When it comes to worm composting, it really helps to see it.

Worm composting is one of those activities that really benefits from a show and tell situation.  Pictures are great, and video can be even better.

So with that said, here are some of my favorite worm composting videos from around the web:

Worm Composting Mistakes

Yes, new worms are very prone to escape.  And no, they won’t breed in the walls.

I see one problem right off the bat, a transparent bin.  It’s a bit colored but it’s still transparent.

Red Wiggler Cocoon

Just in case you were wondering what worm cocoons look like.  Three or four baby worms will hatch from each of these.  I found a video of a worm hatching, but it was kind of gross.

Creative Worm Harvesting

Who would think this would actually work?

Best Prize for Elegantly Simple Worm Bin

I love this set up.  This is Nevada where it gets both very hot and very cold.  And this is a super simple set up without major capital investment.  You go Sierra Worm Solutions!

Or Blue Worm vs. Red Wiggler Worm

Perionyx excavatus, or the blue worm, exist within many red wiggler worm (E. fetida) populations.

P. excavatus is a tropical species and I haven’t been able to find out where it comes from natively.  Perhaps Asia?

A key difference between P. excavatus and E. fetida is that P. excavatus cannot tolerate as much cold as E. fetida (our friend the red wiggler).  From what I read, P. excavatus will die at temperatures below 40° F, if that temperature holds for a day or more.

How do I Know if I Have Perionyx excavatus in my Worm Bin?

I’ve made a chart comparing P. excavatus and E. fetida characteristics.  One thing to keep in mind is that you need to be looking at mature worms.  Looking at immature worms will drive you nuts because they haven’t fully developed some of these characteristics.

Perionyx excavatus video

You may be wondering why I told the P. excavatus that I didn’t like him.  It’s because they have a tendency to abandon the bin for no apparent reason.  And as noted in the chart, light doesn’t stop them.

Obviously I have some P. excavatus in my bins.  When I discovered P. excavatus in my bins, I started separating my bins into 2 types.  I have the compost producing bins that I get compost from.

And I have worm bins where I raise worms.  I have diligently separated out only E. fetida for the worm bins, because those are the worms I choose to produce.

Perionyx excavatus are great composting worms, but I don’t prefer them.  If you find them in your bins, I wouldn’t panic.  It’s likely you won’t have any problems.  But it is good to know the difference.

Another note is that if you have outdoor bins or beds in the Southeastern U.S., you may have P. excavatus that have moved in.  From what I read, they have become residents in the ground there.  I’m not sure about Texas.  I’m sure West Texas is too dry, but I don’t know where the line is.

You can read more about Perionyx excavatus on these sites:

Hawaii Rainbow Worms

Happy D Ranch

We’re all thinking it. Me included. Isn’t there some way I can make money with these beautiful creatures, these composting worms? Gosh, I mean if there’s money to be made off bottling water, then surely there’s a way to make money with these little work horses who so eagerly gobble up garbage and convert it to living earth.

I’m with you. So far, I’ve been making money here and there selling worms, worm tea, and teaching classes.  I’m in the trenches, trying to make a go of it.  The fact is, you won’t get rich just selling worms by the pound, unless you sell A LOT of pounds.  So what you need is a product and a market.

Here’s the deal, pick a product from the list and pick a market. Then start playing with ways you can present the product to the specific market.

For example: Worms by the cup to fisherman. Why would a fisherman be interested in composting worms? Well, they don’t need refrigeration. And you can probably sell them for less than the price of Canadian Nightcrawlers.

Or how about worm composting systems to apartments?  If you live in a “green minded” area like Vancouver, San Francisco, or Austin you might find a small apartment complex that would be interested in setting up a communal worm composting system.  Everyone can deposit their kitchen scraps in one place and everyone can use the compost once it’s done.

So go ahead, pick a product and pick a market. See what you come up with.

Have I forgotten anything? Add it in the comments.

