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| VermiCompost = Composting with RED worms
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| Red Worms
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Eisenia Foetida - This variety is the best redworm for
home composting. They produce a large amount of compost in their
natural habitats of leaves, manure, compost piles and in many other
decaying organic materials.
Lumbricus Rebellus - This variety will adapt to the worm
box environment, but they are really a soil earthworm. Their natural
habitat is in soils which contain a lot of organic matter.
Redworms are on the market under many different common names. Some
people call them <93>red wigglers,<94> or <93>manure worms.<94> Fishing suppliers
may call them <93>red hybrid,<94> <93>dung worm,<94> or <93>striped worm.<94> All these
names are for the same kind of redworms. If you order from commercial
breeders, your best choice is Eisenia Foetida. This variety is used by
many for worm composting projects.
Other Worms:
Worms NOT to use:
Lumbricus terrestris - This is the night crawler. This
variety is the most studied of all earthworms and most sold to farmers
and gardeners. They are very important for soil improvements and are
widely raised for that purpose. They like to tunnel in the soil,
sometimes 3 feet deep. They come to the surface foraging for organic
matter, which they take into their furrows. They mix sub-soil with
their food and deposit their castings on the surface. Their burrows aid
in soil aeration and allow for better water penetration. Night crawlers
have a very important role in our ecosystem but don't adapt to the
shallow worm box environment.
Garden worms - There are more earthworm varieties that might
show up in somebody's garden. To identify worms you have to count the
segments, study their sexual organs and their behavior. It's best to
stay with redworms for your worm box.
Redworms need controlled temperature, controlled moisture content, controlled aeration and proper pH.
Temperature: Redworms tolerate a wide range of temperatures,
however, the ideal temperature is between 55 ? 77 degrees F. Bedding
with a temperature above 84 degrees F. is harmful, sometimes fatal, to
redworm populations. The temperature should be measured inside the box,
because the temperature in the moist bedding is usually lower than the
outside air.
Redworms should be protected from freezing temperatures. Temperatures below 50 degrees F. slow down worm activity.
Moisture Content: Redworms need a moist environment. Worms breathe through their skin. Skin must be moist in order to breathe.
Aeration: Redworms need oxygen to live. They produce carbon dioxide. Air circulation is a must in and around a worm box.
pH level: Redworms do best if the pH is around 7.0, however,
they can tolerate levels from 4.2 to 8.0 or higher. Lime (calcium
carbonate) may be mixed with the bedding material to correct acidity or
to maintain a more favorable pH. Pulverized egg shells also correct
acidity. (Warning! Use only limestone and never hydrated lime. The
wrong kind of lime will kill the worms!)
The Sex Life of a Redworm
Hermaphroditic:
Redworms have both sexes, but mating is still necessary. If the worm
has a swollen band, called the clitellum, at about one third between
head and tail, this means that the worm is sexually mature. Redworms
mate in their bedding at different levels, sometimes even on the
surface. They may mate at any time of the year. They are attracted to
each other (maybe for their beautiful body face, or other irresistible
qualities.) They find each other and lie with their heads in opposite
direction, bodies closely joined. They produce a secretion and secrete
this through their clitella, a mucus that forms a band around each of
them. Sperm from each worm move down a groove into receiving pouches of
the other worm. The sperm enters in a storage sac. Some time after the
worms have separated, the clitellum secretes another substance called
albumin. This material forms a cocoon in which the eggs are fertilized
and baby worms hatch.
Redworm cocoons are round shaped and small. They change color during
their development, first white, becoming yellow, later brown. When new
worms are ready to emerge, the cocoons are turning red. It takes at
least three weeks for the worms to develop in the cocoon. Temperature
and other conditions are factors in the development of the hatchlings.
Although a cocoon might hold as many as 20 eggs, usually only 3 or 4
worms will emerge. The young hatchlings are whitish with a pink tinge
showing their blood vessels.
Population Control
Conditions that determine Redworm population:
If worms have to compete for food, the population will go down. If
there is a lot of food available for a time, then worms multiply at a
high rate and more young worms then compete with their parents. Then
this greater population produces more castings. To solve the problem
you can feed them more food, but you might also need a larger box for
the greater numbers of worms. It's important to note that castings are
toxic to their own species, so it is advisable to harvest the castings
regularly.
