Moisture Meters

worm castings

What Grains and Food to Feed Worms to Fatten Them Up

I have had a number of requests for information on what I feed my red worms to make them big and fat. In short it is an ancient worm feed secret :-) Actually in this article I will give you a great grain recipe which also helps to maintain an almost perfect , constant PH level for your worms whether Red Wigglers, African Nightcrawlers, Europeans… as well as an additional red worm food formula!

Now there are more extravagant formulas, one which will be available online in the near future, however if you are anxious to try something the following will prove beneficial.

First, I feed my worms what my mother fed me that she claims made me so tall, greens! I do mix them up and limit starches such as bread and potatoes. I also refrain from using tomatoes and other high acidic fruits and vegetables.

I realize other sites will tell you that worms love coffee grinds, and they do, however if you add too much your bin will end up becoming acidic. Just as most of us were told growing up, anything is good in moderation.

For my trophy worms I use for fishing, I actually use a blender to liquefy the ingredients. Afterwards I mix in a little spent coffee grinds as well as peat moss to thicken the mixture. Now don’t go making it like a thick mud but rather just enough to keep the liquid from running off or ponding in your mix. Remember to allow it to sit in your garage or outside covered up for about 24 hours as the peat moss will continue to draw up the moisture.

Now one thing I do for the trophy worms is to freeze my mix as this modifies the molecular structure enabling the mix to break down even faster for quick consumption by the worms when I do feed them. Just be sure to thaw it out and warm up to room temperature before adding to your bin.

The Simplest Advanced Grain Formula Mix You Can Make:

As with any grain mix, sprinkle on top and even mist with some water. I personally leave my fishing worm bins uncovered; hence I place some moist shredded newspaper over my grain. Be consistent on feeding the grain as needed whether once a day or once every couple days.

The recipe:

2 Cups Oatmeal

1 Cup Cornmeal

1 Dozen Egg Shells

Many websites state you need to cook your eggs with the shells in order to use in your worm bin. I have never had an issue by rinsing cracked egg shells than have not been cooked with warm water thoroughly. Allow them to dry out well.

Add the egg shells to you blender and pulverize them to a powdery mix. Slowly add your other ingredients. You may need to shake the blender or rattle it back and forth as this is a dry mixture in order to continue mixing and breaking down to a powdery mix.

There are other formulas which will enable faster growth, without hormone shots :-) which I will introduce in a couple weeks.

For now enjoy the site and sign up for the free worm composting newsletter if you have not already done so as well as the Organic Worm Farm Affiliate Program!

Bruce

55 comments to What Grains and Food to Feed Worms to Fatten Them Up

  • donnie

    It can also work with earthworms and European nightcrawlers. Keep in mind usually mites are after the food especially when top feeding. Usually it can be a sign of too much food or that the worm bin bedding is to wet. You can also try to dry the bedding out and stop feeding if need be for a bit. Another trick to help dry out the bedding would be to add some dry bedding to the top of the worm bin or dry shredded newspaper which will absorb some of the excess. Once the nespaper becomes good and damp,remove and add some new dry shredded newspaper. Continue the process until the bedding material reaches an optimum moisture level. the only problem with putting newspaper in to absorb excess is red wigglers constantly having cocoons near food on top and if by putting news paper on top near food your going to be taking lil coccoons & lil worms and there goes your worms.im also on facebook i aint got no worm stuff on there message me at donnie crain on facebook

  • Donnie

    Actually the red wigglers will consume the shredded newspaper hence leaving no paper behind over time. Of course one would need to stop feeding the newspaper for a few weeks! This will enable one to harvest the cocoons and or little red wigglers.

    Bruce

  • Found this out by accident. Got a bunch of raw egg shells. I washed them out in warm water and then decided to dry them in the microwave. Put them on a paper towel and cooked them on high for about 3 minutes. I could then reach in and pull that little membrane that is in one end right out.

    The real surprise came when I ground them and dumped them through the sive to help get rid of the membrane, there wasn’t any. So today I had another bunch so I tried it again with the same results. Tried it on some that had been hardboiled. After grinding I had very little of the membrane in the sive, just a few small pieces.

    So now I nuke all my shells

  • i dont understand the words sive,and nuke. please explain. thanks.

  • Bill what Gramps means is to put the egg shells through a Fine screen (sieve) and Microwaving is sometimes called Nuking.

    Brian

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