7 Ways to Manage Your Worm Population
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- Hello!
Do you have too many worms?? I know, I know, but it does happen 🤣
Let’s talk about 7 ways you can manage your worms so that they don’t outgrow the space you have for them 👍
And if you happen to be wanting more worms (!!), I’ve got some wonderful red wiggler worms looking for their forever home 😎.
rockinworms.com/products
As always I’d appreciate a thumbs up 🤗.
Yours in the dirt,
Jayne
#redwigglers #vermicompost #worms #composting #wormcastings
I told a family friend about my worms and was met with great interest. I've only had my worms for a few months and my first "harvest" is coming up. It's currently winter here in Germany and the worms are in the basement. When I have produced a surplus of worms, I will give some to the known family. The mother has a garden, I only have a balcony. She will also build a worm farm in the spring. Her son is an "fisherman" 😊(11 years old) and is really looking forward to the free bait. So everyone benefits from it. I am very happy about this new hobby. So many people are interested and I'm casually learning about more and more people who also have worms at home, which hardly anyone talks about.🤔 Thanks for your videos. They always help me. Best regards from Germany, Marko.
Hello Marko! Are the German subtitles helping at all? I started adding German just for you 🤗.
It’s wonderful how work wrangling is slowly becoming more common. As you correctly point out, there are many good uses for these composting worms! I bet you’ll have a good handful of worms to share with the new family in spring. I started with 2 handfuls and have thousands of worms now 👍.
I am so glad you find my videos helpful!! Thanks for watching and sharing your story. 👍❤️🪱
Every spring I donate two bins to the garden. Worms and all!
Hi Robert! How are you? Another release into the wild so to speak! Your garden must be loving it! 2 bins out of your 4? Or is that how you keep it at 4 bins? 🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms I keep it at 4 bins. I do a worm migration and keep most of them to start a new bin. I’ve had the same worms for about 6 years. ❤️ it! 🪱🪱
@@RobertH65 That’s great! You’ve found your balance point and have learned how to manage to that level! Kudos!
I’ve been doing that - or at least getting there - with my mealworms. I expanded quickly to way more than I needed (it’s nice to know that I can breed them successfully!) and have been slowly managing them back down to a level that closer suits my immediate needs. It’s a learning curve!
Thanks for sharing your way to manage bins. It can help others who want or need to keep several bins only 👍❤️🪱
I put my extras in my compost pile. Unbelievable how fast they reproduce in compost. Now i do this every year
Hi! Oh I believe it! That’s why I get so many cocoons in my breeder bins - the ore-composted part of my basic bedding mix! Of course the sifted cow manure doesn’t hurt either 🤣. You are releasing them into the wild! Absolutely a good thing to do if they’re not an invasive species to your area. Good job! 👍❤️🪱
And I should add that your compost pile is now super charged with castings. Your plants are going to love it!!
All great suggestions, Jayne, including shipping them off to Jayne in the Dirt❤
Hah! I was only joking on shipping them to me 🤣. I’ve got plenty for now and am looking to sell some of these to good homes! ❤️🪱🪱
Great video as always!
Thank you! And thanks for watching 👍❤️🪱
Great topic!
Excellent information 👍👍
Thanks!! ❤️🪱
Thank you
CONGRATULATIONS are in order, 2K subscribers reached within the last few hours, it feels like it was just recently you reached the 1k milestone. Your channel is growing by leaps and bounds, and i am not surprised. I have learned so much from you during the last year, your presentations and content is exceptional. Thanks for sharing all your ideas and methods with fellow worm shepheards, now looking forward to the 3k milestone!
Hi Amal! Thank you! I just saw that we’ve got 2,000 Castings Crew worm wranglers on board!! Woo-hoo! I was picking cocoons - and still am - to fill several orders and took a break and here we are!!
My sincerest thanks to you and everyone else for their support! I will continue to do my best to add value to this wonderful community! ❤️🪱🪱
We are full steam ahead here…. Don’t know if I will ever have enough lol. As my plan is to start a bit of a business but not your usual type. As we have talked about before.
If I ever get there it would be great.
I do have over 1000 caccons that are waiting to hatch… not sure on how to spread them up, have them on a heat mat at a good temperature so just waiting and watching lol.