Adding worms to bedding
When bedding is ready for the worms place the worms on top. They will
disappear in a short time in the bedding. They don't like light. By
keeping some bright light close by the box the worms will disappear
faster in the bedding. If some stay on the surface after some time,
assume that they are unhealthy or maybe dead, and remove them.
Food
Most kitchen waste or table scraps, any vegetables, grapefruits, orange
rinds, apple peels, lettuce and cabbage, celery ends, spoiled food from
the refrigerator, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells are all suitable
worm meals. (Remember, no meat or dairy products belong in a worm bin.)
Don't use meat or milk products in the worm bin. Mice and rats could be attracted to the odors!
Also, non-biodegradable materials don't belong in a worm box.
Cat litter should not be used, either. The odor of cat urine is
intolerable to worms, plus the ammonia in the urine could kill the
worms! Cats can carry the disease Taxoplasma gondii. This can transfer
to humans. For example, a pregnant woman could inhale some of the
protozoan and pass the disease on to her fetus, causing birth defects.
Burying kitchen waste
One way to manage a worm box is to pick a different spot to bury
kitchen waste in the box. A 2'x2' box has approximately nine locations
where you can bury wastes. That gives you nine feedings before you have
to repeat the cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can they see?
No, worms don't have eyes. However, they must have some kind of light
sensor. They are very sensitive to bright light. They will try to hide
as soon as exposed. It's odd that anglers use a flashlight to catch
night crawlers, since they retract in their burrows if you shine lights
on them. Worms are less sensitive to red light. You can observe worms
with red light. Placing a red cellophane between the light source and
the worm box allows you to watch the worms.
Where is the mouth?
The worm's mouth is in the first anterior segment. There is a small
protruding lip just over the mouth, called prostomium. When the worm is
foraging, this lip is stretching out. The prostomium is for sensing
food.
Do they have teeth?
Worms have no teeth for chewing food. They grind food in their gizzard by muscle action
How do they grind food?
Worms can only take small particles in their small mouths.
Microorganisms soften the food before worms will eat it. Worms have a
muscular gizzard. Small parts of food mixed with some grinding material
such as sand, topsoil or limestone is ingested. The contractions from
the muscles in the gizzard compress those particles against each other,
mix it with fluid, and grind it to smaller pieces.
What happens to food once it leaves the gizzard?
The ground up food is mixed with enzymes in the worm's intestine. This
mixture breaks down the food, molecules pass through the intestine wall
into the bloodstream for use where needed. Undigested material,
including sand soil, bacterial and plant residues passes out of the
worm as a worm casting.
If a worm is cut in two, will it grow back?
It depends on where the cut took place. If a worm is cut at the
posterior end, sometimes a new tail will grow back on. Sometimes a
second tail will appear next to a damaged tail. However, the posterior
half of the worm can't grow a new anterior (head.)
Do worms die in the box?
It's hard to find dead worms in a worm box, but they do die in the box.
Dead worm bodies decompose very quickly, because their bodies are
between 75%-90% water. If you find many dead worms you should find out
the cause. High heat (above 84 degrees) is fatal to them. Too much salt
or acidic food waste can kill them. It's best to change the bedding
with fresh materials to solve the problem. Sometimes, partially
replacing bedding may solve the problem.
How long do worms live?
Often, worms live and die in the same year. They are exposed to
hazards, dryness, too hot or too cold weather. Eisenia foetida can live
for as long as four years.
Do worms need air?
Worms need oxygen to live. The oxygen diffuses across the moist tissue
of their skin, from the region of greater concentration of oxygen (air)
to that of lower concentration (inside the worm.) Carbon dioxide
produced by the bodily processes of the worm also diffuses through
skin. Moving from higher concentration to lesser concentration, carbon
dioxide moves from the inside of the worm's body out into the
surrounding bedding. A constant supply of fresh air throughout the
bedding helps this desirable exchange take place.
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