Raising fishing worms ? ? ?

[aunt fannie]

I raise red wigglers in my house in plastic tubs from WalMart. I have been doing this for about 1 1/2 years with no problems. Now all of a sudden, I have pill bugs (roly poly) in my 2 beds. I don't mind worms in my house but BUGS, no way. How do I get rid of them without killing my worms? Thanks for any input.

[Shrek]

A healthy worm bin will have rove beetles, spring tails, red mites and roly poly as part of the normal decomp process.

Roly poly bugs are soil crusteasans that appear to thrive most in environments more than 80% moisture level. I have found that drying the bedding down to a 60% to 70% moisture level reduces the roly poly and red mite populations to healthier levels for the worms.

From what I have observed as maintaining a healthy environment for the worms prevents them from migrating out of the bins, a proper environment also keeps the various other inhabitants of the bins confined also.

The main detraction of the roly poly population from what I have been told by other growers is that while they will feed on the paper in the bin, they will begin feeding on the worm castings ahead of the other bin inhabitants.

Maintaining the proper bin moisture and screen sifting the castings and disposing of the roly polies are the most effective way of managing that sector of the bin population.

[aunt fannie]

What is screen sifting? how do I do it? The bugs nor the worms leave the bins.
Thanks Shrek~

[tinknal]

Are these the same as sow bugs? If so I would reduce the moisture a bit.

[aunt fannie]

Yes... sow bugs is another name for them.

[Shrek]

When my bin herds consume the bedding I generally allow the bin to dry to 50% to 60% moisture and sift the castings through a window screen bottomed sifter tray, hand picking the worms for transfer to other bins and throwing out any roly pollies.

Once the bin is emptied , I restock the bedding, moisten it to 70% and seed it with herd stock from the other bins.

If not using the worm castings for outdoor use , I generally put them in the small chest deep freezer I keep in the worm room for a month or so to kill all the bugs before storing the castings in styro coolers for future uses.

When I cup bait I pick the worms out of non sifted wormcast on a modified plastic patio table with bait cup holder holes cut into the top and the umbrella hole cut out to easily drop the worm picked castings and small worms back into a tote or bucket to add back to the herd bins.

[rags57078]

does the screen save the worm eggs too ? I am looking at starting worms this spring , the grandkids love fishing so it would save me a ton

[Shrek]

Originally Posted by rags57078

does the screen save the worm eggs too ? I am looking at starting worms this spring , the grandkids love fishing so it would save me a ton

It does as long as your not using screen with too large a mesh dimension.

[rags57078]

Thanks Shrek , do have a good place to get the starting worms from ? I know there is alot of them on the net but I don't know who is good and who is a crook LOL

[Shrek]

Originally Posted by rags57078

Thanks Shrek , do have a good place to get the starting worms from ? I know there is alot of them on the net but I don't know who is good and who is a crook LOL

Too many of the so called commercial worm sellers offering starter kits tend to be crooked by charging too high a price for a few hundred worms and even if halfway reputable the starter stock usually is pretty shock damaged after shipping. Some commercial sellers also entice folks into buy back programs that are really nothing more than worm based ponzi schemes.

From my perspective, viable commercial worm markets seldom exist beyond the local bait and chicken flock protein suppliment markets.

With that in mind, I only advise those starting out in worm farming to first let the worms teach them how to become a worm farmer by minimally investing in a start up worm farm by first buying a couple totes and build a bin similar to the one shown here:

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm


Once a suitable bin is made, then the best approach is to go to a local bait shop and ask for two or three cups of red wriggler bait which should provide you with 50 to 100 worms for about $6 to $9 depending on your region.

Then you keep the bin at around 70% moisture with some precomposted foodstuffs and introduce the worms and begin letting the worms teach you what they require as they begin to grow, band , breed and reproduce growing the herd as long as you keep their environment hospitable.

After 9 months to a year if you have learned from your worms , your herd will be doubled or tripled in size.

If you fail on your first attempt , don't worry as most worm farmers do fail on their first attempt. Also if you use bait worms locally acquired be greatful that your failure only cost you $10 or less in bait instead of $100 to $500 or more had you ordered starter stock from some commercial supplier.

Most of all , keep in mind that there are as many approaches to worm farming as there are worm farmers but the worms were doing their thing long before there were worm farmers.

I have found some of the so called commercial worm suppliers that advertise $100 worm farm start ups on the net to actually have their "corporate headquarters" in the bait shop where they sell bait by the $3 cup. With that in mind, I dont trust commercial sellers and see the failure insurance and shock avoidence of using locally raised bait the best option.

[Roadking]

Our boys raised worms from local bait shop 2 years ago...turned out pretty good. There was no market for selling them however. Would be nice to find a market, but our original intention was to improve our garden soil, so it all worked out in the end.
Might look for a market again as the lil buggers have really exploded in population and size (have several in the raised beds that look like garter snakes...)
Matt

[rags57078]

no bait shops here carry them so I have to order from somewhere , I ordered some in years ago but can't remember where LOL . I raise rabbits so they would get all the poo they wanted . roadking are they red worms ? if so drop me a pm with a price on some

[Riverdale]

Shrek, I got mine for free, from a local feedlot. Asked the owner if I could dig some worms. They replied yes.

So sue me, I'm cheap

fwiw, anywhere with a silo will work, and look for them around the silo

[Shrek]

Riverdale,

Nothing wrong with being cheap. After my initial start up using left over bait, I added to my herd by using carpet scraps as surface traps around my yard.

Let the carpet kill the grass until earthworms started feeding on the decomped grass and then flipped it over to surface pick as many worms as possible to add to the bins.

The only reason I generally suggest use of bait shop worms is that suitable bait worms are mature, lime or calcium hide hardened and usually banded breeders ready to mate.

The bait sellers tend to select banded breeders because they are larger and more resilient on the hook and more appealing to the bait customer but from a growers perspective , banded breeders are 4 to six weeks further in their reproductive cycle and worth the few dollars investment to get a little head start as you let the bait become a herd or choose to trap wild stock also.

Thats another aspect of commercially sold start ups I have concern about. Generally they tend to select only bandless bedrun worms to include in their start ups so they can keep their bins more viable.

With bedrun worms you have the post reproduction stress that can combine with the shock of shipment to greatly affect the viability of the purchased starter herd.