How to Raise Earth Worms
How to Raise Earth Worms – If you like gardening and horticulture, raising earthworms might be interesting for you. Learning how to raise earth worms is a good way to save on fertilizers as vermiculture helps you compost faster. You can also earn when you start to raise earthworms as there are other gardeners and horticulturists interested in earthworms for their own gardens and composts, and the demand for organically grown produce has increased because of more health conscious consumers. In addition to the benefits for your plants and garden, knowing how to raise earthworms will allow you to have a continuous supply of live food for your fish if you have an aquarium or a fish pond.
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Tips on How to Raise Earth Worms
Climate: Earthworms require a moist climate in order to live and reproduce. Knowing the variety of earthworm that would best suit the climate you are in is a good first step in learning how to raise earthworms. The following varieties are the most used in vermiculture:
Red Wriggler: also known as “Eisenia foetida,” a brandling worm. Brandling worms feed well in compost heaps and other rich decaying matter. This type of worm can survive in 40°F temperature but they can grow and reproduce better between 68°F and 80°F of bedding temperature.
European Night Crawler: also known as “Eisenia hortensis” or the Belgium night crawler. This variety is much larger than the Red Wriggler and is popular with fishermen because it has the ability to live longer on the hook and can tolerate salt water. This type of worm will also survive in 40°F temperature but they can grow and reproduce better between 68°F and 80°F of bedding temperature.
African Night Crawler: also known as “Eudrilus eugeniae,” is a large tropical worm variety. It can tolerate higher temperatures than the two mentioned above. This variety can survive in 70°F-90°F of bedding temperature. But be reminded that this variety is sensitive to cold temperatures and will fail to survive in temperatures below 45°F.
These three varieties of worms produces a lot of compost and reproduces quickly which makes them ideal varieties as composting worms.
Steps on How to Raise Earth Worms
- Build the bed. A box made of wood could be a good start, you can also use a plastic storage bin or you can buy a manufactured worm bin system.
- Prepare the bed. Fill the bed with peat moss of about 6″ high then water it. The bed should always be moist but not flooded. The bed is now ready to grow earthworms. You can buy earthworms from others who also raise earthworms. Depending on the size of your earthworm bed, you could start with around 600 earthworms for a 4′ x 6′ bed. Try to keep the bed in a shaded area and put a roof over the box to keep rain out.
- Feed and maintain the earthworm bin. Keep the bed watered daily. Never overwater. Feed them with coffee grounds and used tea leaves and tea bags. Replace with fresh peat moss if the original peat moss level decreases.
- Stockpile for Compost. After about six months, the earthworm compost you prepared is ready to be used as compost. Start with one side of the bed. Take out remaining dirt and return the excess worms to the other end of the bin. You can now use the dirt and the earthworms in your garden.
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