Earthworms versus Composting Worms

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Bruce

Recently with spring quickly approaching or it may seem in some areas of the country I have been getting numerous questions as to which worm are best to add to one’s garden and or yard areas, earthworms and or composting worms?

I figured this was a good time to examine the difference between these worms and the benefits of each!

Earthworms, unlike composting worms can burrow deep down into the ground while composting worms prefer the top few inches to a foot or so. Earthworms also usually have a tougher skin which enables them to dig through hard packed soil well below the surface as well as sand and grit.

Two types of earthworms offered by Organic Worm Farm are the Alabama jumpers and Canadian nightcrawlers. While the Canadian nightcrawlers need to exist in soil temperature ranges (not ambient temperature) of 55 degrees Fahrenheit or better, the Alabama Jumpers do very well from extreme warm climates to very cold climates.

Alabama Jumpers are a faster moving earthworm than the Canadian nightcrawler hence burrowing and leaving behind a vast network of underground tunnels that lead to the surface in a much shorter time period. These tunnels provide aeration as well as permit moisture from rainfall or watering to penetrate to the root systems easily. At the same time the burrowing action allows for easy expansion of your plants root systems. The Alabama jumper is also good for yard composting as they will come out of the ground into a compost pile and over time eat through it as well as makes a good fishing worm although it can break in two at times when being hooked.

Canadian nightcrawlers are basically reserved in the yard and garden areas for the most northern parts of the continental USA. Further south the soil tends to become too warm preventing the nightcrawler from getting to the surface to feed in the evenings.  The Canadian nightcrawler is sought after by many anglers due to the size of this worm; however is the only worm Organic Worm Farm offers that does require refrigeration, hence why it is not always the best worm for fishing bait as it can go into shock from going from a cold cooler to the warm summer waters. This worm will also aerate by burrowing however since it moves very slow compared to the Alabama jumpers, the process takes much longer.

Composting worms are surface dwellers only going down several inches to a foot or so when released in a garden or yard area.  For composting you want to use either one of the following: Red wigglers, African nightcrawlers or the European nightcrawlers. Any of these worms work well in a composting bin depending on several variables which I will further assist you later within this article when selecting which composting or earthworm will work best for you depending on your needs!

Once major misconception by many is the fact they believe just because the name of the worm includes the word nightcrawler they assume it is an earthworm and can go out in the yard or garden areas. For the most part this is false unless you have a garden area with a lot of organic matter towards the surface. However keep in mind temperature for your own climate area will depend on whether or not they will survive and thrive.

Red wigglers are popular since they are easy to grow and adapt to many different types of bedding materials as well as have a large temperature range. Keep in mind the cooler it gets the less active and productive they are.

African nightcrawlers are my personal worm for a number of reasons, some of which I have stated in the past. Pound for pound these worms under the right conditions will consume more material than any other worm I have ever raised! They do require warmer temperatures of 65 degrees Fahrenheit or better while a range of 75 – 80 degrees will make these worms more active as well as increase reproduction rates.

While being a great composting worm these guys are a superior fishing worm not just by my own personal experience but also from my existing customer base.

European nightcrawlers are one of the worms usually found at most bait places which are larger than red wigglers however do require a cooler temperature range to grow out. In fact one of the main questions I receive over and over again is while raising these worms in worm bin is the fact they do well when small however as they mature and grow larger one loses the large ones. This is due to the fact that the European appears to sour the worm bin rather quickly once they reach a larger size as well as requires a cooler temperature. If you want to raise large European nightcrawlers plan on a temperature range of 55 – 65 degrees Fahrenheit!

The information is based on all my years’ experiences with raising each of these types of worms under various conditions.

To make it easy for choosing the right type of worm for your needs I wrote a little program on the Organic Worm Farm web site. By simply selecting from a few choices will steer you in the right direction whether for composting, yard and garden areas, fishing or a combination of reasons you wish to raise worms.

 

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Worm Castings with Rabbit Manure

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Bruce

Over the years I have found that there are primarily two types of educated organic gardeners, one swearing by worm castings as an organic fertilizer and another that swears by rabbit manure or cow manure as the best fertilizer. Over the years I have tried all as well as have mixed them in various ratios trying to see what works best.

Anyone that knows me realizes I try to go back to nature which includes looking outside in my yard since I have deer, rabbits, worms, turkeys, raccoons, foxes and more running rapid out here. In nature we don’t have just one type of manure but rather various manures working together.

Before I go on, if you are eating right now you may wish to come back to this article later as what I am going to reveal may not be for those with a weak stomach.

