Archive for the ‘Questions of the Week’ Category

We have added a few new products to our store.  We think you will be as excited as we are about some of these cool new offerings.

Check out the UrBin Grower:

Flexible Raised Bed / Organic Growing System

Grow Vegetables almost anywhere

Click here to learn more about the Urbin Grower!

BATS, BEES, BUTTERFLIES & LADY BUGS…    What do all of these have in common?

They help your garden grow! Bats, and Lady Bugs are great to have lurking around your yard and garden.  They feast on the bugs that can harm your plants and your family members.  Bats consume large quantities of insects including mosquitos, grasshoppers, flies, gnats and crickets. Small brown bats can eat 500 – 600 insects per hour.

Lady Bug Palace

Lady Bugs love aphids. Thanks to their voracious appetite, these armor-plated little beauties are beloved by gardeners. The entomologically accurate Ladybug House encourages these beneficial insects to take up residence in your garden and provides a safe roosting place during chilly months.  We even offer a Lady Bug Palace for those Ladies that only want the best   We can even supply you with a starting supply of Lady Bugs.

Check out our Beneficial Housing section and our Beneficial Insects for sale on our website.

We will be posting more products over the next few weeks.  We don’t want to give all of our secrets out  at once. In the meantime, you can do a little digging and find them in our online store at www.northwestwigglers.com

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Here are some images I would like to share of cocoons, baby worms and pot worms. Pot Worms, also known as white worms, and are similiar in size to baby red worms.  Pot worms are just one of many small creatures that are commonly found in worm bins.  The presence of pot worms may indicate that the PH of your bin is decreasing and becoming acidic. You may also spot them if you have added any acidic foods to your worm bin.   If you have an abundance of these worms in your bin it could also be an indication that your worms are being overfeed.  Overfeeding results in acidic conditions in a worm bin.  Pot worms are NOT harmful to your red worms in any way although they may compete with your worms for food.  Baby red worms are distinquished by red blood vessels visible in their squirmy little  bodies.  Here are a few images of both types of worms to help you determine if what you may be seeing in the bin are pot worms or babies.

Pot Worm (White Worm) vs Baby European Nightcrawler

White Worms (Pot Worms) VS Red Worms

Here are some close up images of European Nightcrawler Cocoons.  One cocoon can hatch between 2 and 20 worms (the average being 2-4 worms)  The older a worm is when it produces a cocoon, the higher the chance of hatching more babies per egg case.  When a cocoon is first produced it is a pale yellow almost transulant color.  As it begins to age and the worms get closer to hatching, the cocoon darkens to a brown color.   Newer cocoons are easier to spot in a heap of castings than the mature ones.  These next images are of European Nightcrawler cocoons at different stages.

European Nightcrawler Cocoons Close-Up

Stages of Red Worm Cocoons - European Nightcrawlers

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We get asked this question over and over. What is the difference between worms found in the yard and garden and worms used for composting?

Believe it or not, all worms are not created equal. There are three main types of worms, each one has different characteristics that make them unique. These unique traits are why some worms take to bins better than others. You can’t just go out in your yard, dig up some worms, and expect them to go to work for you in your new worm bin. Chances are you may not end up with great composting worms, and you may even find that the worms are escaping from the bin and do not appreciate being spoiled like our little friends the red wigglers. With an understanding of the different types of worms, you will gain a better perspective into the art of vermiculture.

Each one of the 4400 + named species of worms on earth can be broken down into these three main categories:

Anecic (Greek for “out of the earth”) – these are burrowing worms that come to the surface at night to drag food down into their permanent burrows deep within the mineral layers of the soil. The common nightcrawler (also known as Canadian Nightcrawler, Dew Worm & Common Earthworm) is in this category. These worms build vertical permanent burrows that extend over six feet below the earth’s surface. Believe it or not, but these worms can actually recognize their own burrows and return to it day after day. These worms feed on decaying litter and therefore must visit the surface on a regular basis. They are solitary worms and do not like living in high worm populations.

Endogeic (Greek for “within the earth”) – these are also burrowing worms but their burrows are typically more shallow and they feed on the organic matter already in the soil. These worms are the only type of worm that will actually eat soil as well as decaying organic material. These worms rarely come to the earth’s surface and spend most of their time underground in their lateral burrow systems.

Epigeic (Greek for “upon the earth”) – these worms live in the surface litter and feed on decaying organic matter. They do not have permanent burrows. These “decomposers” are the type of worm used in vermicomposting. These are our special little garbage men that work for food. They thrive in large groups and are surface feeders, not burrowers. Red Wigglers & European Nightcrawlers are both categorized in this group of composting worms. Becuase they do not build burrows, they do well in worm bins and appreciate the constant food source and moist environments that we provide for them.

I hope this helps you to gain a little understanding of the workings of earthworms and why purchasing the right kind of worm for your bin is important to your success.

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Question: Can I put red wigglers out in my garden?

Answer: This is a yes/no question. Red Wigglers are strictly a composting worm. They live off of decaying matter on the grounds surface. Unlike the worms you may find out in your yard or garden, they do not burrow down into the soil. If you garden is rich with organic material ie leaves, grass clippings, food scrapes, ect… they will be happy to feed and deposit castings in that area. Some people will pocket feed or trench feed their worms in the garden to keep them happy by burying food scraps. Without this type of food source available, the Red Wigglers will either move on or die off.

For a great garden worm try our Alabama Jumpers.  They do well in clay and sandy soils.  Because they have tougher skin than the red wigglers, they can burrow down and in doing so they help loosen up the soil.  (Depositing castings along the way)

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We get asked this question a lot.  Can Red Wigglers and European Nightcrawlers cohabitate?   Yes they can.  In fact, these two types of worms have very similiar qualities and do very well together.  Both can survive in temperatures between 40 -95 degrees.  They both are the most active in temperatures ranging from 65-85 degrees.  Although the Red Wiggler is the most well known composting worm around, the European Nightcrawler comes in a close second.  They are great composters and will eat from the same food sources as the Red Wiggler.

You may hear people say that you cannot keep Nightcrawlers in a bin because they are not the right type of worms to use for composting.  This maybe true of other varieties of Nightcrawlers and earthworms that you may find in your backyard.  In fact, the European Nightcrawlers do very well in all types of worm bins.  We have a few pounds that we keep in a Gusanito Worm bin and they are quite happy.  They migrate up through the trays with ease.

The European Nightcrawlers are similar to appearance to the Red Wigglers.   However, you will notice that they are quite a bit fatter.  These worms have a nice girth to them that make them a great bait worm.   I personally prefer the European Nightcrawlers over the Red Wigglers because of their size.  Most kids at the schools we go to also seem to have the same opionion!

So if you have trouble deciding which worms you want to get for your compost bin this spring, why not try both.  We now sell these two great worms together in mixed batches.  You can find them here:  MIXED WORMS

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