Products

• worms by the pound

• worms by the cup

• worms with compost included

• worm bins

• mature worm bins

• worm tea

• worm compost

• worm towers

• worm trenches

• worm composting systems

• worm composting systems with worms

• information products about worm composting

• videos about worm composting

Markets

• apartment complexes

• gardeners

• kids

• schools

• permaculturists

• vegans

• sustainable living folks

• waste management facilities

• restaurants

• fisherman

• entrepreneurs

• food co-ops

• living co-ops

• people with a green streak

• individuals with chemical sensitivity

• organic farms

• urban farms

• plant growers

• plant nurseries

• landscapers

• lawn services

Today I’d like to tell you a strange tale of weird worm behavior.  A tale of balls of worms, and worm escape.

I recently taught a class at Milberger’s Nursery.  I separated out individual cartons of worms for all the students the night before.

I put the cartons in a large, plastic bin, and put that bin in my shower.  I left the light on all night to keep the worms down in their individual cartons.

The next day, when I was packing up for the class, I noticed a fair amount of worms stuck between the individual cartons.  I thought that was a bit strange, since leaving the light on usually keeps worms from roaming.  But I figured I’d take care of it when I got there.

When I got to the class and unpacked the worms, I got a big surprise.  A huge percentage of the worms had escaped their cartons and had formed a pure ball of worms in the center carton.  They had kicked out all the compost they were in and formed a solid mass of worms covered in foam.  Many more were gathered in the bottom around the edges of the bin.

It was a huge mass of breeding worms.  A worm breeding ball frenzy!

I had never experienced this.  I’ve seen worms kind of balled up together in small quantities, but never like this.  I had 25 lbs of worms in that plastic bin and probably a quarter of that had balled themselves into a massive worm breeding ball.

It kind of grossed me out a little, even though I deal with worms on a daily basis.  I showed my class and it think they were a little freaked too.

So for the class I had to re-measure everything, but it all worked out okay.

I really wished I had taken a picture but I wasn’t able to with all the frenzy around the nursery.  I left my purse in the car because I had too much stuff to carry to the class, and no place to put it once I got there.

Weird Worm Behavior Part 2

Not all my students showed up for the class so I ended up bringing 7 lbs or so back with me.  I put all those worms in a large bin by themselves with fresh food and some compost.

Well, these darn worms were h** bent on escaping.  Every morning and every evening I would have to knock them off the walls and ceiling of the bin where they were clumped up.  Then I’d pick up the few persistent souls who managed to squeeze under the lid and escape up off the floor.

This morning I went through the same routine, knocking worms down off the ceiling and sides of the bin.  I left for about 3 hours and when I returned I was going to do the worm knock down again, because I was going out of town for a couple of days.

When I opened the bin, all the worms were down in the bedding.  I thought they had all escaped, even though there were none around the bin.   I dug around in the bedding, and sure enough, they were in there.

We had a light, misty rain this morning.  I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.  But as suddenly as it had started, the worms settled back in.  Weird worm behavior.

Can I put composting worms in my garden?

No.  Red wiggler worms (Eisenia fetida) are not a soil worm.  They are epigeic, meaning they live on top of the soil.  They are specialists in breaking down rotting organic matter.  Composting worms can be added directly to the garden using a worm trench or a worm tower.

Can I put composting worms in a compost bin or pile? Yes, as long as you are not hot composting.  Red wiggler worms do a great job upping compost speed in home composting bins.  Make sure your composting bin or pile is in complete shade and stays moist, otherwise the worms will leave.  Composting worms are great for finishing off compost as well.  If you’ve hot composted, and the compost still needs time to finish, that’s the time to add composting worms.

Can I use a clear plastic bin to keep my worms in? No.  Worms need total darkness.  I have tried keeping worms in clear, plastic tubs with various methods to keep it dark.  It’s not worth the hassle and it doesn’t work.  It’s a lot easier to get an opaque tub or bin.

Does a worm composting bin smell? Absolutely not.  If it smells bad, then something is wrong.  Worm composting is aerobic composting,  just like a standard compost pile.  This means that oxygen loving organisms break down the organic matter, and these organisms do not smell bad.  When a bin or pile becomes anaerobic, meaning it is decomposing without oxygen, it smells because the bacteria are letting off sulfur.

If I get composting worms, will I be overrun by them at some point? Composting worms will reproduce in worm composting bins or in compost bins or piles.  However, when the worms become too crowded, they will stop reproducing.  So you won’t be over run by worms.  If you do want your worms to keep producing, split your bin so the worms have more room and they will continue to reproduce.

