How do I grow worms to sell? You’ve got a bin, maybe it’s a plastic tub, maybe it’s a Worm 360. Your worms are doing well, multiplying. How do you scale so you can grow worms for sale? I am by no means a major player in the worm world, but here are a few things I’ve learned about growing worms for sale.
Worms Need to Be Lonely To Breed
Composting worms will self regulate their population. That means your worm population will grow only as large as space will allow. It doesn’t matter how much you feed them. So if you want more worms, give them lots of elbow room. The Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture recommends a stocking rate of 1/2 to 1 lb per square foot for optimal reproduction.
Keep a Record of What You Do
I know of what I speak, people. I was very lax and inconsistent about keeping records and it did not benefit me. Once you get more than a few bins or systems going, you will not remember what you did when and what needs to be done. Trust me, you won’t.
What I do now is put sticky notes on the sides of the bins. Every time I feed, add worms, remove worms, it goes on a sticky note with the date and gets stuck on the side of the bin. I even put notes to myself like, let sit, or has fruit flies, or baby worms etc. This works a lot better than trying to arrange the bins in some type of order, or just figuring I’ll remember. The only problem is that sometimes the sticky notes get knocked off, but it hasn’t been a major problem.
Keep Mix Light For Harvest
It’s going to take at least 3 months to breed some worms, so at the beginning this isn’t so important. However, when you’re getting closer to the time of harvest, I recommend keeping the paper out of the bin. Paper is the number one sticky element, and will gum up the works when it comes to harvesting.
Coco coir, although I don’t highly recommend it as a bedding, will keep your worm bin material light and easy to separate. One thing about coco coir is that it doesn’t clump, at least I haven’t experienced it. Adding some coco coir toward the last month or so before harvest can help lighten your mixture.
Remember, I’m talking about harvesting worms here, not producing compost.
Another factor in producing a light mix for worm harvest is to let the bin material mature. That means stop feeding and let the worms work through all the feedstock in the bin. I can’t give you a set amount of time for this process. Just know that your worms can easily go a month without feeding with a full bin of material.
Drier Is Better
Once you’re ready to harvest, let the bin dry out. The drier the better. Normally, we want our worm bins full of moisture. But come harvest time, drier is better. The bin material should be crumbly, not sticky. Don’t worry if they top layer becomes quite dry. There’s plenty of moisture underneath, and the worms can take some drier conditions temporarily.
What About Baby Worms?
What happens if you have a major baby worm outbreak and there are also lots of adults? First of all congratulations! I love when this happens. I wish it would happen more often.
What I do is separate out the bulk of the adults and place in a new bin. Then I add a layer of food for the babies in the original bin and leave them alone to grow.
Anybody have any other tips for growing worms? Let me know in the comments below.
