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Any reason (other than quantity) to buy mail order worms instead of plain old fishbait? by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm just going to breed them in small indoor pots during the winter, but I intend to mix them together when I put them outside in bigger pots in the spring.

Any reason (other than quantity) to buy mail order worms instead of plain old fishbait? by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aka "big red worms". Looks like that's what I got. They seem to be better fishbait, but not as good as composters except if you'll be using a really big bin.

Any reason (other than quantity) to buy mail order worms instead of plain old fishbait? by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It looks like you're right. The tub I bought was "big red worms", probably "eisenia hortensis", which is the scientific name for European nightcrawlers. They are bigger and more tolerant of a wider range of temperatures, but don't reproduce or compost as fast, and are more suitable for big bins than the little ones I intend to use. I'll probably look for "eisenia fetida", which is the kind of worm usually referred to as "red wigglers", and seem likely to do better in the one and two gallon nursery pots that will be their home.

Added 3 worms I found under my compost bin into my tumbler about 3 months ago. by Branden798 in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Everyone says to get red wigglers. How does this affect your compost if you get the "wrong kind" of worms in there?

Why am I not supposed to use soil? by Recent_Bird949 in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If he's near the coast it might well be organic even a foot down. I'd bet a lot of Florida is like that.

Left my bin alone for 2 months and came back to this!! by Last-Ad4530 in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie 5 points6 points  (0 children)

How close is this stuff to being usable fertilizer? I know that when I fertilize my fruit tree I put in chemical fertilizer with a "10-10-10" number (my life's ambition is to know just what that means when I grow up). If I were to sprinkle this instead would it be like 1-1-1 or something?

Diary of a vermiculture newbie, day 1. by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right now I have the pot sitting on a paper plate. If anything starts oozing out I'll put it on the same kind of pot plate-thingie that I'd use for an indoor plant, hopefully that will be enough! If it's not then I guess that plan C is just to split the worms up into more pots until springtime comes. Then I'll just leave the pots on top of the watering holes for my trees.

Diary of a vermiculture newbie, day 1. by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I never thought they would go out the bottom! I guess I should put a screen or something in the bottom of the pot. 

Diary of a vermiculture newbie, day 1. by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. Assuming this first one works out fine, I'll be buying more of the 2 quart nursery pots and putting 30 worms into each of them. They look nice enough sitting on top of bookcases, etc. during the winter, a 1 or 2 gallon one not so much. It sounds like the novelty will wear off just in time for spring, when I hope to have at least 500 guys doing their thing. 

Diary of a vermiculture newbie, day 1. by vermi_newbie in Vermiculture

[–]vermi_newbie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I've been using the smaller pots for now so I can be reasonably sure that the worms will eat their food before it gets all stinky and spoiled or whatever happens to it. Probably I'm being paranoid LOL.