Vermiculture Basics…

Professor A. GrowTutor January 24, 2014 Articles No Comments

What is Vermiculture?
Vermiculture is the raising of worms, usually for compost, bait or food for birds/fish.

What kind of worms do I use?
The most common worms used are Eisenia fetida (aka red wigglers, tiger worms or red-worms) and Eisenia hortensis (aka european nightcrawlers, dendras or belgian nightcrawler) although others are sometimes used.

What do I feed them?
They’ll eat many things from table or kitchen scraps (minus the proteins, dairy and overly acidic/salty items), horse/cow/sheep/poultry/rabbit manure and even plant, lawn and yard waste. They love vegetables, fruits, coffee/tea grounds, paper, coco fiber, or even commercial worm chow.

Where do I keep worms?
They can be kept indoors or out, depending on environmental conditions. They prefer temperatures in the 70s-80s, with a high humidity in the worm bedding but not so saturated that they run away or drown.

Where do the worms live?
Usually in “worm bins” or in long rows for large scale vermicomposters. You can buy them or make your own (more on that in the future) bins.

Why do I want to raise worms?
Vermicompost is an excellent source of nutrients and can be a natural pest repellent. You can add it to soils, make beneficial “tea” to use on plants and you can even top dress your plants and crops with it. Everything you feed your worms is that much less that ends up in a landfill and you don’t have to pay others to haul away as much.

What is vermicompost?
Vermicompost is a mix of composted organic matter, bedding and worm poop. Worm castings are filtered worm poop and is highly sought after.