Red Wriggler Composting Worms
Description
Red Wriggler composting worms to start your colony. Pickup in Cumberland.
Maintaining a Worm Bin with Red Wigglers: Temperature, Moisture, and pH
I call these the “Big 3” factors of worm bin maintenance. If you keep all 3 within appropriate ranges, then there’s not *that* much that can go wrong with your bin.
Temperature
As mentioned earlier, red wigglers have a wide temperature tolerance. For best results, keep a temperature of 55°F-90°F.
Short departures out of that temperature range are fine.
While the ambient air outside of the bin certainly has an effect, what really matters is the temperature inside the bin. The worm and microbe activity in the bin will generate heat so you can expect a worm bin to be 10-20 degrees warmer in the winter.
The thermal mass of a large worm bin will also feature more protection against short-term temperature swings, so if you’ve got the option of keeping a large worm bin vs a small one, choose large every time!
Moisture
Moisture in the worm bin is the most-underrated factor in worm bin success and again, red wigglers don’t prefer it any warmer or drier than any other composting worm.
Please take this next statement to heart.
Most worm bin owners run their worm bins way too wet. And a properly-maintained worm bin should not be producing leachate.
Because so much water is bound us within the cells of fruit and vegetables, it doesn’t seem like your feedings are adding that much water. But they are.
To be conservative, I would add bedding every feeding. This prevents a mucky, muddy vermicompost that will be simply difficult to harvest at best, and a stinky, anaerobic mess at worst.
For best results, you want to shoot for about 60-70% moisture level. The simplest test for this is to squeeze a handful as hard as you can.
At the perfect moisture levels – which is just under 70% – that handful should barely yield one drop of liquid.
pH
pH in a worm bin is pretty easy to maintain.
Vermicompost should normally be slightly acidic – in the 6 to 7 range – and can be maintained with constant additions of bedding.
If needed, ground eggshells and agricultural lime can be used to offset the the generally more acidic fruit and vegetable waste.
Unless you only feed acidic food waste, which will cause all sorts of other problems, pH is likely going to be the least of your concerns when it comes to maintaining your red wigglers
Feeding Your Red Wigglers
Red wigglers don’t need a different diet than any other composting worm, but the following point can’t be stressed enough; a properly-maintained worm bin will need regular additions of bedding along with food waste.
Worm bedding, unlike bedding for reptiles, hamsters and other animals, will ultimately be consumed by the worms as it breaks down.
In this respect, carbon-rich bedding is a “slow food” where food waste is a “fast food.” And when feeding your red wigglers, we recommend a 2:1 ratio of bedding to food waste, by volume.
In other words, if you’ve got a handful of food waste, add at least two handfuls of bedding.
But when choosing the fast foods for your red wigglers, stay away from meat- or dairy-based products. Otherwise, you’ve got plenty of options in front of you.
Within reason, most fruits and vegetables are fair game and your red wigglers will be thrilled with them.
- Ad Type: Offering
- For Sale By: Owner
buy and sell | home - outdoor | Patio & Garden Furniture
2023-04-05