For example, if your worm bin internal temperature is at 60 degrees Fahrenheit your worms will be less active, hence eating less food. This is also a reason I do not recommend refrigerating red wiggler worms, African nightcrawlers, European nightcrawlers or Alabama Jumpers. As they become less active and eat less they begin to get thinner and leaner, which is not what fishermen and women want.

Moisture and pH levels will also affect your worms and how much they will eat.

Red wigglers can eat half their body weight per day in decomposed food scraps, shredded paper products… under the correct conditions. So one pound of red wiggler composting worms can eat half a pound of food a day under ideal conditions in a homeowner style worm bin. In a larger style bin, 32 square foot continuous flow system for instance, under ideal conditions; red wigglers have been known to consume more food per day.

Now your African nightcrawlers and Alabama Jumpers are probably your most ferocious eaters. The ones on our farm indoors are fed daily under ideal conditions. Now I do not feed these guys food scraps but have shifted to Purina Worm Chow as their main diet. I do not have to run out constantly to pick up scraps and manure from local vendors some of which is smells pretty bad. African nightcrawlers are not as big a composting worm as the red wiggler on food scraps; however are excellent manure worm. I do not recommend chicken manure, however rabbit manure is superb as it does not require the process of heating. Horse or cow manure is also excellent however be sure the manure has been heated prior and that the animals have not been on de-wormer.

Now grain mix differs from food scraps as you do not want to feed your worms ½ a pound of Worm Chow per one pound of worms. You simply sprinkle on the surface area and do not mix in or the bin will become sour and begin to kill off your worms. Not only do the African nightcrawlers devour the chow, but damp shredded newspaper which we keep on the surface area and replace as needed. This ends up turning into the dark, rich worm castings known as “Black Gold”.

European nightcrawlers one of the favorite worms by those that fish, are also another good manure worm and are not as great on food scraps as the red wiggler. They also do not have the ferocious appetite as the African nightcrawler. I feed them with the grain mix by Purina, however anywhere from once every day or two while maintaining less feed in each bin compared to the African nightcrawler. The European nightcrawler bin is probably the easiest to sour by adding too much food. Do not expect these worms to eat as much, however they are extremely prolific and do produce a nice worm castings.

This should give you a good basis as where to begin feeding your worms, however keep in mind the conditions of your worm bin due play a large role in how much to feed your worms.

The Alabama Jumper has two main beneficial components. First, it is an excellent composting earthworm for your garden or lawn areas even in hard packed clay and sandy soils. They burrow deep, aerating the soil coming to the surface to eat and leave worm castings on the surface areas.

Alabama Jumpers also make an excellent fishing worm. With their tough exterior skin permitting them to burrow through the toughest terrains, they remain on the hook better than most fishing worms, including the European Nightcrawlers.

Well onto the humorous video, enjoy…

Bruce

After a week of a number of rainy days and the rain being cold as temperatures only in the 40′s and 50′s while raining, the worms are doing well.

I pulled back the hay and decomposing materials and carefully used a pitchfork to turn the top few inches of the clay and sand mix. The Alabama Jumpers were right there doing fine and active!

When I ran a temperature test of the soil it ranged from 54 to 56 degrees Fahrenheit.

Since there are no hard facts or statistics on Alabama Jumpers as compared to other red worms, I figured I would keep an eye on these guys and monitor them. I will keep a record of my findings here on the blog. Be sure to bookmark or sign up for the Worm Composting Newsletter to keep abreast of the latest updates!

Alabama Jumpers are available from Organic Worm Farm and are great for clay and sandy soils.

Be sure to drop buy The Worm Expert new discussion forum and join us. Introduce yourself while you are there!

Bruce Galle

I have also just started The Worm Expert, red worm discussion forum and would like to invite you to become a member. Yes it is Free! (link opens in new window)

Thanks and enjoy the video.

Bruce Galle
The Worm Expert

Now for anyone unfamiliar with Alabama Jumpers, these red worms that readily live in clay and sandy soils. They have a tough skin which enables them to survive under the harsher conditions most red worms would have difficulty surviving.

Alabama Jumpers will borough through and aerate your soil. At the same time, they eat organic matter, shredded paper and cardboard, grass clippings (not piled up), hay (not straw) leaves… but will not harm plant roots, or anything else in your yard or garden. They will come towards the surface to release their castings (worm poop) also known as “Black Gold”. This produces a naturally balanced PH soil as well as adds millions of beneficial microbes to the soil.

Just two weeks earlier I placed 1,200 Alabama Jumper Red Worms outside and covered them with some hay, notice I did not say straw as you do not want to use the straw! I placed them outside our main yard area near the edge of the woods since we have ample property here. Now over time these critters will migrate and spread out in the backyard.

Just amazing to see the new growths within two weeks while the surrounding edges of the woods are almost barren of living greenery.

Here is the picture I snapped yesterday.

If you are looking to get your hands on some Alabama Jumpers or other varieties of Red Worms, visit Organic Worm Farm as they offer some healthy worms at a great price.

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Have a Great Day!

Bruce Galle

Mark D. – Texas

First off Alabama Jumpers are different from other worms we sell. One, they do not eat food scraps but rather organic material from leaves (limit oak leaves) hay (not straw), shredded newspaper and cardboard… Basically carbon based products.

Setup an area with clay or sandy soil in your yard or garden area. Place some bedding material and be sure it is wet down so as it is damp.

I recommend you release your worms outdoors once the sun sets behind the tree or landscape background so as not to burn them up.

Place your worms on top of the pile and mist a little water on top of them to get the worms moving.

Do NOT spread your worms out throughout your yard or garden. Rather place at least 500 in each pile. The worms will eventually begin to breed and spread out as they multiply. If you spread them out to thin, they will have difficulty finding each other to breed.

Bruce

Alabama Jumpers are in the nightcrawler family and have three distinguishing traits. One is their sheer size. These bad boys grow 8 -10 inches and sometimes even larger.

Probably their most notable characteristic is the fact they are much hardier than other worms. It is the only worm that I currently handle that can burrow through hard packed clay soil. If you live in the south, you know what I am referring to. Alabama Jumpers have a tough outer coat add this to their sheer strength and you have a super worm

If you like to fish, this worm is a must to have in your bag of tricks. The Alabama Jumper has the word jumper in its name for a reason. They will literally jump right out of your hands! With all that jumping around, you are sure to attract the attention of some fish

Currently I am offering 1,000 of the Alabama Jumpers for just $89.95 which includes priority mail shipping within the continental USA.

Click here for more information and to order Alabama Jumpers as well as other worms and products!

Back to the gardening in the morning… be back soon!

Bruce