Can composting worms and other types of worms live together? No.  Composting worms require a specific set of conditions that are different than non-composting worms.  There are several commonly used species of composting worms, however.  From my understanding, mixing the different types will usually result in one type out competing the others.  I’ve never mixed different types of composting worms.

How much dirt do I need in my worm composting bin? None.  Composting worms do not require soil.  Worm bedding and worm food are added to a worm composting bin.  Worm bedding is the equivalent of the browns or carbon, and food is the green or nitrogen.  The most commonly used worm bedding is shredded paper and the most common worm food is kitchen scraps.  No meat, grease, or bones should be added to a worm composting bin.

How do I tell when my worm compost is “ready”? Finished worm compost is light brown to black in color, crumbly, and smells like earth or any other compost.  Be patient.  When starting a bin from scratch, it will take about 3 months to see any noticeable compost.  It may take another 3 months until you have enough to harvest any significant amount.

How do I harvest worm compost or worms? There are several different ways to harvest compost and/or worms.  The way I use most often is to use a screen combined with light harvesting.

How to screen worm compost:

• Just take a 1/4″ hardware cloth screen and press your worms and compost through it.
• You may be able to pick some worms off the top of the screen.  Many will fall through, and some will be stuck in the middle.
• Keep screening until you have a nice pile.
• Let the pile sit a few minutes.  Any worms in the pile will move down toward the bottom to escape the light.
• Begin taking compost off the top of the pile until you see worms.  When you see worms let it sit again.
• Eventually you will have a pile of compost and a pile of worms.
• If you want a finer material for the compost, then the compost can be screened through an 1/8″ screen and the larger clumps thrown back in the bin.

Other ways to harvest worm compost include mechanical harvesters, feeding one side, using some sort of bag with holes, and flipping the whole bin over.  But that’s for another post.

Still have questions?  Ask them in the comments below.

Worm composting is not hot composting.  Temperatures above 85 – 90 degrees F are too hot for red wiggler worms to survive.

Composting worms can be added to a compost pile or bin, but add them after the compost has cooled off to near ambient air temperatures.  A good use of composting worms is as compost finishers.  Add them to the pile after it’s cooked down, collapsed, and still needs some time to mature.

The fact that worm composting isn’t hot composting is a good thing, in my opinion.  It’s often hard to get a compost pile to get hot, which makes the composting process take longer.  With worm composting, the worms speed up the composting process by aerating the compost.  As well, they excrete bacteria (which are not thermophilic) that increase the amount of compost activity without creating heat.

Be careful, however, because you could accidentally turn your worm composting bin into a hot bin of worm death.  I did this recently.  I have some aged rabbit manure that I use in a pure manure bin.  I also occasionally add the manure to other bins.  Well, I had a bunch of peat that I really had no use for so I thought I’d start a bin with peat and manure.  Big mistake.  The mix heated up and killed the worms I put in there.  Live and learn.

Generally speaking, kitchen scraps and paper bedding are not going to heat up to dangerous levels.  I have put my hand in a bin and felt that it was warmer than the outside temps.  I’ve never had kitchen scraps heat up to dangerous levels.

Items which could cause your bin to heat up are items which are considered very strong green or nitrogen elements such as manure and grass clippings.

Any manure needs to be pre-composted before adding to bins.  Rabbit manure is the most neutral and needs little processing.  Cow and horse will need some some composting.   Poultry manure is too hot (or green) to add directly to a worm composting system and needs to be thoroughly composted.

Grass clippings are full of nitrogen and they are also very small in size.  Add them to a carbon source such as shredded leaves, straw or the like and you’ve got hot compost.

So keep on with your kitchen scraps and thank the worms for turning the compost for you.

What type of worms do I need for composting?  A common question.

I, myself, raised only the red wiggler worms.  It’s kind of a case of if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.  The red wiggler has done fantastically well for me so I haven’t had much drive to try any other kind of worm.

With that said,  I’ll talk about some of the other types of composting worms based on what I’ve read and heard from other people.

