It’s January in Texas and temperatures are right for red worm cocoons to hatch. Temperatures will dip just below freezing at night on occasion, but right now it’s 60F. Red worms will do fine from 40F-80F. Mine are kept at a pretty constant 60F this time of year, and they are doing wonderful. I snapped this picture early this morning as I peeked under the lid of one of my starter farms.
Inspired by Bruce’s flow through worm bin design at wormcompostingblog.com, and Cassandra Truax’s podcast interview w/ “worm dude” Jerry Gach. I had some plastic buckets laying around, and decided to build a couple for myself.
I cut out the hole w/ tin snips.
Holes were spaced 1.5″ apart to thread weed eater line through using a 1/8″ drill bit.
The first layer (6 sheets of damp newspaper).
Next, I added some red worms, and layered some partially finished compost for bedding.
I will add food scraps to the top and cover with some cardboard. The idea is that in a few weeks the worms will continue to work their way to the top and the finished vermicompost will flow through the weed eater line to be harvested from the bottom of the bin.
Save money, reduce waste, your plants water consumption, and produce the best fertilizer available by composting household waste with red worms. Texas Red Worms provides you with the ultimate gardening and composting system. Our shoebox sized starter farm is a perfect no hassle, no smell way to turn wastes into valuable castings for compost tea and fertilizer for your plants and soil.
Red wiggler worm farm $40, includes everything you need (bin, castings, hundreds of red worms, and food). Pictured below, shoe box size, about 5 lbs.
Red worms and castings about 2.5 lbs. $25
Get started reducing your waste today. Delivery available. Farms are located in San Antonio and Livingston, TX
210-310-5046
Inspired by Bentley Christie’s 4 worm experiment where his 5 1/2 month experiment with 4 mature worms rendered 12 adults and 94 juveniles. I began a similar experiment of 2 bins with 4 worms and my normal bedding.
11-14-10 I set up up two starter bins w/ bedding and 4 mature red worms.
12-5-10 Three weeks into the experiment I did a pretty good count in one of the bins and was able to find the 4 original worms and 4 juveniles. I was also able to find a few cocoons. I could have easily missed counting due to the small size of juvenile worms .
From everything I can gather a mature worm can produce an egg sac every 7 days, and reach sexual maturity in 60-90 days. The two main variables I would like some data on are:
1) time it takes a cocoon to hatch?
2) number of worms in cocoon?
I have read cocoons can hatch 3-30 baby worms, and assume healthier worms in ideal conditions will hatch more. Accurate numbers will require accurate counting, and isolating variables.
I recognize that calling this an “experiment” is a bit of a stretch but wanted to see what would happen.
In harvesting some red worm castings for my lemon trees and herbs I came across this new born red worm. This little fella will grow rapidly in the next week and should reach sexual maturity in 60-90 days. At this point, a healthy red wiggler can produce an egg every 7 days for the remainder of their life. Red worms have been known to live for 15 years.
Last week, as an experiment I stocked a starter bin with bedding and 10 red worm cocoons or egg sacs. I would love to be able to see the little rascals hatch, but as you will see in the next post, counting these little critters can be pretty difficult. Stay tuned.
When setting up a new bin it is helpful to add a handful of sand. This will help aid in the red worms digesting of food. The sand will provide the necessary grit in their gullet to help them grind food. If you are setting up an outdoor bin pick a shady spot with sandy soil if possible. The sand will not only help your worms but, provides excellent drainage, as well.
TexasRedWorms.com starter farms are complete systems that contain everything you need in an established environment that includes bedding, food, red worms, and castings. We prefer to sell and ship worms this way, especially for beginners. We want to take the guess work out of starting your farm, and ensure your success as a red worm farmer.
It’s always the right time to add compost to your soil, and always a great time to get started composting with Red Worms. It’s Fall in Texas and the cooler weather is ideal for work outside and setting up your worm bed.
TexasRedWorms.com provides you the easiest way to start composting with Red Worms (vermicomposting) today. Our shoebox sized Starter Farm provides everything you need to produce nutrient rich castings for your plants and soil, and a thriving breeding brood of red worms (eisenia foetida) nature’s best composter.
Check out our latest ad on Craigslist or just give us a call 210-310-5046. If you are in the San Antonio or Livingston, TX area pick up can be arranged, or call for shipping information.
The candy is gone and the festivities are over. Instead of throwing those pumpkins out with the trash, add them to your compost pile or feed them to your red wigglers. Composting and worm farming is fun for the whole family. It is rewarding watching your food waste turn into dark and rich finished compost. I just added some worm castings to my lemon trees, and am on the hunt for sad jack-o-lanterns around the neighborhood.
A Red Worm egg sac or cocoon can be laid every 7 days by a healthy mature red worm. Red Worms can reach sexual maturity in about a month and a lifespan that can go into the early teens. Red worms are hermaphoditic which means they both fertilize and lay eggs. Eggs can have 4-30 baby red wigglers.
Keep your worms well but not over fed, moist environment, temps from 40F-80F, and in a quiet dark place and they will produce well for you.
Texas Jumpers 