WHAT TO DO WITH MY WORMS?

[Smitty]

Yep picked up some earthworms/red wigglers from Summerwinds Nursery $12.99/200ct is there a diff? And was wanting to know how you (your setup)is as of now I just got the in a "The Goliath" ice chest I got from walmart along with some mushroom compost/coco fiber basket I cut up as a top dressing with a burlap on the top?is it ok to just have one layer to my worms Ive U tubed it and ive seen both single layer beds and multi layer ones? Whats the pro's/con's also Ive seen them put drains on there(multi)set up is it needed for mine?

 

[Smitty]

Nothing? Dang Im good lol nothing to change,fix,do awsome thanks for all the feedback (views)lol oh well.

 

[patrick]

Like to help Smitty but I've never raised worms. Looking forward to learning though. Best of luck to ya buddy.

 

[Smitty]

Like to help Smitty but I've never raised worms. Looking forward to learning though. Best of luck to ya buddy.

Thanks man.

 

[smokemaster]

I've only known a few people who actually raised worms for $.
Most recycle the soil/whatever for sales as casings but make the most $ by selling them as bait and then to gardeners.

Why did you buy the worms?
For personal use for casing harvest?
For the worms themselves?
In general IF you just want to use them to improve your garden soil I'd say build a compost pile and not mess with actually growing them in containers.
The worms will migrate to where the most food is and the moisture and temps are right.

I used to raise nightcrawlers.
They were 6in.+ beasts called Canadian night crawlers.
I had the equivalent to raised beds that I grew them in.
In the summer heat my beds were almost empty but when things cooled off my beds were over run with worms.
In the winter ,after a couple years whenever it rained you would see TONS of the worms all over the place.
Other/most times the lawn had a lot of 4in. x 2in. piles of casings where the worms came up every night.

I decided to stop taking care of the beds.
It was easier to zap the lawn at night to collect worms whenever I needed them.I'm talking about a hundred or so coming up in a 6X6ft. area.
They had taken over the whole yard.
Tons of moon craters of worm casings everywhere.

I split a cheap extension cord and put a welding rod on each cord.Stuck the rods 2-3ft into the ground and plugged the other end in.
As soon as I saw worms I unplugged the extension and collected the worms.
Since I fished a lot and used both redworms and the canadian night crawlers I had tons of both at most any given time.

In general,I think as long as your garden is moist enough most any kind of worm will naturally find it's way into any place that supplies what it likes to live in.
The dryer the yard,the deeper the worms stay in general.But they are always there.

I grow now on asphalt in pots and have several types of worms in my pots that came from who knows where-potting soil or wherever.
Worms suck for pots though.They break down potting soil so the bottom of the pot is mush.Holds too much moisture.
Casings sink to the bottom and the perlite/bigger stuff is at the top.
Since the worms like the moister bottoms of my pots they screw up my drainage.

I like fast draining soil mixes and worms screw them up in pots.
I end up having to re mix my pots each year because the bottoms of my pots are worm sludge.
No matter what good stuff is in worm casings if it's flooded into mush my roots can't use it.

 

[Smitty]

I've only known a few people who actually raised worms for $.
Most recycle the soil/whatever for sales as casings but make the most $ by selling them as bait and then to gardeners.

Why did you buy the worms?
For personal use for casing harvest?
For the worms themselves?
In general IF you just want to use them to improve your garden soil I'd say build a compost pile and not mess with actually growing them in containers.
The worms will migrate to where the most food is and the moisture and temps are right.

Index used to raise nightcrawlers.
They were 6in.+ beasts called Canadian night crawlers.
I had the equivalent to raised beds that I grew them in.
In the summer heat my beds were almost empty but when things cooled off my beds were over run with worms.
In the winter ,after a couple years whenever it rained you would see TONS of the worms all over the place.
Other/most times the lawn had a lot of 4in. x 2in. piles of casings where the worms came up every night.

I decided to stop taking care of the beds.
It was easier to zap the lawn at night to collect worms whenever I needed them.I'm talking about a hundred or so coming up in a 6X6ft. area.
They had taken over the whole yard.
Tons of moon craters of worm casings everywhere.

I split a cheap extension cord and put a welding rod on each cord.Stuck the rods 2-3ft into the ground and plugged the other end in.
As soon as I saw worms I unplugged the extension and collected the worms.
Since I fished a lot and used both redworms and the canadian night crawlers I had tons of both at most any given time.

In general,I think as long as your garden is moist enough most any kind of worm will naturally find it's way into any place that supplies what it likes to live in.
The dryer the yard,the deeper the worms stay in general.But they are always there.

I grow now on asphalt in pots and have several types of worms in my pots that came from who knows where-potting soil or wherever.
Worms suck for pots though.They break down potting soil so the bottom of the pot is mush.Holds too much moisture.
Casings sink to the bottom and the perlite/bigger stuff is at the top.
Since the worms like the moister bottoms of my pots they screw up my drainage.

