gadeerwoman
Senior Member
Anybody raise your own red wigglers? What type setup do you have? Where did you get it? Tips, etc?
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Raising red wigglers?
- Thread starter gadeerwoman
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PopPop
Gone But Not Forgotten
My uncle uses an old refrigerator.
Bream Pole
Senior Member
Friend of mine with a horse and manure pile just bought the worms he wanted and dumped them on the manure pile and has all the worms he wants. Small dig produces hundreds.
I raise both wigglers and night crawlers/big reds.
Both are raised in cut down 55 gallon plastic drums and I have a additional "bed" of night crawlers growing in a compost pile. The "barrel" beds are covered to keep critters from feasting on my worms. All three beds are kept in a shady area of my back yard.
I started my wiggler bed with peat moss, shredded newspaper,a little bit of aged rabbit manure and some aged mushroom compost I get for my garden.
Both of my crawler beds were started with with a mixture from my compost piles.
All three beds are fed vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, a commercial worm food and rabbit manure when my buddy cleans out from under his rabbit hutches.
Tips: don't overfeed, don't let your bedding material get too wet (your worms will suffocate) or to dry, and feed in one area of your bed at a time.
Any other questions just ask..
Martin
Both are raised in cut down 55 gallon plastic drums and I have a additional "bed" of night crawlers growing in a compost pile. The "barrel" beds are covered to keep critters from feasting on my worms. All three beds are kept in a shady area of my back yard.
I started my wiggler bed with peat moss, shredded newspaper,a little bit of aged rabbit manure and some aged mushroom compost I get for my garden.
Both of my crawler beds were started with with a mixture from my compost piles.
All three beds are fed vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, a commercial worm food and rabbit manure when my buddy cleans out from under his rabbit hutches.
Tips: don't overfeed, don't let your bedding material get too wet (your worms will suffocate) or to dry, and feed in one area of your bed at a time.
Any other questions just ask..
Martin
gunnurse
Senior Member
Buy a couple of rabbits (keep them separated or buy same sex), wait for the rabbit droppings to accumulate, dig worms. It’s like magic.
gadeerwoman
Senior Member
When I was growing up we had a fine worm bed behind the hay barn. Old manure and rotted hay made some huge eel worms. How I'm wanting to raise just red wigglers (or rather 'green' wigglers.
Martin, what kind of top have you got on your bed? Ever fed them some sugarfree lime jello to turn them green? Couple years ago I found green 'red wigglers' for sale and the bream preferred them 10 to 1 over the red ones. Gonna give it a try this year. Want to use a container bed so I can better control the dang fire ants.
Martin, what kind of top have you got on your bed? Ever fed them some sugarfree lime jello to turn them green? Couple years ago I found green 'red wigglers' for sale and the bream preferred them 10 to 1 over the red ones. Gonna give it a try this year. Want to use a container bed so I can better control the dang fire ants.
gadeerwoman,
I never have tried the jello trick. I got my wigglers to start my beds from the manure piles at the horse farm next to my parents house. The night crawlers are from some I bought and some that were free range. The lids for my beds are plywood. The lids on the barrel beds are hinged. The barrels are vented up high and have screen material over the vent holes and drains in the bottom. I use the "worm juice" as liquid fertilizer in my garden.
I'm in West Central GA and haven't had problems with fire ants. The barrel beds are on stands like trough style deer feeders.
Martin
Thought about rabbits too but didn't want any more mouths to feed. We had rabbits growing up and had a never ending supply of worms. I have a good friend in South Ga that has a rabbit farm and raises worms as a side line business.
Martin
Wycliff
Senior Member
Growing up we had used an old deep freeze full of cow compost, my Granddad would get old bread that they were throwing out to feed them sometimes
watermedic
Senior Member
You sure that the green wigglers aren't a different type of worm?
I know we used to dig what we called swamp wigglers. They were green and a lot bigger than a red wiggler.
jigman29
Senior Member
We used to keep a scrap pile in the woods with tater peels and leftover cornmeal and had tons of worms. Keep it moist and don't let the soil get too rich and you will have tons of worms. My buddy actually keeps sawdust in his dog lots and has unlimited amounts of red worms. I personally prefer something other than dog poo to dig in for bait lol.
I did red wigglers a few years back. I kept them in plastic tubs and slightly elevated. I had holes drilled in the bottom. Had way more than I needed. I fed them vegi scraps I got at the state farmers market. Its amazing how much food is thrown in the dumpsters! Never did the jello thing though, but neat trick.
gadeerwoman
Senior Member
Green wigglers were supposedly regular red wigglers that were green due to diet. Said same thing would happen if you added sugarfree jello to the food. They were the same size as normal red wigglers, just a neon green. And man the bream and sunfish loved em.
Ended up ordering some wigglers from Uncle Jims worm farm. So far they seem to be doing well. Got another container made up of garden soil and coconut fiber with some pink worms going. That bed seems to dry out quickly.
Ended up ordering some wigglers from Uncle Jims worm farm. So far they seem to be doing well. Got another container made up of garden soil and coconut fiber with some pink worms going. That bed seems to dry out quickly.
I set up a worm bed in a fiberglass kitchen sink I found on the side of the road. I filled it with dirt from the woods and dumped in two cups of bait shop wigglers. I keep kitchen scraps (no meat products, dairy or bread) and once a week I grind them up in a blender with well water and pour it over the bed.
I don't use manure of any type since I don't want to have to deal with that when I want to dig a few to go bream fishing.
I learned the hard way not to dump any wood ashes in it. I killed the first batch I had by doing that. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
I don't use manure of any type since I don't want to have to deal with that when I want to dig a few to go bream fishing.
I learned the hard way not to dump any wood ashes in it. I killed the first batch I had by doing that. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
stratos201
Senior Member
Question..
Can you mix different worms in the same bed? Night crawlers and red wigglers???
Can you mix different worms in the same bed? Night crawlers and red wigglers???
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