Hey Cheryl. All you can do is give them the heat and moisture and wait. They’ll hatch when they’re ready ❤️🪱
@@RockinWorms hopefully I have them at the right them and moisture then. Lol
@@cherylhowker1792 around 80F seems to be the standard. Very moist but no standing water for the moisture. These conditions will hasten hatching but they still have to mature first ❤️🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms yea a lot are light in colour so not ready yet… should I let them mature then put the heat mat on? Just thinking of cost if it’s not helping
@@cherylhowker1792 The heat mat if you think you need it will help speed hatching along. What’s the ambient temperature?
Fabulous. I love your vids. So informative. Thank you
Thank you!! Thank you for watching them 🤗
I cooked some pumpkins my neighbors donated to me. Some of it I’m puréing and dehydrating . I don’t have enough freezer space for it all or an appropriate temperature space to store them whole. I look forward to seeing info about your pressure cooking veggies.
Hi Julie! Hubby has been away for 3 weeks but gets back soon. I’ll be able to make the veggie powder video then. Finally! I have my own squash purée ready to go for the video 👍.
I’ve learned a few things about pressure cooking the veggies and will be sharing that info soon too. I’m experimenting with them as well and will need a few weeks for the experiment to run before I can see the results. But I’ll share that as well no matter if I get the results I hope for or not! ❤️🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms Fantastic! Thank you!
goog moring jayne we have watched the majority of your vidos really enjyo the information you share thank you chuck in checotah ok
Hi Chuck! Welcome! Thank you! I appreciate the time you give watching my content 🤗. Do you have worms? 🪱
yes for about 3 yrs working toward the business part along with a small nursery @@RockinWorms
@@chuckledbetter Excellent! I hope you will share your experiences with all of us as you go along 👍🪱🪱
glad to have a wonderful weekend@@RockinWorms
@@chuckledbetter You too! 🪱🪱
@RockinWorms hi, I hope this isn't boring everyone.
Temps today in garden 37f and dropping. The temp in shed is 39f. I checked my worms just now. The worms in the tower were a little sluggish but moving. They hadn't eaten much of the food I put in last week before the cold snap as I expected. The temp in the tower was variable across the bin 41f-45f. I did put a little more dry food and some banana in the tower, I just hope it doesn't turn anerobic! The bucket no movement really. The food had hardly been eaten. I picked up a few of the worms some moved slowly others no movement at all,not entirely convinced they are dead though. There were some young worms on the lid, various ages. I placed them back in the bucket and there was some movement from them. I gave them a little dry food, but I'm a bit wary of anerobic starting. The temp in the bucket range from 42f-45f. The bucket should be all rw's. The ph 7,5. I look for any ice crystals and couldn't see any. I wrap them up as best I could. So this is just the start, end of December- early jan is when the really cold temps start. Not too sure I will have many if any survivors come the end of winter-early spring😢 just hoping they have left me a load of cocoons when they were partying🎉, pre cold snap. 🤞
Hi Taya! I’m sure it’s not boring everyone. Some will definitely be interested and others can skip over 😊.
Many of the worms if they can’t get below the frost line will perish. It’s part of mother nature’s control system. But she does let many of the cocoons survive for the spring re-birth season 😎. We as humans try to manage things but can only do so much - and should only do so much!
Cold snaps can be mitigated by using g food composting as a heat source. But it won’t help for a long cold season. The food will freeze too! The frozen food won’t compost or go anaerobic I don’t believe. Come spring and thaw time might be different so that’s when to watch for it. Or remove it before the long cold hits.
I’m pretty confident you’ll have surviving cocoons. ❤️🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms I expected them to be sluggish. They all looked a good colour, the ones which didn't move were a good colour too, I read that when dead they turn black plus the farms didn't smell. I was surprised to see young worms on the bucket lid, yes, there were loads the previous time I checked and fed them but these looked too young to be any of those. I'm hoping I can keep them above freezing at the very least. I have one more thing I may try when is gets a lot colder and that is wrapped hot water bottles(I have a few small glass brown bottles) dotted around the tower and bucket in the hopes of warming up the ambient temp in the shed.
@@tayag9223 Do what you can 👍. Trust nature.
Works decompose very quickly. Often dead worms are gone before you even know something happened unless it’s a mass die off. I had a small worm shipment get too cold/freeze and the worms had small a red blotch on their bodies. I think it was hemorrhaging from freezing 😢.
