Worm Food 🪱

[SpiritFarmVa]

Nah, just recently read a book about it. Give me a few months and I’ll forget, haha.

Which book did you read?

 

[LaFigGwr18]

You do need composting worms as opposed to regular garden worms. Both red wigglers and nightcrawlers are the two most common and preferred ones. It may depend on your setup to a degree. Nightcrawlers like to burrow and go deeper and they don’t do as well in densely populated situations. So if you are using shallow trays, they are not as ideal because they can’t form their burrow and you have to limit your number of worms. Whereas red wigglers are surface dwellers so they are perfect for trays and shallow bins. Because they are small, you can have a larger population of them and they tolerate each other in confined conditions.

Nightcrawlers are also more sensitive to temperatures, red wigglers can handle a wider range of temps and are more tolerant of a variety of conditions.

Edited to clarify: European nightcrawlers prefer it cooler, african nightcrawlers can tolerate more heat.

Temperature ranges:

Red wigglers: Ideal 65-85°F, can tolerate down to 40° and up to 90°.

European nightcrawlers: Ideal 60-80°F, keep it well above 40° and well under 90°.

African nightcrawlers: Ideal 70-85°F, max is about 95°, lowest is about 50°, but really want to maintain it above 60°.

Everything I have read has been from articles on line. If I recall correctly, red wigglers are better for shallow composting and nightcrawlers at deeper cause of their nature. Also aren't nightcrawlers better for digesting leaves cause of their size? I want to say I read that somewhere.

 

[Inflorescence]

Which book did you read?

The Worm Farming Revolution by Pauly Piccirillo.

I’ve heard The Worm Farmer’s Handbook by Rhonda Sherman is also very good if you are wanting to start a larger scale worm farm.

 

[Inflorescence]

Also aren't nightcrawlers better for digesting leaves cause of their size? I want to say I read that somewhere.

I’ve heard both can digest leaves. But the bigger the worm, the bigger the mouth. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they break them down faster.

 

[SpiritFarmVa]

The Worm Farming Revolution by Pauly Piccirillo.

I’ve heard The Worm Farmer’s Handbook by Rhonda Sherman is also very good if you are wanting to start a larger scale worm farm.

I’ve watched rhonda Sherman a bunch on you tube. Her book would definitely be a good manual for someone wanting to do it commercially but it’s scalable up and down.

 

[SpiritFarmVa]

Everything I have read has been from articles on line. If I recall correctly, red wigglers are better for shallow composting and nightcrawlers at deeper cause of their nature. Also aren't nightcrawlers better for digesting leaves cause of their size? I want to say I read that somewhere.

In regards to leaves as food.
Red wiggles really eat the things, microbes breaking down the leaves more than the leaves themselves. They love fungus.

 

[LaFigGwr18]

In regards to leaves as food.
Red wiggles really eat the things, microbes breaking down the leaves more than the leaves themselves. They love fungus.

Thanks. I did read that. I just need to get me some worms. I have done the reading, it's just taking the time to build their housing and then ordering the worms.