www.FredsFineFowl.com brings this short video, showing worms on pavement after a night of steady rain. Which worms are “dirt” worms and which are “Red Wigglers” suitable for vermiculture and compost bins. In search of the real Red Wiggler for kitchen compost bins. Visit Fred’s Fine Fowl to see a drawing and directions as to how you can put together your own cheap compost bin. Worms will eat lots of kitchen scraps, including your news paper and cardboard. Worm castings are then used for house plants, roses and many other garden nutrification applications. Stronger plants, recycled waste and fewer fertilizers from the store. Do it yourself.
Compost Worms, finding your own. Which worms are correct?
Posted by admin on March 8th, 2011
Posted in Inside Ideas 
Tags: Cardboard, Compost, Compost Bin, Compost Bins, Compost Worms, correct, Dirt, Drawing, Fertilizers, Finding, House Plants, Kitchen Compost, Kitchen Scraps, News Paper, own., Pavement, Red Wiggler, Roses, Steady Rain, Vermiculture, Worm Castings, Worms
@IAmViviLee Some worms live fine at the surface, others require access to deeper soil 3′ deep. Red wigglers handle surface conditions better than others while digesting the organic material. This is why many people search out composting worms by collecting them from surface debris such as horse manure… it’s certain those worms can handle the conditions found in a bin composter.
why cant you use regular earth worms?
RIP HTCSWEOD. He died for using his wify’s favorite spatula.
LOL
Both worms are excellent for composting!
@TahshaTPitsMe I’m glad that’s not a serious question Tahsha… and just in case it “is”.. yes, dump everything… maggots don’t exist in non-meat compost (‘;’) oy vey!
What are the friendly bugs we are looking for? Not maggots right??? That’s what I’ve got in mine, Do I have to start all over???
@nancyweeal hi Nancy, glad to have expanded your understanding of worms :} There is a GREAT book out there titled The Earth Moved… I wish everyone would read it!
Thks for the vid. I didn’t know there is a difference btw the earthworms and worms use for compost until now.
@HTCSWEOD Thank you for your suggestion. I will try to do that way.
@free6006 I suggest laying down wet newspapers in your garden… the worms that come to the surface to eat the paper are the ones you should try to use…
That’s good I really want to do worm composting for my plants, but I dont know the right worm because in my country there is no worm for sale. However, in my garden it has a lot of worm, so can I use them for composting? Thank you.
@lyndaraven I don’t add a lot of citrus material and also, when I do add new items, I always cover what I’ve added with a fresh layer of shredded news paper. Not leaving new material exposed on top is key to keeping flying critters in check.
@modernwarfare456 it’s faster (on cold mornings) and more fun with a flipper!
y dont u pick’em up with ur fingers
I noticed you don’t have gnats in your compost bind. What do you do to stop from getting gnats and fruit flys?
Very true… and the red wigglers also keep moving even when immersed in water for an extended period of time… earth worms and night crawlers slow way doooowwwwnnnn… thanks for your comment!
well i live in ky, and what I know as a red wiggler you can put the worm in ur hand and it is a strong worm and it will fight more to get away than an earth worm. and they nearly dance in ur hand. earth worm are always mostly lazy. i do alot of fishing and yes red wigglers are the best for fishing to. bass love them they WIGGLE alot.
you are most welcome!
Thank you for teaching us the difference between regular worms and composting worms. I had no idea there’s so many types. I thought all worms are the same except if they’re roundworms or tapeworms which are parasitic worms.
You are absolutely right dokkiro… horse manure piles have been the best source for hearty red wigglers! It’s been a year since I posted this video and my worm bin is thriving! Thanks for sharing your experience…
Ohh BTW there is one proven method to get those warms specifically. Wet cardboard boxes on the wet ground red wiggler warm magnets near manures.
You have much better luck collecting them near horses and cows where a lots of manure around. They are really not that cold tolerant living near decomposing heat close to the surface. They will die below freezing dormant below 55f. I bought my first pound for 20$(about 1000 count mid to large size). But they are contaminated now with bugs and other unwanted things competing with warms because I introduced captured warms as you are doing on this video. I think I better start over.
everyone says that… when it’s cold and your hands are numb, spatulas certainly speed things up… no problem handling them, just takes longer and results in more smushed worms (‘;’)
You can pick them up with your hands. They won’t bite…
Hi Steve. I don’t sell worms, but there are lots of places online that do… search for red wigglers and they are sold by the pound normally. If you want to look for compost worms yourself, try manure piles… horse farms or cow farms are best… best of luck to you.