This article describes to you why composting is good to both soil and plants. You learn about the
red wiggler worm and about how you can use it to have a 100% natural and beautiful garden.
Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia foetida) are the most common type of composting worm. As they feed,
red wigglers swallow great quantities of organic material, digest it, extract its food value and expel
the residue as worm castings, which are very rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. The life
of a red wiggler worm in general is hard. Their bodies are about 70% protein; rich food for many
predators. Their major enemies are insect eating birds, like robins, and mammals like moles. If you
watch a robin hunting, it pauses, cocks it head and then hops. The robin’s ears can actually hear the
red wiggler moving under ground. But the red wiggler worm, although sightless and ear-less can
feel the vibrations of the bird on the surface. It’s the deadly game of survival.
Red wiggler worms can process large amounts of organic matter and, under ideal conditions, can
eat one and half times its body weight every day. They also reproduce rapidly, and are very tolerant
of variations in growing conditions.
Worms will breed most often for one of three reasons:
o There is an abundance of food available.
o Their survival is threatened by environmental conditions.
o They find themselves in an area which is saturated with suitable mates.
Why composting?
The worm excretes a soil-nutrient material called worm castings. This is why wise farmers have
historically wanted to have healthy worm populations living in their fields. Worms are at the bottom
level of the food chain but are critical to healthy soil. Recycling the organic waste of a household
into compost allows us to return badly needed organic matter to the soil. In this way, we participate
in nature's cycle, and cut down on garbage going into burgeoning landfills. Worm composting is a
method for recycling food waste into a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great
advantage of worm composting is that this can be done indoors and outdoors, thus allowing year
round composting. It also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting.
In a nutshell, worm compost is made in a container filled with moistened bedding and red worms.
Add your food waste for a period of time, and the worms and micro-organisms will eventually
convert the entire contents into rich compost.
The compost can be mixed with potting soil and used for houseplants and patio containers. It is an
excellent mulch (spread in a layer on top of the soil) for potted plants. If it is screened, it can be
added for potting mixes for seedlings, and finely sprinkled on a lawn as a conditioner. It can be
used directly in the garden, either dug into the soil or used as a mulch.
Where can you also use worm castings?
o flower gardens
o veggie gardens
o rose bushes
o orchids
o trees and lawns
o herb gardens
o anywhere you want healthier plants & soil
Made through a brewing process which runs distilled water through Red Wiggler worm castings, the
nutritious elements and microorganisms of the castings are captured in a concentrated liquid form,
named worm tea. By using worm tea on your plants and gardens, you put healthy microorganisms
back into the soil where they thrive and multiply, creating a much healthier growing environment for
your plants.
Hope you had a good time reading this. Remember to always c\keep your garden healthy and 100%
free of chemicals, using worm tea.
Composting with Red Wiggler Worms
Earlier we’ve talked about the differences between compost bins and compost tumblers, and let
you, our wonderful composting audience, decide for yourselves on what you thought would work
better for your needs. Well, let’s put our differences aside and talk about worm composting, also
known in the composting world as vermiculture or vermicomposting. There’s really not much to
it, we use worms, right? Right, but not just any worms; red wiggler worms or night crawlers are
the preferred types of worms to use. Why not earthworms, you ask? Well, I’ll explain that in a
second, but let me first tell you why red wigglers and night crawlers are so beneficial to the
composting process.
Red wiggler worms, also known as red worms and by their scientific name of Eisenia fetida, are
recognized as the best kind of composting worm. Thriving in darkness and swearing off light, red
worms are hardy workers and can eat half of their own weight. Additionally, they have hearty
appetites and can live off of food scraps such as banana peels and chicken mash (a yummy mix of
cornmeal and chicken meat, this is usually used only if you plan to raise your red worms as fish
bait). Red worms also live well in damp places, and as fish bait, will wiggle around on the hook
since they can survive in water for several days at a time.
Night crawlers which are popular amongst fishermen can also be used as composting worms.
With the same performance level as red worms, they’re not really considered your number one
composting worm. One reason may be that even though they thrive in cool, shady areas, they
don’t seem to fare too well if there’s too much moisture; in fact, once they hit water they’ll pretty
much just die. Unusually enough, fisherman seem to like using night crawlers as bait probably
because they’re pretty big and fat.
Using earthworms such as the kind that show up when it starts raining is not recommended.
Earthworms are great burrowers and excellent soil aerators, but they won’t digest the organic
matter and leave behind worm castings, which is what you want. Your best bet is to stick with red
wiggler worms. Though not necessary, mixing red wigglers with night crawlers is okay, but you’re
fine with sticking to one or the other.
Vermicomposting can be a fun activity for families, classrooms, or even just solo. Just be sure to
feed your worms and watch them as they do the work for you.
Article Tags: Gardening, Compost, Rain Barrels, Chipper Shredder, Composting, Wood Chipper,
Lawn Sweeper, Compost Bin, Chipper, Compost Tumblers
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/composting-with-red-wiggler-
worms-and-night-crawlers-202612.html
Author: Vicki Duong
Composting With Red Wiggler Worms and Night Crawlers
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