I like fast draining soil mixes and worms screw them up in pots.
I end up having to re mix my pots each year because the bottoms of my pots are worm sludge.
No matter what good stuff is in worm casings if it's flooded into mush my roots can't use it.

Bam thanks for the feed back and yes I do want the casting for my pepper plants Ive heard Its good for them and also some will be donated to the cause...lol (fishing) thanks I think Ima just put them strait in the garden then thank you again.

 

[Cayennemist]

Put them in the ground and they are free to leave. Look in to this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bFeXTLmCTg

 

[smokemaster]

What is wrong with worms taking over the garden/yard,migrating?

When I tried growing the mini snakes in containers it was a real PIA.
If 1 worm died it spread crap to the whole bin and if you didn't put the rest of the worms in new bins ,whatever killed the first worm killed everything,real fast.

I grew mine outside in S.Ca. which should be about like AZ.

Worms go deep in warm temps. They come up only when it's cool at night/conditions are right.

They seemed to have less of a problem outdoors in the compost pile than when I had worm beds/bins.

In general as I said IF you have food and moisture that they like,they stick around.

I ,at first thought I had either killed them all off or they just went away.

BUT all it took was a heavy rain to see that actually my yard was over run with them.

Also they never forgot where the compost pile was.
It always had worms in the bottom layers even in the hot summer temps.
I think they used it as a place to lay eggs.

After several years even the guys next door were commenting on the giant worms that were in their yards.
A few got pissed because of the piles of casings/moon craters the worms left in their manicured lawns.
I'm not joking about the casing pile sizes.

I guess it depends on if you want to play around with what it takes to maintain an ice chest full of worms or want a resident population of worms.
I personally want them conditioning my soil IN the garden rather than adding small amounts of casings to a small area to liven up the goodness of things in my soil.
The end results I want is for my whole garden to be cool all by itself.
To me teas etc. are a short term fix.
I'm more into a permanent build up of everything in the possibly bad soil (adobe here) to make it eventually great stuff with the least amount of work and $.
My compost pile was mostly a small amount of kitchen scraps but mostly lawn clippings.
People on my block gave me their lawn and tree trimmings for my pile.

I feel a good compost pile full of worms doing their thing and then spreading said compost in my garden is a better permanent solution.
For me worm bins were not as productive as building up my gardens soil so all the stuff people add to their gardens (teas etc.) wasn't needed.
But a lot of people aren't happy unless they can mess with their garden using whatever the latest trend says they have to do.

My parents now live in the high desert and have a couple Donkeys.
They have a pile of years old straw,alfalfa and manure that is composted.
Mushrooms break it down too.
Great stuff for their garden.Bandini Mountain. LOL
Even where they live worms live in their compost pile.
Their soil is mostly decomposed granite and pine needles.
Grows some great Tomatoes and squash among other stuff.
Since the whatever it is beetle killed off all the pine trees they re planted with fruit trees and maples.
Heat in Tahachapi in the summer sucks and the cold in winter does too.
They do pump a lot of water to keep things growing.
Mice love chewing up drip lines for a drink...Gotta water by hand.
Other critters like chewing the wires in their automobiles too.
I guess that's what you have to deal with if you don't have dogs roaming the back 40.
My parents have dogs-less critter problems.
Though a Cougar visits from time to time for a drink at the well and a nap by the water tank.
Donkeys kill the rattlers and the dogs also keep them away.

 

[Cayennemist]

What is wrong with worms taking over the garden/yard,migrating?

Nothing, but if you farm them you can re introduce them to the soil over and over and over... FO FREE!
And castings for tea is a plus.

Have your cake and eat it to.

 

[DesertChris]

What is wrong with worms taking over the garden/yard,migrating?

When I tried growing the mini snakes in containers it was a real PIA.
If 1 worm died it spread crap to the whole bin and if you didn't put the rest of the worms in new bins ,whatever killed the first worm killed everything,real fast.

I grew mine outside in S.Ca. which should be about like AZ.

Worms go deep in warm temps. They come up only when it's cool at night/conditions are right.

They seemed to have less of a problem outdoors in the compost pile than when I had worm beds/bins.

In general as I said IF you have food and moisture that they like,they stick around.

I ,at first thought I had either killed them all off or they just went away.

BUT all it took was a heavy rain to see that actually my yard was over run with them.

Also they never forgot where the compost pile was.
It always had worms in the bottom layers even in the hot summer temps.
I think they used it as a place to lay eggs.

After several years even the guys next door were commenting on the giant worms that were in their yards.
A few got pissed because of the piles of casings/moon craters the worms left in their manicured lawns.
I'm not joking about the casing pile sizes.