First it is known that worm castings are full of easily, readily absorbed plant food as well as aerobic microbes. Now I have written several articles in the past on this matter of aerobic, by definition  requires oxygen to survive, hence buying them in a sealed plastic bag only kills off many of the benefits and why I won’t go into details here and repeating myself.

Rabbit manure is called a cold manure compared to cow, horse, goat… manures since while most manures are fully or close to fully processed and heat up rabbits actually only process 25% of the food they eat. In a natural environment, inside a rabbit den, the rabbits will actually consume their own manure in the early morning and evenings since it is still full of fortified nutrients.

As for the part that may turn some folks off, did you know that in some regions where stocks of hay are short in the winter months, the cattle are fed rabbit manure? On top of this fish such as Tilapia and even shrimp grown and raised in some Asian countries which is mainly what one purchases as the local grocery store are fed rabbit manure. Even another catfish looking fish grown in some Asian countries sold as Grouper in the USA in grocery stores and restaurants, even though illegal, is sometimes fed rabbit manure.

As a matter of fact many of the fish we purchase today are not just fed rabbit manure but some have the rabbit cages hung above the fish and shrimp tanks hence feeding them the very potent urine (ammonia) as well.

The urine is so potent even worms will run away from it as well as it is a prized bait for trapping and hunting coyotes.

Now that we have a better understanding of rabbit manure since this site is dedicated more towards worms and worm castings and have numerous articles pertaining to the subject I will move onto what this article is about!

In the past on one forum (I will not mention as the purpose here is to educate and not put others down) I have put down by some other worm farmers when I mention introducing rabbit manure to the worm castings as they believe it is the only organic fertilizer in the world. On the contrary as I previously mentioned there is much more going on in nature such as wild rabbits, deer, turkeys… running around and partaking in developing natural existence of beneficial microbes, plant food…

Over the years I have developed a special mix of worm castings and shredded rabbit manure which loyal customers request locally each and every year. The main issue is being able to sort the urine (highly concentrated ammonia) from the rabbit manure. Once rabbit manure is soaked with the urine, many claim to place outdoors in a pile and allow the rain to wash away the urine. Being rabbit manure by itself is pretty much dry manure; it only absorbs the water and does not wash away the urine. At the same time, rabbit manure is high in salt content which for one will kill off worms in a garden and why worms will avoid the areas wet by rabbit urine under the cages but also will be detrimental to vegetable and flowering plants as well as fruit trees.

Rabbit manure is a little higher in nitrogen however still remains pH neutral. At the same time the rabbit manure becomes a food source for the beneficial aerobic microbes contained within the worm castings themselves.

Premium Worm Castings with Rabbit Manure

Premium Worm Castings with Rabbit Manure

This is why I built a separator for the rabbit manure and urine. The urine goes into a gutter system enabling to drain outside while the rabbit manure is collected in Rubbermaid style bins below.

 

Rabbit Manure Harvester

Rabbit Manure Harvester

Now to the actual proof that some shredded rabbit manure added at the correct ratio to worm castings is definitely beneficial to plants!

The broccoli plants in the pictures below are grown in a small pile of worm castings which I do not sell as they are the soft and fluffy type but rather donate each year to a local farmer that grows crops for the poor and distributes throughout the area.

The first picture illustrates broccoli grown in straight worm castings currently during the sporadic weather from warm temperatures of 70 plus degrees Fahrenheit to the low twenties.  You can notice the wilting in the leaves as they appear to be struggling lately to survive.

worm castings

Broccoli With Worm Castings Alone

The image below illustrates the broccoli which received some shredded rabbit manure just 14 days ago. Not only are the leaves not wilting but the plant color has a little deeper green coloring to it as well.

worm castings and manure

Broccoli with Worm Castings & Shredded Rabbit Manure

In conclusion, as within nature it is not just one item that builds soil and assist plants but rather a combination of a number of things working together in harmony. By using worm castings and rabbit manure one can increase the volume of vegetables, fruits and flowers as well as maintain even healthier plants!

 

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How to Count Worm Cocoons

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Bruce

First I should mention that worm cocoons can vary in size and colors based on the type of worms as well in some cases the way the worms are raised can vary the look. This is similar to the color of worms can change a bit based on whether you raise them in a lighter or darker bedding material as I have found out with the African nightcrawlers.

I have had numerous questions concerning how we count our African nightcrawler cocoons offered through Organic Worm Farm. It is actually a simple process however a bit time consuming for the African nightcrawler cocoons compared to other worms. The same process can be used for red wigglers and European nightcrawlers however cannot be used on the Alabama jumpers since their cocoons are so small a variation to the process needs to be used.

First off if you have a harvester you will want to use the material that falls through the ¼” screen. If you do not have a worm harvester, you can locate how to get a free set of plans I put together which is a dual screen worm harvester that can also be used as a soil sieve, sifter… You can find out more from Worm Harvester Plans website.

