you just swallow them whole ... wash them down with water.

so far, i'm up to 5.

it does seem cruel. i'm wondering how to make it less cruel.

i also heard that sometimes earthworms have tapeworm eggs inside of them, so that if you are going to eat earthworms, you need to cook them.

StackerKen
20th May 2010, 06:53 PM
lol :D

big country
21st May 2010, 07:52 AM
Looks like free fishing bait to me..

I'd never be able to raise worms, I'd use them all for catching dinner.

StackerKen
21st May 2010, 11:01 AM
Looks like free fishing bait to me..

I'd never be able to raise worms, I'd use them all for catching dinner.

If you went about it right. There would be so many, that I don't think you would ever run out.

gunDriller
21st May 2010, 05:31 PM
If you went about it right. There would be so many, that I don't think you would ever run out.

that's the thing - they multiply exponentially - when they have the right conditions.

they basically crawl around in the muck, a combination of rotting and molding vegetables and fruit - that's their breakfast, lunch, and dinner - and it slowly turns into high quality fertilizer that has the approximate consistency of dirt, once it's dried out.

when it's in the bucket it looks like a combination of slightly muddy dirt, and rotting food scraps. i just had a batch of wheat sprouts get moldy, so i put those in the "main bucket" - the bucket i use to start other buckets. i'm pretty sure that for these critters, moldy wheat sprouts are like filet mignon. 8)

you would think it would smell but it doesn't smell much. when the buckets have too much water, then it smells like used motor oil.

StackerKen
21st May 2010, 06:09 PM
Ive heard they like coffee grounds :)
So that goes in (filter too ) with the rest of our paper towels and plates and other kitchen trash they might like :)

gunDriller
22nd May 2010, 05:22 AM
Ive heard they like coffee grounds :)
So that goes in (filter too ) with the rest of our paper towels and plates and other kitchen trash they might like :)


at this point i'm economizing so much i'm re-using the filters.

MNeagle
22nd May 2010, 07:50 AM
We found a fine mesh basket for our last coffee pot, so it didn't even need filters. Check around, you may find one too.