How Do You Raise Red Worms For Composting?
Red worms, more commonly known as red wigglers, adapt well to indoor worm bins. Unlike nightcrawlers, which make deep burrows in the earth, red wigglers in the wild nestle in leaf litter, manure and the top few inches of topsoil. Thus you can raise them in shallow boxes or totes, where they will happily munch your kitchen leftovers and convert them into castings (worm poop). These castings contain minerals and valuable bacteria content, and are much more valuable to your plants than regular compost. Set up a worm bin, either homemade or commercially made, about a week before your red worms arrive (typically by a mail-order supplier or a neighbor who practices vermiculture). Place the bin ideally in an area of your home where the temperature stays in the 60s. Add bedding such as torn newspapers or cardboard and junk mail and envelopes with the plastic windows removed. Place several cups of kitchen scraps in the worm bin as soon as you set it up. Allow bacteria to begin to break down the