Now since we run volumes of materials from numerous buckets each time, I take an additional step not needed for most. I pour the debris into the cement mixer to thoroughly mix all material evenly throughout before dumping into a large container. Next take one cup of the material using a basic measuring cup.

I then proceed to dump a cup into a basic kitchen screen strainer found at your local Wal-Mart’s, Targets…

worm cocoons

Worm Cocoons in Kitchen Strainer

You can use a garden hose to spray the material in the strainer. Start with a lighter spray and work up to higher pressure spray and continue until the water running through the strainer becomes clear.

It does make it easier if you spread the leftover material on a white surface to sort through as well as allow the material to drip dry a bit first.

The next step works well with a pair of large tweezers, popsicle stick or whatever else you have handy to move through the material slowly and methodically. Start at one end of the pile while sifting through it moving it away from the main pile and spreading the material thin as you go.

As you sift through pick out the cocoons and place in a separate container so as to count them later when finished.

worm cocoons

African Nightcrawler Cocoons

If you decide to sell some worm cocoons off, remember to add some extra to insure your customer is getting more than they are paying for!

At Organic Worm Farm we actually perform a few one cup counts per batch of material to insure accurate counts. If performed correctly we find we are plus or minus 4% to 5% per individual cup counts. Hence a good rule of thumb is to add ten percent more if just counting one cup per batch of material.

Bruce

 

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African Nightcrawlers Compared to Red Wigglers

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Bruce

Over the years I have seen where others have stated red wigglers can double in quantity every month once they reach a mature age of approximately three months and take roughly thirty days to hatch out from the time they are produced.

Ninety days ago a friend of mine and I decided to run a little experiment with the African nightcrawlers being they hatch out much quicker, usually within two weeks, can reproduce much earlier and faster under the right conditions.

We started with 6,000 African nightcrawlers I had just harvested and set them up in ten larger plastic cement bins to hatch out.

The picture below only illustrates one aisle of three now filled with just over 200,000 African nightcrawlers (this is not a typo) from the original cocoons that hatched and are now into the fourth generation of worms. They are now housed on over one hundred trays!

African Nightcrawler Worms

African Nightcrawler Trays

To break it down in a side by side comparison, I have setup the below chart from our findings using the steps below.

Worm

African Nightcrawler

Red Wiggler
Approximate Cocoon Hatch Rate 3 Worms Per Cocoon 3.5 Worm Per Cocoon
Approximate Cocoon Hatch Time 14 Days 30 Days
Approximate Time to Maturity 21 – 28 Days 90 Days

 

To accomplish this we started by adding 175 to 200 cocoons per cubic foot of bedding material or you can start with 500 worms per cubic foot of bedding material. For those unfamiliar of how to calculate cubic foot, simply multiply Length of Bin X Width of Bin X Height of Bedding Material = Cubic Feet.

You will want to add one tablespoon of Pulverized Garden Lime per cubic foot of bedding material and mix thoroughly before wetting the bedding material consisting of Sphagnum Peat Moss. Organic Worm Farm uses Dolomite Lime (Dolomitic) which contains a higher percentage of magnesium; something living organisms requiree to process calcium.

Set most of your ready material into a tray or Rubbermaid style bin, evenly layer the cocoons and cover with approximately one inch of the remaining bedding material.

The ideal temperature range to keep these cocoons as well as raise them is 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. You can produce results; however at a slower rate by decreasing the temperature down to 68 – 69 degrees, however this will slow down hatch rate, growth rates and even the rate of reproduction.

You will want to check the moisture level of each worm bin every two to three days to insure they are damp enough.

After one week, sprinkle a very light coating of Purina Worm Chow on the surface of the bedding. Check daily to see when the worms are beginning to eat it.

A couple things I learned a while ago that differ from the directions on the Purina Worm Chow are first, never mix the bin weekly. By doing so can cause the worm bin to become sour and kill off your worms as well as disturbs the worms, hence stopping them from eating and reproducing for 24 hours or so each time.

Once the food source is about 90% gone, apply some more on the areas of the surface that do not already contain any feed. Keep this up and check daily as the need for increased feed will raise each week as the worms grow and consume more food daily.

Once the worms become mature, usually following these directions, approximately three inches long, keep feeding and maintaining the correct moisture level for 14 days. Allow the worms after the 14th day to consume any remaining feed and harvest for your cocoons. Keep the mature worm bins harvested every 14 to 15 days from here on out.

Keep repeating this process to grow additional worm bins.

As one can see, the African nightcrawler can outperform the red wiggler in reproduction as well as from other articles I have written in the past can consume more food than the red wiggler in the correct environment.

