Kitchen Composting

Why Red Wigglers Are The Best Composting Worms

Worms aren't high on most people's list of favorite things, especially not creepy, crawly red worms. But, Red Wigglers are actually the best worm for vermicomposting, also known as worm composting - the best method for indoor composting and an ideal choice for urban, city composters.

Why Red Wigglers?

Red Wigglers are also known as stink worms, tiger worms, red hybrids or manure worms. The crawlers are about eight centimetres long and are one of the 2, 000 varieties of earthworm. Why are they so great? Because wigglers have the right stuff to make a garden grow - worm castings and a healthy appetite.

In a good vermi-compost system in which worms produce castings for a fine, rich compost, enough red wigglers can produce enough good compost to be harvested several times a year (perfect for potted plants).

This is recycling at its best: the system uses household wastes, doesn't smell like regular compost or attract animal scavengers and the worms do all the work. They turn newsprint and garbage into first-rate compost. It's also much more interesting than regular composting.

The worms eat the bacteria and fungi that live in food waste. It passes through their systems. The digested food the becomes castings. In plain language, castings are worm manure.

One Thousand Composting Worms

Red Wiggler composting worms also have a good appetite. They eat their own weight each day. One thousand red wigglers, which is a good start for vermi-composting, will eat a half-kilogram of food waste every day. One thousand may seem like a lot of worms, but it takes at least that many to ensure the success of compost production.

How to do Indoor Bin Composting with Worms

The process requires a compost container or bin, bedding, food waste and aged horse or cow manure that contains the red wrigglers. You can even buy your red composting worms online (for about $65, including shipping for 1000 worms).

To enrich a small potted garden for two people, the compost container or wooden bin should be 45 centimetres square and 30 centimetres deep. A larger patio garden can probably use a bin about a metre long, 60 centimetres wide and 30 centimetres deep. Expect to use 2, 000 worms for this size.

There should be a few holes in the sides and bottom of the bin for air circulation. It should sit above, not on the ground. You can build your own compost container or buy a specialty indoor compost bin.

The bedding, which goes into the bin first, is shredded newspaper that has been dampened down. It should not have color print, because the dye doesn't agree with the little critters. Add a little leaf mould, grass cuttings or sawdust, a few handfuls of soil, the manure and worms, and mix everything together.

Worms like fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and tea leaves. Crushed egg shells provide calcium - even worms need nutrients. As long as the worms are fed, they'll keep producing the castings for compost. And they multiply quickly. One worm can have 1, 600 offspring in six months.

You don't have to worry about controlling the population. They take care of their numbers themselves. They won't take over the house. They will, however, have to come inside for the winter because they don't take cold weather very well.

So, if you're keeping your worms on a back patio and you live in a colder climate, you may have to bring it in during the cold winter months - so, choose a compost bin that's appropriately sized for your space.