Compost & Earthworms? (forum)

wazzamcg starts with ...
Hi All,

I bought a Reln worm factory off eBay recently and the contents of the compost had a mixture of earthworms and compost worms. Do they live harmoniously together or will one overtake the other?

I don't want to see an ivestment into some compost worms go to waste.

Regards,
Warren

Time: 27th November 2010 1:13pm

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About the Author wazzamcg
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Julie says...
wazz, that's very odd. As far as I know, you can't 'farm' earthworms, so I wonder why they are in there. They need quite different conditions to compost worms.

I have no idea what will happen, but earthworms usually live deeper down in the soil, and compost worms in the top layers that have high amounts of organic matter. I think in a worm farm the compost worms will win out, as the system is designed for them.

Edit: just had a thought. Maybe the other worms are not earthworms at all, but another type that will live in compost conditions. Perhaps ask the person who sold you the worm farm?

Time: 27th November 2010 7:14pm

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Original Post was last edited: 27th November 2010 7:26pm

About the Author Julie
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au0rey says...
Hmm I have a reln worm farm too and have those reddish worms I think they are called tiger earthworms??..they look skinner and redder than the normal earthworms I find in my garden...

I also have a compost bin and those garden earthworms come live in the bin...I am quite sure the worms in the worm farm (which I bought from council and bunnings) can survive in the compost bin and plant pots because I did throw out some there and they do fine...but not sure if the garden earthworms can survive in the worm farm...

Time: 27th November 2010 8:45pm

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wazzamcg says...
I contacted the lady who sold me the worm farm, she said she would get material out her compost bin to feed the wormfarm. She also said that some worms may have got transported over.

Maybe they are a variety of worm that can go higher up the compost heap/bin compared to an earthworm? I don't know.

The following pictures show a distinct band I saw on numerous worms, though the ones in the wormfarm were more greyish in colour (still very lively). The other picture shows the type of substrate the worms are in - on the bottom of the tray it was well rotted and on the muddy side. Lots of lawn clippings were evident. These pictures are not mine, I just grabbed them off the web to show examples.



Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2

Time: 28th November 2010 10:00am

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Pauline says...
My compost worms have bands. Evertything I have read has said that earthworms can not live in compost bins, so it is probably more likely that you have two types of compost worms (there are a fair few).

What makes you think they are Earth worms?

Time: 28th November 2010 1:35pm

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About the Author Pauline
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Julie says...
The band is commonly known as a saddle, and is part of the reproductive system.

I think the most common type of worm sold for worm farms is the red wriggler.

Time: 28th November 2010 8:09pm

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Steven says...
From memory, it doesnt really matter which compost worms you have in your worm farm they all perform pretty much the same. Earth worms are much bigger than compost worms, they live lower in the ground and help aerate the ground but they wont survive in a compost bin or worm farm.

The same variety of worms can appear slightly different depending on what they eat. so it could be a case that some are eating things that fatten them up or even change their colour slightly.

Time: 29th November 2010 11:54pm

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About the Author Steven
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snottiegobble says...
Ever seen the true aussie earthworm called a scrubworm? They grow up to 30cm & really like it rough in sandy bush soil. In fact there are some giants that grow in an area of Gippsland that reach a metre I am told.
I remember seeing a worm museum there shaped like one!

Time: 30th November 2010 2:16pm

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Steven says...
yeah there are massive ones over there, i think they can grow up to 3m long! apparently you can hear them glugging through tunnels they build...kind gross if you ask me :)

Time: 30th November 2010 2:41pm

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About the Author Steven
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amanda says...
I was told by a worm grower that the saddle/band is actually the egg sac and it works it's way down the worms 'body' and comes off as about 4 eggs at the end..!

Time: 30th November 2010 7:14pm

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About the Author amanda19
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snottiegobble says...
Sometimes you will find a couple of worms joined together by their saddles & facing opposite directions ( position 23) ha,ha! As worms are hermaphrodite they all get to lay eggs. They are smaller than a match head & when you squeeze them a tiny worm pops out.

Time: 1st December 2010 2:08pm

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Pauline says...
If anyone is REALLY interested in worms, there is a great newsletter send out by http://www.WormFarmingSecrets.com
Loads of info at all different depths of understanding. :)

Time: 1st December 2010 10:53pm

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About the Author Pauline
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wazzamcg says...
Okay, I hope the pictures explain it. I seem to have a combination of smaller red worms (picture 1) and bigger worms (picture 2). Both are very happy and quite lively when I picked them out.

I placed a peg in there so you can appreciate the size etc.

So, am I really lucky to have both big and small compost worms or do I have a mix of compost worms and a few rogue earthworms from the compost bin where the food source was extracted from?

These are actual pictures of my wormfarms.

If anyone can source any of those scrub worms I would be keen to know - can you farm them at all? They would look really cool on my fishing hooks ;-)

Regards,
wazzamcg
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2

Time: 2nd December 2010 8:25pm

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Julie says...
I'd say the first pic are red wrigglers. Don't know the second one, though they look longer than the usual earthworm.

Time: 2nd December 2010 8:30pm

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About the Author Julie
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snottiegobble says...
I would say juvenile red wrigglers & the 2nd are typical English earthworms.
Yeah the scrubbies make good bait being tough skinned & long lived although these days I believe they are more worthy being left to do what they do. I have to say the same about "mudeyes" & frogs!

Time: 3rd December 2010 1:54am

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Brendan says...
About 30 years ago, I bought 'bait' worms, they were: Red Wrigglers, Night Crawlers & Tigers. I think they were imported from USA.

They were also known as compost worms.

Time: 3rd December 2010 9:05am

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About the Author Brendan
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snottiegobble says...
The tiger worms in particular love pig manure but they have a distasteful milky
fluid that is really on the nose!


Time: 3rd December 2010 11:07am

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MaryT says...
I don't know what brand of worms I have but I just scooped them up from underneath my pot plants (they sit on concrete) and the worms feed and breed happily in my worm farm. Worms are worms; no? I read that you MUST buy compost worms but I question everything I read, particularly if the advice came from people who can make money out of it. :)

Time: 2nd January 2014 11:55am

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About the Author MaryT
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