Using solar heating from water bottles can help. It’s just a constant thing though and may not be enough if it gets really cold. You don’t really want to encourage the worms to stay near the surface either. So give that some thought too. ❤️🪱🪱
Hi Jayne Some really great tips. Got one more tip. Don’t leave your worm tub next to a radiator when heating is on! They will leave home. 🫣 I’ve just had to run like a crazy woman on all fours picking worms up off the floor 😩.
And get them flags out Jayne. On the pre-compost I got it to 12.3 F both tubs after all that. I re-mixed my second round to go through the second heating. 🎉. Thank you ever so much Jayne I couldn’t of done it without your help your a star. ❤
Oh no Bev! I’m sorry but I had to chuckle at the picture you gave me in my mind 😆. I’ve chased darkling beetles that I’ve dropped between bins so totally understand 😳🙄. It got too hot for them? Or dry? Or both? I can see that happening.
Oh excellent!! Congratulations 🎊🎈. Sometimes it takes some serious tweaking and backing up to get things going in the right direction. Good on you!! Way to go! Thanks for sharing your success 🤗🥰
Hi Jayne, I think you mentioned this before in one of your videos, but I can't remember which one. What is the temperature in the room that you keep your worms in? I can only keep my worms in either of two places right now, that's the garage or in an unheated greenhouse. I tried my new grow out trays in the garage, but I soon noticed that the worms all went down and stayed down. I put this down to the cold. The worms in the CFT in the greenhouse seem to be thriving, even though we're in mid winter with temperatures not much above freezing during the day and below that at night. I've now put all my grow out tray worms back into the CFT. What do you think is the optimal temperature to keep worms? Another idea I've had is to sink my trays up to almost the edge in my CFT which is well insulated, and reintroduce some worms for grow out. Thank you so much for your help and advice.
Hi! Almost all my worms are indoors. My house temp is usually around 77F during the day and during the summer it’s around 85F at night. Now that we’re in winter it’s overall cooler at night but still above 70F all the time. I did move some young worms into Big Boy (50 gallon tote previously used to make pre-compost) when my in-laws visited. I haven’t moved them back inside yet and may not until late spring when the hot temps come again.
Esenias have a wide range of acceptable temperatures. Anything above freezing is ok up to 95F. The closer to mid range the overall better/more active the worms will be. Cocoons and wisps like it closer to 80F.
Honestly I wouldn’t worry too much about optimal temperatures right now and rather concentrate on keeping them in the range, particularly above freezing. The more bedding they have around them the more they’ll be insulated and also can ball up to conserve both heat and moisture. You can use big feedings in a center bin location to provide a composting heat zone that the worms can circle around to remain warm and eat. Increasing the use of grains like in worm chow can also heat up more and provide heat to the bin.
I think it’s a smart idea you have to bury the grow out trays. Any additional insulation will help. I assume the grow out trays do not have holes. If you check and see all the worms huddled on the bottom I’d re-consider just putting them back into the CFT after all as the burying may not be enough. You’re just going to have to see what they do and adjust accordingly 🤷♂️.
Oh, you can also pile up insulation bedding material on top of the grow trays as well. Leaves, shredded cardboard and paper work well.
Please keep us informed on what you try and how it works. There’s lots of worm wranglers dealing with cold weather and we can all help each other keep our worms alive! ❤️🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms thanks for all that info Jayne. We're currently experiencing temperatures of about -1 during the day but it'll never drop below freezing in the greenhouse. The CFT is really well insulated and is 52" x 21" x 21" so there should be plenty room for the worms to hide from the cold. Great idea to do a large feed in the middle of the bin, I'll do that today as they're due a feed. I've also put 3 sheets of heavy cardboard under the lid of the bin. I'll certainly let you know how we all get on.
@@funnysods I think your worms will be fine with the actions you’re going to take. But best to keep an eye on them. Looking forward to a positive report!! 👍❤️🪱
You could put them in styrofoam containers in the garage. I got a bunch of free from a lady who gets Nutrasystem and also some from the local hospital. You just put the bedding and worms in after adding some holes in the sides and lid. I leave the lid off until it gets below 20F and they do really well.
