Culturing Earthworms

[oregon newt]

Hey guys! With the winter coming up I thought that I'd start my own Earthworm culture, but when I googled "culturing earthworms" I found this very long and elaborate page on the subject. Is culturing earthworms really that complicated? I thought it was just a matter of filling a bin with dirt, keeping the dirt moist, and throwing in some vegetables every once and a while.

 

[dianabee]

this is the method i use, and it's worked really well so far.

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

 

[petro]

Hey guys! With the winter coming up I thought that I'd start my own Earthworm culture, but when I googled "culturing earthworms" I found this very long and elaborate page on the subject. Is culturing earthworms really that complicated? I thought it was just a matter of filling a bin with dirt, keeping the dirt moist, and throwing in some vegetables every once and a while.

Its not complicated,also very good to do on your way(i did it the same way in biginning)
The most important thing is to keep fungus out the wormtank and keep it moist.
But there are several other way's to keep and breed them,and always intresting to find out the
best way.O,and by example;vegetables giving themost of the time fungus.I keep in the same tank collumbola's(tropical one's) to keep the fungus out.(eating fungus)
Petro

 

[oregon newt]

Oh, so I should use newspaper instead of top soil?

 

[peterj]

I farm mine (red wrigglers) in stacks of styro boxes (the ones with holes in the bottom) outdoors. The table scraps get thrown in and covered with dirt so vermin aren't attracted. I suppose I'm probably spoilt by climate, our winters are pretty mild.

 

[oregon newt]

So would that link above apply to the earthworms I find in my backyard? Also, what temperature should the bins be in?

 

[peterj]

I'm not sure what species you have in your yard, but many naturally occurring worms aren't suitable for composting because they don't survive well in the environment created in compost and/or they're not productive enough to be used as a live food source (which also means they're ineffiective for waste disposal). It's definately worth getting some dedicated compost worms, and red wrigglers seem to be readily excepted by Axolotls and many fish as a staple food.

Mine are productive in air temperatures from around 5C to 30+C. I'm not sure what soil temperatures that equates to, but the compost is appreciably warmer than air during winter (as organics are metabolised) and I apply extra moisture when it gets hot during summer. I'm not sure what the lower temperature limit for culturing outside would be.

 

[dianabee]

So would that link above apply to the earthworms I find in my backyard? Also, what temperature should the bins be in?

I'm not sure about specific worm species. I collect my worms from outside after a rain. They've been doing fine so far. I'd recommend keeping the bins at room temperature. I keep the bins in my kitchen, right next to my garbage can.

The link I posted earlier is specifically for an indoor worm bin. Also, I use both newspaper as well as a small amount of topsoil.

 

[Daniel]

There have been several discussions on the topic of culturing earth worms in this forum, for instance a very good description of a worm bin you might want to check out.