Topic: Worms

[Annadl]

I have a silly question but don't know the answer.  Can anyone help me?

A friend of mine is giving me a container of worms this week and I don't know how to put them in my vege patch.

Do I dig a trench and put them in?  Or is there another way of doing it?

My vege patch had ferilizer dug in 3 months ago and 'grass' compost put in as well so I am hoping the worms won't leave the patch.

Thanks
Anna :)

[gayle]

If the soil is loose and not a hot day you could scatter them on top, but then again if you see lots of birds taking an intrest, then maybe you should do it discreetly and cover them with some soil so there not to exposed. Good luck.
 ;D

[Annadl]

Thankyou.

I have a Tumbler compost bin and wasn't too keen putting the worms in there. 

Anna :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

What sort of worms are they? Some live in rotting vegetation, others in soil.

[Annadl]

Hi Robert

My friend has them in tyres in her chook pen!!

She gives her worms all her food scraps.  Apparently the soil (compost) is very black & excellent for composting.  But I want the worms.

She used to put them on her potted plants but doesn't any more.  I am trying to convince her to alternate her chook pen with a vege patch but she isn't very motivated.

Anna

[Robert_Brenchley]

So the worms are presumably growing in rotting matter; it sounds like the way you culture redworms. If they're fairly small, red worms, then your compost bin would be the place for them. If you fish, they're brilliant bait.

[Annadl]

The worms have had both food scraps and soil added to them simultaneously.  Apparently they are variable in size.  Lots of babies as well.

I'm getting them tomorrow.

Anna

[Sketty]

Robert is right, they are either dendrobaena or brandlings in which case they live in compost not soil. :)

[Annadl]

Hi Sketty

My friend said you can only get earthworms from NSW in Australia.  (I'm in WA).
Hers are red & they vary up to 2 inches long.  They seem to be happy in the soil amongst the veges compost. ... So I am thinking I might still try them in the vege patch and if they leave so be it.

I don't like the idea of turning them around in my tumbler compost bin.

I'm still undecided ???

Anna

[Robert_Brenchley]

Redworms, they're fabulous bait for tench or big roach as long as there aren't any tiddler perch around. They won't live in soil, but they'll love your compost bin, and they won't mind the tumbling. In wet weather I find them hanging inside the lids of my bins!

[Sketty]

I fish for salmon and seatrout in high water with worms - it's got to be lobs for me. ;)

[Rose.mary]

I have just taken on a large plot from somebody who only wanted it for growing a few potatoes and cabbage, but he is a fisherman and wanted the worms most of all, so I have promised to start a'wormery'. I just need the worms now and I am set to go. I have a book about it and apparently you put bedding (shredded paper) to start them off. Any tips would be most welcome.
Rosemary

[Robert_Brenchley]

Do a search for 'wormery', there are commercial ones and lots of info out there.

[MikeB]

You can buy the worms from this site

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/compost1.htm

or the method to collect free worms as suggested by Bob Flowerdrew is to place a piece of corrugated cardboard on the lawn (with a brick on top to stop it blowing away), wait a week, lift the cardboard and worms will be attached or underneath.  Apparently they are attracted by the glue in the cardboard.  Remove the worms, move the cardboard to a different spot (you don't want to kill the lawn) and repeat.

Hope this helps

Regards

MikeB

[hemajo]

I have a can o worms which I have had now for about 3 years. Bought it from Wiggly Wigglers.  It took a long time to get established, and worms would (and still do sometimes!) escape.  I put it out in the summer next to the shed in shade, but when it rains they get flooded, and if I haven't 'harvested' the worm muck (castings) for some time, I find a lot of the worms escape out of the tap (which I intentionally leave open over a bucket).  I had to spend a delightful couple of hours removing a thick and smelly sludge from the bottom - full of worms.  I 'strained' the worms out by pouring the lot on thick newspaper and then let the moisture drip through.  I had thought the worms would have died in the wet quite quickly, but in the past I have found a couple of hundred floating alive on top of the drainage bucket liquid and rescued them!!  The drainage liquid is good for feeding plants - I dilute it.  The worm castings are great - but the worms don't just obligingly move up to the next layer of the wormery when they have eaten all the food, so I have to hand sort them.  This is time consuming but very relaxing.  I can't bear the idea of putting them into the soil - I want them in the wormery doing their job.  Overall I think it is well worth having.  It takes nearly all my kitchen waste - I occasionally have to put some kitchen waste on the compost heap as well.  I use a lot of cardboard and torn up newspaper in it as well, which helps absorb some of the moisture. 

[Annadl]

I've done it!!

I put half the bucket of worms & soil in my vege patch 2 weeks ago and hung on to the rest in my bucket.

I then put some in my big pot for growing cukes.  The cucumbers that almost looked like dying sprouted up their true leaves and are doing really well.

But today I finally put 2 cups of worms/soil in the compost tumbler and realized oh no they're in the sun :-\

So now I don't know if that will kill them ???

So I still have quarter of a bucket left of worms and they have been surviving there quite well with scraps and grass clippings added to them.

By the way they are about 6 inch red worms!!

Anna from Downunder

[Annadl]

Hi again!!

Today I checked one garden area where I put the worms and they're still there alive!! 

When I moved a strawberry pot there was a big worm under there too!!

Haven't checked the ones in the rotary composter yet.

Anna from Downunder :)

[hemajo]

they might not like being tumbled :)