I guess it depends on if you want to play around with what it takes to maintain an ice chest full of worms or want a resident population of worms.
I personally want them conditioning my soil IN the garden rather than adding small amounts of casings to a small area to liven up the goodness of things in my soil.
The end results I want is for my whole garden to be cool all by itself.
To me teas etc. are a short term fix.
I'm more into a permanent build up of everything in the possibly bad soil (adobe here) to make it eventually great stuff with the least amount of work and $.
My compost pile was mostly a small amount of kitchen scraps but mostly lawn clippings.
People on my block gave me their lawn and tree trimmings for my pile.

I feel a good compost pile full of worms doing their thing and then spreading said compost in my garden is a better permanent solution.
For me worm bins were not as productive as building up my gardens soil so all the stuff people add to their gardens (teas etc.) wasn't needed.
But a lot of people aren't happy unless they can mess with their garden using whatever the latest trend says they have to do.

My parents now live in the high desert and have a couple Donkeys.
They have a pile of years old straw,alfalfa and manure that is composted.
Mushrooms break it down too.
Great stuff for their garden.Bandini Mountain. LOL
Even where they live worms live in their compost pile.
Their soil is mostly decomposed granite and pine needles.
Grows some great Tomatoes and squash among other stuff.
Since the whatever it is beetle killed off all the pine trees they re planted with fruit trees and maples.
Heat in Tahachapi in the summer sucks and the cold in winter does too.
They do pump a lot of water to keep things growing.
Mice love chewing up drip lines for a drink...Gotta water by hand.
Other critters like chewing the wires in their automobiles too.
I guess that's what you have to deal with if you don't have dogs roaming the back 40.
My parents have dogs-less critter problems.
Though a Cougar visits from time to time for a drink at the well and a nap by the water tank.
Donkeys kill the rattlers and the dogs also keep them away.

Yep, I live down the hill from your parents, in Lancaster.
We threw some worms into the previously undeveloped garden last year...maybe a hundred of them.
We were weeding the other day, getting a little ready for spring, and there were worms everywhere...lol

I much prefer the worms to the the Mojave Green Rattler that was hanging out in the tomatoes one day last year.
Needless to say, with small kids in the garden, the snake was removed separately from his head.
I felt bad, but gotta keep kids safe.

 

[smokemaster]

I think they reproduced in larger numbers outside than I got in an ice chest.

They seemed to re produce even better in the yard when they excaped the bins.also.

I think re releasing whatever amount of worms that can grow in an ice chest doesn't compare to what ended up growing in the compost pile and in the ground.
An ice chest has limits as to what it can support and was WAY more hassle than I wanted to deal with.

I guess it boils down to whatever floats your boat , works for you.

I don't think the turnover in an ice chest is as large as in a bin or bed or compost pile.

10 or whatever worms every so often from a bin wasn't worth the work involved and didn't keep up with my reason for growing them in the first place-fishing.
Latter came the compost pile and my early gardening addiction (early 70's).

I put in a bed to see if I could get better results.(before the internet-40yrs ago +/-)
As I said,I thought they all died but found out different when it rained or the stuff in my beds was to the worms liking...

I'm not trying to convert anyone.
Also I do think that it probably depends on where you live as far as conditions and soil or whatever.
MAYBE you HAVE to grow them in bins or whatever because your soil etc. doesn't support the same things that we have here.
Just giving my 2 cents worth about my experience growing worms.
Worth exactly what you paid for it...0 $.

Should have skinned that sucker (like taking a sock off ) cut the belly skin off,salted the rest and let it dry out.
Rattler skin is worth $.
It was,years ago $15.00 an inch.

Can't sell full skins in some places/this state, but a blank buckle from Tandy wrapped in snake skin is worth a few $ from a lot of goat ropers.
Belt buckles hat bands it seems are cool.
Whole skins need documentation ,so I've been told.
I do leather work from time to time.used to have a leather shop.

From your past posts I figured you were from my parents area.

The guy you posted about sounded like the guy who got the acreage down the hill an acre or so. might be the guy you know...
He works for the prison/sheriff dept.
Parolees I think,not sure.
I guess not.

If you want some composted Donkey crap I might be able to set ya up. LOL
Gotta talk to Dad.

 

[DesertChris]

Dang snake made my gal paranoid for weeks....wouldn't go in the garden without me!
She pretty much gave me one option at the time.....quick removal off the premises...

Luckily the only other snake visitors have been red racers and gopher snakes. I like both of those around...less gophers and mice is a good thing!

Wow, didn't know the skins were so valuable...we see several fresh killed ones each year on the roads near here. Some still twitching.
I used to love catching and releasing them as a kid...my buddies and I would search for different types constantly, when we were growing up in San Diego.

Between us and the neighbor, there is a ton of manure available Gotta love all that free manure!

The neighbor kids were completely enthralled by how many worms were actually in the garden while we were pulling weeds.
I was surprised too, we didn't add that many to begin with, but they had reproduced big time, and were all over.