How to take care of Worm bins with Red Wiggler worms

A Professional Red Wiggler worm composting bins usually cost about fifty to a hundred dollars. In case you are low on the budget, you can opt for those fifteen dollar or five to ten gallon worm bins that are very effective as well. When you are buying a bin, choose those that are shallow, but not that deep. Red Wiggler worms do well in six inches of soil, and a 1-square foot of space can provide a habitat for two thousand of these red worms. Place your Red Wiggler worms bin in a location where the sunlight cannot reach them, most preferably indoors where they are not exposed to extreme cold as well, so that they can reproduce all throughout the year. Puncture a number of small holes on the worm bin, preferably on the top edges for ventilation purposes. Buy peat moss and use it as your worm bedding; you can purchase them at your local garden store. But if you're on a budget, fallen leaves and shredded papers should be alright as well.

Photo credits: Worm.bin by:Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

Another good choice for your Red Wiggler worm bins is coir bedding that is made from the fiber of coconuts. You can easily locate and purchase them at your local pet stores. In case your location does not allow you to create superior bedding for them, you can make use of a mixture of shredded cardboard scraps and sawdust - it can be good for them, although not that effective. It is also highly advised that you thoroughly soak their bedding; Red Wiggler worms, or all types of worms in general, need a moist environment for them to thrive. The ideal level of moisture is about fifty to sixty percent, so it is wise for you to press or knead the bedding using your hands. Keep doing this until there are only a couple drops of water left in it. After that, loosely sprinkle your moist bedding on the base of the worm bin until it reaches approximately 6" thick. Remember to setup your bedding and bins before you purchase your worms. You can order your first batch of Red Wiggler worms for your worm bins from several online worm farms and they will be delivered to you by mail.

Now that you have yourself Red Wiggler worm bins that can boost your organic gardening, proper diet is vital for you to have a healthy crop of Red Wiggler worms. There are specially formulated worm feeds in cereal form that you can purchase in order for them to acquire a well-balanced diet. Keep in mind, though, that it is always better to underfeed your worms in your worm bins than to overfed them- in terms of keeping the bin odorless. See to it that they have finished what you gave them before you give them more. Over-application of food can cause the soil to heat up, thus forces the worms to dig deeper and this results to your worms not being fed properly. Protein poisoning is also another problem; this happens when the acids in these foods are released in your worm bin. It is suggested that you toss the bedding every seven to fourteen days so that the bottom soil ends up on the surface.

Uncle Jim is an expert on Red Wiggler worms or Eisenia Foetida. Raising them for more than 20 years now, he has been promoting the importance of the roles that the worms play in our environment. That's why he chose to raise Red Wigglers in a farm to share and promote the benefits of these nature's little wonders!

Uncle Jim's seasoned knowledge about worms and gardening has developed many tools for worm composting and gardening that are based on 20 years of experience.