Bruce

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What Do Worms Eat

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Bruce

What Do Worms Eat

I am constantly asked what worms can eat or what to feed them. In short there are variety of items to feed them however before I get into more detail, allow me to give a short list of what and what not to feed them.

What Worms Can Eat:

  • Purina Worm Chow
  • Fruit and Vegetable scraps.
  • Starchy food waste, i.e. bread, potatoes
  • Heated Animal Manures, i.e. chicken, cow, horse, rabbit
  • Shredded newspaper and cardboard.
  • Coffee or Tea  grounds (not the tea bag itself)
  • Ground Dolomite Lime or Eggshells

Do Not Feed List:

  • Dairy or dairy by products
  • Meat or meat by products
  • Human or pet waste, i.e. cats, dogs
  • Oily or Greasy food wastes
  • Non-Biodegradable materials
  • Chemicals

Before I go on, allow me to elaborate on the good list of what worms eat a little. When feeding anything with the exception of Purina Worm Chow, use in moderation. Secondly even though worms will eat fruit and vegetable scraps, you will want to minimize the amount of citric acid found in produce such as grapefruits, oranges, tomatoes… as this will make the worm bin go acidic rather quickly. Also remember that adding fresh fruit and vegetable scraps will increase the water moisture level of your worm bin. This especially holds true for produce such as melons, cucumbers, pumpkins…

Now while others will say worms cannot eat solid food waste they can to a degree. The below pictures will illustrate this with the first one displaying some shredded rabbit manure placed in a worm bin tray containing 500 African nightcrawlers and the second showing the results just 12 hours later. Since worms do not have teeth they cannot bit off chunks of food but can digest whatever will fit in their mouths.

Shredded Rabbit Manure Added to worm bin

Shredded Rabbit Manure Added

 

Shredded Rabbit Manure Gone in 12 Hours

Shredded Rabbit Manure Gone in 12 Hours

While spent tea leaves are fine in moderation, as most composters realize the tea bag itself in most cases does not break down. This is due to the fact that they contain polyester plastic netting woven in to insure the integrity of the tea bag and preventing unwanted tears in the bags when brewing your tea. At the same time, tea and coffee grounds are acidic. While I found controversy on this issue online I decided to run my own tests and found using a variety of different spent coffee grounds the pH to run from 4.5 to 5.3 making them quite acidic.

Manures can be fed to worms however a few words of caution here. Most all manures need to be heated prior to feeding your worms. Heating to 145 degrees Fahrenheit is a good way to help eliminate unwanted seeds from growing in your worm castings especially when using horse manure which is known to plague gardeners with unwanted seeds from growing.

On the other hand rabbit manure is called cold manure. In one aspect it is true, however don’t allow this to fool you as the picture below illustrates a pile sitting outside that is approximately a foot tall heating up to about 115 degrees within one week. The outside temperatures have ranged from about 30 to 59 degrees over the same time period and sits in the shade. At the same time, rabbit manure can be fed directly to the worms if placed in thin layers, hence not heating up as much of approximately 2-3 inches at a time.

Rabbit Manure Heating Up

Rabbit Manure Heating Up

One item to be extremely careful of when using any manure is the salt content. The urine is almost always part of the mix which can contain high levels of salt which in turn can be detrimental to your worms. Even bagged material which is listed as composted manure can contain high levels of salt. In a worm bin, salt levels will increase with the addition of any materials containing salt hence building the percentage levels of salt throughout.

Starchy food waste, such as potatoes, bread and past (without sauce…) can create havoc in a worm bin if too much is used. In fact I would recommend for anyone just getting started avoiding these products for a while until they are accustomed to worm composting and then feed in very small amounts.

Ground eggshells will work for many as a way to help neutralize acidic conditions; we use a pulverized, unbleached Dolomite lime for two reasons. From tests that have been performed, eggshells take longer to raise pH levels however the effects last longer while the Dolomite lime is faster acting. Secondly, Dolomite lime contains higher concentrations of magnesium, something all living organisms require to break down calcium.

When it comes to shredded newspaper and cardboard there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, one can use color newspaper such as the comics however keep away from the glossy colored print pages. As for cardboard, the same pretty much holds true. Keep away from glossy or tear the gloss layer off prior to adding to your worm bin.

As for printer paper, most of it is bleached and from our prior testing we found the worms avoid areas of the worm bin containing these types of paper since the bleach leaches into the bedding materials.

Lastly one needs to know what specific worms like to eat when it comes to these types of shredded materials. Take for instance red wigglers which like both materials compared to African nightcrawlers which do not perform well on shredded cardboard however will devour shredded newspaper faster than any other worm I have raised!

 

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