Also putting a 5 gal bucket into the ground with holes around the sides, bottom and lid. Fill it up in layers of 8” bedding, 2” food, repeat until full. Then put the lid on and cover with loads of leaves and/or straw to keep them insulated. I put a piece of corrugated plastic on top so I can easily lift the insulating layer to add food as needed. We get below -20 several nights in winter and they have been thriving. If done in a garden bed they will feed your plants without the need to add castings. The down side is that the local worm population will come inside the bins for food and lay their cocoons. So it won’t work if you want pure species, but works great for casting production where you want them.
Best of luck!
@@brookeonyx6271 Hi! It’s great to hear from you again!
That’s great the styrofoam containers work for you! It may not work for everyone though (ok, most things don’t work for everyone!) as I remember a video by an Australian couple (bloom something) and they started out their worms in styrofoam containers. Worked great until a rodent chewed thru them and ate their worms! I’m afraid that would quickly be my situation. 😳😒. It could however be a cost effective worm bin indoors though!
Garden towers! That’s what you’re describing and they are awesome! I haven’t made any yet although I was talking to hubby a few days ago about setting up a few to try. We block off the garden during the growing season from the chickens. When it’s over (basically the heat of the summer) we let the chickens back in to eat bugs and dig weeds. I wonder if they’d also scratch up most of the worms if we added garden towers…? Hmmm. I wasn’t thinking of that the other day during the discussion. Anyway, for non-chicken owners, towers are a great way to naturally add castings to the garden, just like you said 👍❤️🪱. Thanks for sharing your experiences 🤗
🎉
Hi! Welcome! Thank you!
Slow? I want to speed .ine up. BTW I don't think I told you I am about 45 mils from Meme. Moultrie Ga.
Haha Larry! Many people do! I’ve watched several of your videos (a new worm channel!) and you mention Meme’s and that she’s close to you. I hope you’ll give me a chance for your business someday!
I’d say from what I’ve seen on your channel that your works are doing fine and that one bin is great! The fine bins looked like they could use some more moisture so give that a try. I don’t recall if you’ve set up breeder bins - breeder bins help in cocoon production a lot! So think about that too 👍❤️🪱
Can I discuss something with you about your RUclips Channel?
Hi! Uhmmm sure…? Do you want to email me at my channel address RockinWFamilyFarm@ail.com. ?
Mu worms don’t look like yours. They are like spaghetti. And thin. Any ideas.
Previous this has been discussed- maybe you haven’t see the episode… that’s one reason Jayne feeds the worms chow- and atm she’s feeding a lot of avocado as it’s a good source to fatten them without the cost of all the chow ingredients.
Hope this is helpful… I’m sure Jayne herself will reply too when she can, usually within 24/48 hrs I find but hopefully this will help until she does.
Take care
Cheryl
(Jaynes helped me so much so trying to help where I can)
What Cheryl said! She’s spot on - and thanks Cheryl for stepping in. This is an open discussion and anyone should feel free to add in to conversations 👍🤗❤️.
To expand just a bit, first off there’s nothing wrong with skinny worms. They eat and produce just as much as chonky worms. That said, increasing the calories in their food helps as well as giving them more space and more moisture.
Worm chow with the high calorie grains is calorie heavy. So are fatty fruits and vegs like avocado, beans, etc. I prefer these healthier methods to increase calories to my worms vs a more sugary approach like jams and syrups.
Worms will adjust to their space environment like I mentioned in this video. If they’re densely populated in their space they will skinny down. Low moisture can cause dehydration which makes them skinny too. Low moisture also makes it more work for them to breathe, therefore burning more calories.
Give these ideas a try and give them a few weeks and see what happens! Please report back! 👍❤️🪱
@@RockinWorms I pleased I didn’t step on your toes. I only want to help others and like you have helped me, so good with me and I appreciate it.
@@cherylhowker1792 No toes stepped on at all! I was happy to see you answer a question 👍. I’d very much like others to do same and add their experiences. I’m one person and don’t have all the answers (I wish!) and I can’t possibly have experience in all situations either. This kind of communication amongst everyone was exactly what I was supporting in my ‘what does community mean to me’ speech on that one video 😊. Love it!
OMG. Thank you for your quick response. I do add worm chow but maybe not enough. I had protein poisoning once and I was horrified. But, I may need to add more worm chow. Thank you again.