Raising redworms

[Nathan]

Hello everyone,

I'm kinda new here so I thought I would introduce myself really quick along with a question. My name is Nathan and i'm 18 years young. I love fishing for anything but panfish are at the top of my list, whether it be pumpkin seed or bluegill it is all fun. I'm more so a fly fisherman but am more than willing to put down the fly rod if it's windy and toss a worm into the drink. I live on the west coast and the panfish don't get very big here so you probably won't be seeing any mosters from me. My biggest is around 8" bluegill.

 

Now the question, I have started an endevor of raising worms afew years ago. I started with nightcrawlers and was hoping to move on to super worms, red worms, and meal worms, along with wax worms and some others but never really made it past meal worms. I started a nightcrawler club but during the summer I was fishing more than I was tending to them and slowly my nightcrawlers died off. I was gone a lot since my parents are split and it's hard being in two places at the same time. Anyhow, I then bought super worms and tried them, to find out they are just as challenging to raise. They're easy to maintain but hard to get to multiply. Then meal worms were next, these were much easier. I started with 50, managed to get 30 beetles to breed then ended up with a couple hundred. Now the cycle is restarting and I am on my third generation. I just recently tried redworms, and after getting some, I made a foolish mistake of leaving them in the sun, killing them all. :'( Well tonight I got new ones, and I bought some Frabill Fat and sassy worm bedding. I added a dash of water and put them in there. Now I am just waiting to see how this works out. My question though is if anyone can tell me the best way to keep them alive, or if anyone here raises their own worms and has some tips or tricks that would also be greatly appreciated. Does anyone here raise worms?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Nathan.

[Nathan]

I'm open to tips on any kind of worm raising too! Whether it is meals, supers, wax, red, or nightcrawlers.

Thanks!

[dick tabbert]

Nathan I'm raising red wigglers which I purchased from Uncle Jims worm farm. Tried Canadian night crawler but they have to be refrigerated. I've had the wiggles this is my 3rd year. I started out with a large dark tote. Half top soil and half Michigan peat and some shredded newspaper. Add water mix together but don't over water. To check for the proper water consistency grab a hand full in your hand and squeeze it. If you get a couple drop of water your on the money. If you get to much water add more soil and peat better to add water in small amounts then mix and squeeze. Once you get that done your ready for your worms. Mine have been in the garage for almost 3 years now. Keep out of direct sunlight. Feed veggie scraps and coffee grounds and have a spray bottle of water you will have to mist them often more in the summer never let them dry out. A trick I found to making them larger is buy some chicken starter feed sprinkle it on top. It is a dry feed so you will have to mist it. The worms love it and they will get larger. Always keep a lid on your worm they hate light of any kind. If you us a tote drill many small holes in the bottom for drainage. Good luck my man and GOOD FISHIN....

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

What Dick said although I avoid using soil. I just use peat, shredded newspaper, chopped leaf mold... Anything but actual dirt.
Everything else he's doing, do.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

What Dick said although I avoid using soil. I just use peat, shredded newspaper, chopped leaf mold... Anything but actual dirt.
Everything else he's doing, do.

[dick tabbert]

I buy the my topsoil in bags it has been steamed and free of weed seeds.

[Nathan]

Thank guys! Mr. Tabbert, would you mind if I asked you questions that may pop up along my the way while I am doing this?

[dick tabbert]

Nathan you can ask me anything.

[Nathan]

Cool thanks, well i'll start off with...Well, I got the worms in their new home last night and put in the new bedding and all, this morning I woke up to an angry mother because they slipped out of the top and were crawling on the floor. So today I have just been peeking in on them every few hours. Everytime I check they're either escaping or trying to escape and I was wondering if you could tell me why, I read that if they're trying to leave then you're doing something wrong and I was wondering if that was the case or if they just want to be free. It says I can have up to 100 redworms in 1lb of the frabill bedding and I think there was 2.5lbs of it in the bag, and I only got 30ish worms. Also should I add food? The frabill thing says it has food inside but I was thinking of adding coffee grounds since I don't have any chick scratch right now but I am going to hopefully get some since chicks are in the stores right now. Another thing is, when people say coffee grounds do they mean used coffee grounds or coffee grounds that have not been brewed? My mother makes coffee every morning so I would have a supply of used coffee grounds if thats what people mean, I just don't know if I should use the used ones or new coffee grounds. My mother probably would not like me feeding good coffee to my worms. :)

 

Thanks

-Nathan

[dick tabbert]

Nathan that's what they say if the worms gets out there is something they don't like but realistically you will have some escapees regardless but the majority will stay home. I guess my next question is where you got the worms are they wigglers or redworms. How large is your container is the container a dark container worms don't like light of any kind. Now when I say worms I'm telling you wigglers. The soil I suggested was what I used and it worked for me. 1/2 top soil you can get it from the Garden shop it will be sterile which means it was steamed and void of a lot of your weed seeds. 1/2 Michigan peat and shredded news papers. Now when you put it all together it will be very dry mostly because of the Michigan peat. Add water avoid chlorinated water if that's what you have let it stand 24 hours outside in the sun this will dissipate the chlorine then safe to add. I feed my worms all veggie scraps being careful not to over feed if the worms can't keep up with what your adding it will start to rot an contaminate the soil. Used coffee grounds I find they love. I throw the used coffee filters in with the grounds and all. When I want to fatten them up the chicken starter feed will plump them right up. I started out the way I explained to you but since bought the worm factory which is what I use now. I have a lid that sets on the top it has a crack about 1/8 of and inch all the way around they can escape any time they want but don't. I'll lift the lid off to feed them and you will see the biggest concentration of worms will be on the food. I keep my worms in the garage year round and they survived so far but keep them out of sunlight first they don't like the light and the sun will overheat them. Have a spray bottle ready and mist it often that's where the drain hole on the bottom come in but the holes have to be small and lots of them. Nathan I hope this works for you if not you are more than welcome to call me as far as that's concerned you call call me anytime about anything feel free I love to talk fishing and believe me I can talk much faster than I can type.

Dick Tabbert

419-826-8011

[Nathan]

Ok, I got the worms from Walmart and it said "Big red worms" i'm not sure if thats red wigglers or just red worms (Is there a difference?) The container is a white styrofoam cooler, just something from the dollar store. Not terribly big but I am trying to upgrade to a bigger one. I put a peice of egg carton on the top and wet it so there is something blocking the light, they're in a black garbage bag as well and in a closet so there should be 0 light getting to them. I shredded newspaper today and added that in there and then added some water, and i'm only getting a few drops when I pick it up and squeeze it. Money's pretty tight for me so getting chick scratch, new container, peat moss and everything else I have on my list is not going to happen right away. The container on the cup of worms says they don't need to be refigerated but I have them in the coolest spot in my house. It's only like 60 degree's outside so i'm guessing its around 50-60 in the closet. Thanks I will have to give you a call sometime. I really appreciate all this info.

[Jacob Hill]

I raise red worms and what Dick Tabbert said is right on! I don't have anything valuable to add except my mom says the compost and leachate (moisture that comes out of the bottom) made her garden 10x better. Other than that just add vegetable scraps and occasionally some bread or cornmeal. If you ever wonder whether you're feeding them too much, you're probably feeding them too much. They can live without food for like 3 months but if you over feed, they'll get too much nitrogen or ammonia or something in the soil which kills them.

[Nathan]

Thanks Jacob! Yea I have heard that the stuff they produce is really really good for plants, in fact, I have seen it for sale. I read to only put food on the top so that I can see when it's gone, if they ate a pinch of cornmeal everyday would that be too much?