How To Raise Big Fat Fishing Worms
First the type of worm we will be discussing will be the Eisenia Foetida (scientific name) for
Red Worms / Red Wigglers. They are easy to raise and adapt very well to temperature and
bedding conditions. They are primarily raised for vermiculture (worm composting) market.
Size isn't important in worm composting so the average red worms / red wigglers are 1 to 2
inches and weigh about 900 to 1000 per pound.
Here at Southern Bait Worms we produce red worms / red wigglers fishing worms that are 2
to 3.5 inches long and weigh about 600 per pound.
The first thing you will need to do is prepare a PRIMARY worm bin. You will need a least 1
square foot (12 inches x 12 inches) surface area per pound of worms and a depth of 8 to 12
inches deep. The bedding can be peat moss or coir (coconut fiber). It can be used 100
percent or mixed 50/50 with paper.
Plastic bins are easy to get and make good worm bins. Let's start out with a plastic bin
that's 24 inches long x 12 inches wide x 12 inches deep which has 2 square feet of surface
area. This will be our PRIMARY worm bin that can hold 2 lbs. of worms. After a couple of
months you will begin to see small worms in your PRIMARY bin. You can feed this bin your
food scraps, paper, grain ect.
Two to three weeks before you will need fishing worms you will need to get a SECONDARY
bin ready. Peat moss or coir (coconut fiber) for your bedding. A plastic bin 12 inches wide x
12 inches long x 6 inches deep (12qt. Plastic dish pan) from Walmart works great.
From your PRIMARY bin hand pick 250 of the largest red worms/red wigglers usually
around 1.5 to 2 inches. Put these 250 worms into your SECONDARY bin. Grain feed chicken
laying crumbles or rabbit feed every other day. Adjust feed so that all feed is eaten by the
second day. Three to four weeks later your red worm/red wigglers should have double in
size. Do not add any more worms to the SECONDARY bins. Once you have used all your
fishing worms start with a fresh bin. You may want to have two of these smaller secondary
bins for a continuous supply of fishing worms.
Author: David Cumlander
Owner Southern Bait Worms
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