Types of Composting Worms

• red wiggler – Eisenia fetida
• European nightcrawler – Eisenia hortensis
• African nightcrawler – Eudrillis eugeniae

Please note that the worms from your backyard are not composting worms.  Yes, they will consume rotten organic matter.  Yes, you will find them in a compost pile.   However, they are not specialists in consuming organic matter .

Worms which we call composting worms live in the upper layer of the soil among actively decaying organic matter.  The scientific term for this is epigeic.  Epigeic comes from a greek word meaning “on the earth”.

What we call composting worms are epigeic and  do not live in the soil.

A soil worm which is very active and helpful for breaking up clay soil is the Alabama jumper, Pheretima hawayanus.  So if you’re looking to add worms directly to the soil, this may be what you’re looking for.

Red Wiggler Worms – Eisenia fetida

Red wigglers are the most common type of composting worm.  One reason for their popularity as a composting worm is their broad tolerance to temperature and moisture conditions.  They will tolerate some abuse and neglect, although we would never do this intentionally, right?  And their cocoons will survive below freezing temperatures to hatch when conditions return to optimal for them.

European Nightcrawler – Eisenia hortensis

European nightcrawlers are a redworm like Eisenia fetida but are a bit larger.  From what I understand, they require basically the same conditions as red wigglers.  I have also heard that they tend to go a little deeper into the bedding than the red wiggler. Considering that behavior, they may not be the best for flow through systems.  Due to their bigger size, they may be more desirable as a fishing worm.

African nightcrawler – Eudrillis eugeniae

From what I understand about the African nightcrawler, they need warmer temperatures than the above described Eisenia redworms.  I have heard that their cocoons will die if they freeze.  Feel free to add more information about the African nightcrawler in the comments below.

Blue worms – Perionyx escavatus

The blue worm is another worm, from my understanding, that needs warmer temperatures.  It also appears that these worms will actually consume organic matter before it rots.  Larry mentioned these worms in podcast 4 and here is an article on blue worms on Bentley’s site.

Did I leave anything out?  Let me know in the comments below.

Also, if you are interested in buying any of the worms discussed above, other than the blue worm, I can order them for you.  Just click “e-mail the worm coach” in the right hand column.

Composting worms, being the adaptable creatures that they are, hold the possibility of a food production revolution for us humans here are just a few of the more unusual places you might find composting worms.

Composting Worms at Sea

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a ship way out in the Pacific Ocean that collects information about ocean temperatures.  The crew has installed an aquaponics system on the deck in an attempt to have fresh vegetables on their long voyages.

One problem the crew encountered was seagulls digging up the worms and eating them, among other things.

Composting Worms Swimming in Coffee

These worms aren’t really swimming in coffee, but they do turn the discarded coffee pulp into lovely, rich compost which is then put back onto coffee plants.

I mentioned this before in a post about coffee wilt.  So far, this particular coffee company has worms employed in Panama and Rawanda.  Kudos to them!

Composting Worms in Tea

What, you haven’t drunk any worm tea?  Good.  It’s not for you, it’s for the plants.  If you don’t know about worm tea, it’s made from vermicompost which is aerated in water.  The tea is teeming with beneficial bacteria and fungi which fight disease and provide the means to make nutrients available to plants.

You can find out more about worm tea in the posts below:

Wonderous Worm Tea

Worm Tea Simple to Brew

How to Make Worm Tea

In what unusual places have you found composting worms?

Here’s a fun cartoon I drew to illustrate the benefits of worm composting.  Worm composting reduces waste going to landfill and turns it into black gold.  Although attempts are made to capture methane gas from landfills, the fact of the matter is that most of it escapes.  Methane gas is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Compost is a vital element to organic gardening and sustainable agriculture because it improves soil quality instead of diminishing or destroying it.  Not to mention the fact that it’s 100 percent organic and has no relationship whatsoever to petroleum if you make it at home. Okay, maybe it has a few ties like the newspaper, which was transported by truck, and used by you for worm bedding.   So grow some hemp on your land and be done with it.  If you’re going to be that picky I don’t see much hope for the future.

And what’s more, creating compost sequesters carbon, meaning that it ties it up instead of releasing it into the atmosphere as rotting and burning does.  With the polar ice caps melting, I think some carbon sequestration is in order.

A little known benefit of worm composting is that as a worm composter, people find you fascinating.  So what are you waiting for?