On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:12:22 -0600, hal wrote:


Earthworms are different from compost worms.

how is that?

There are many different species of earth worms.
Most, if not all, of the farmed compost/bait worms are not natives. These
all tend to be top feeders and need lots of food provided for best
growth/production.

AFAIK Australian native earth worms are a mixture including both top
top/mid range feeders in places with a deep leaf litter and deep worms
in other places. The deep worms are the ones that go deep into the
earth and thus bring up minerals from the sub soil to the top, when
they come up to the top to feed.

If you want highest production in your "worm farm" then get the compost
worms nd keep the feed up. If you want to improve deep drainage, then just
spread your organic matter around in little clumps. The deep worms are
slower,but they do aerate deep down. Also tend to be the big thick worms
you see around.

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:03:02 +1000, terryc
wrote:

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:12:22 -0600, hal wrote:


Earthworms are different from compost worms.

how is that?

There are many different species of earth worms.
Most, if not all, of the farmed compost/bait worms are not natives. These
all tend to be top feeders and need lots of food provided for best
growth/production.

AFAIK Australian native earth worms are a mixture including both top
top/mid range feeders in places with a deep leaf litter and deep worms
in other places. The deep worms are the ones that go deep into the
earth and thus bring up minerals from the sub soil to the top, when
they come up to the top to feed.

If you want highest production in your "worm farm" then get the compost
worms nd keep the feed up. If you want to improve deep drainage, then just
spread your organic matter around in little clumps. The deep worms are
slower,but they do aerate deep down. Also tend to be the big thick worms
you see around.

most worms I've seen for sale as compost worms are called "red worms".
Most people around here call native earthworms "nightcrawlers" which
are much larger and not as red, although there are small red worms
that you can find in manure piles and such. So am I concluding
corrected that red worms are typically considered compost worms and
nightcrawlers are the deep worms, but both will work adequately for
decomposing your compost?

Hal

writes:
most worms I've seen for sale as compost worms are called "red worms".
Most people around here call native earthworms "nightcrawlers" which
are much larger and not as red, although there are small red worms
that you can find in manure piles and such. So am I concluding
corrected that red worms are typically considered compost worms and
nightcrawlers are the deep worms, but both will work adequately for
decomposing your compost?

Yup. You don't HAVE to buy worms. Eventually they will find your pile
of decomposing compost, but I have found this to take about 12 months.
It's very sandy, low fertility, with no gardening neighbours here. The
compost worms are short, thin, and orangey-red. Earthworms are fat,
longer, very dark in colour, and they live in soil. Both sorts will
find your pit of household scraps, but the compost worms will breed
in it, the earthworms will live around or under it.

I had a thriving in-ground worm farm and went away for 3 months.
When I returned it had dried out and all the worms were gone. It has
taken exactly a year of maintaining the pile for them to reappear.
They still haven't built up in any numbers, though.

To get your farm off to a fast start, I'd recommend getting a handful
of worms from a neighbour who has an established worm farm.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

You will need a very large worm farm if you want to raise enough food to feed regular chook, if farms regular home cooking, I do not think will work ubnless you run about 4 or 5, or if one of them. then all the kitchen waste will go to yor worms instead of chook. unless you start to collect bits of your neighbors.