How Do You Grow Extra Large Red Worms?
Most home growers of red worms, also known as red wigglers or Eisenia fetida, use them to convert kitchen scraps into valuable garden compost. If you are, an avid fisherman or commercial grower of red wigglers for breeding, you have a different goal in mind—extra-large worms suitable for bait or resale. To create large, fat red wigglers you will need to provide your worms with optimal conditions for each of their five essentials: bedding, food, moisture, aeration and moderate temperatures. Bed your worms in horse manure or peat moss, the best bedding according to Glenn Munroe in his “Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture.” Alternatively, horse manure combined with shredded paper or cardboard may be used. Fluff your bedding so it offers air gaps between its particles, ensuring that the worms receive adequate aeration and enough oxygen to breathe. Feed your worms corn mash or Purina Worm Chow (available at farm feed stores) or rabbit manure for optimal size. They will also