Information about Red Wiggler Worms
Red wiggler worms come under the family of Lumbricus rubellus. Generally, they are earthworms. Usually, these worms flourish in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure as in can be used for fertilizing the land.
They are also known as a red worm, brandling worm, panfish worm, trout worm, tiger worm. Red wiggler worm is the most commonly used name. They have groups of swarms on each other segment that can fly in and out to grip nearby surfaces as the worm stretch and contract their muscles to push themselves forward and vice-versa.
Okay, that’s enough scientific talk about these worms. Now let’s take a look at how we can get benefit from them, and what are the benefits, sounds good? Keep reading.
For what purpose are these worms used?
Here you will come to know about the three most potent benefits of worms for various purposes. Have a look.
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For animals:
If you are average, typical sort of person and suddenly you feel like doing something different or take a new hobby such as gardening, then you are going to need red wiggler worms. Or if you are thinking about going fishing, as bait, you can use this worm.
Even if you have bird or turtles as a pet, as their live feeding, these worms can be used. Last but not least, they can also be the live feed of pond fish, or aquarium fish and Iguanas, snakes, frogs, or raising trout. Interestingly, if you want to attract wild birds, just put some of those worms and watch the wonders.
2.For nourishing garden soil:
These worms are also great for nourishing garden soil by doing vermicompost of worm compost. For gardens to get bigger tastier vegetables from your garden.
If you want to go to extra lengths such as organic gardening, you will need these worms for better results, whether it’s for flower or growing vegetables. Besides, to keep your lawn grass greener and healthier, use these worms.
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For Fertilizing house plant soil:
Elsewhere, most of the farmers use these worms for a house plant, soil fertilizer such as hanging plants, potted plants, and garden plants, these worms.
Importance of Red wiggler worms
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Work as an Ecosystem:
Naturally speaking, these worms work as a cruise in the ecosystem. They feed off and decompose dead plant and animal materials. They play the role of human-made micro-ecosystems for composting and farming. As red worms live on the decomposing matter, they leave behind castings, excrement matter, which highly concentrated in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
So, naturally, all of them are essential nutrients that fertilize living plants. During the feeding and decomposing process, these worms help oxygenate the soil creating pockets of air. It allows for water and nutrients to flow more easily through plant roots.
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Composting
As mentioned earlier, they are an excellent source for composting booster. Generally, local and commercial gardeners and farms have taken advantage of the mineral-rich casting of red wigglers.
Therefore, Red worm compost bins that pave the way to degrade food scraps and paper naturally. This process is called vermicomposting. Composting significantly benefits the ecosystem by naturally recycling matters.
The worm castings are usually collected from compost bins and used as fertilizer on gardens and household plans, from hanging plant to ground plants. Those casting works as organic fertilizer. They are super beneficial to the environment because they return natural minerals to the ecosystem, which is vital to keep the ecosystem in its original form.
Where can you find these worms?
So, if you decide to start a compost bin, you can get these red wigglers from any of several places. Such as a bait shop or Garden accessories shop. They come packaged in small containers and at a relatively high price.
It’s better to get your worm online from a reputable worm farm, or if you are lucky to have a friend with a garden, you can get them from there too. Or if you happen to have a neighbor who composts worm, you can buy from them.
When you begin vermicomposting, your worm population will double every 90 days or so. That’s also a way to know that your worms are happy and healthy. Just make sure you weigh your worms before you put them in the bin.
Why is it essential to weigh worms for composting?
It’s always better to weigh your worms because fat worms are good. Red big fat wiggler worms can consume about half of their weight in food daily. That means, if you fill your bin with around 1000 warms, that will allow them to eat one half of food (8 ounces) day-to-day.
The best technique is to weigh the quantity of organic waste on which depends, how many worms you will need for your bin. Daily you have to cast them off for about a week at first to measure. If you get an average of one pound of organic waste per day, you should buy two pounds of worms.
How long will worms live?
How long will worms live? It depends. Some mention that they can live only a few months; some others say they can live up to 10 years. But don’t worry as they will reproduce. You also don’t have to worry about how many male or female worm you should buy as they have both male and female sex organs in a word, they are hermaphroditic.
Interestingly, there have dark red bands around the neck of sexually mature warms. Every few months, they make one huge, squiggling ball at the bottom of your bin. That indicates it’s time to hang the “do not disturb” sign. Nature is mysterious in its way.
Make sure to keep them at 40-60% moisture optimal. They breathe through their skin.
Other benefits
The casting of worms also performs to make pesticides. To make a pesticide:
- Pour a scoop of worm casting into an old sock.
- Soak the hose in a cup full of water and then hold it up.
- After a few minutes, drain the nutrients into the bowl.
- This water is called golden tea.
This water can be sprayed on outdoor and indoor plants to eliminate pests.
Conclusion
Composing using red wigglers worm may seem like old news, but doing it with a bin full of worms probably doesn’t. As they offer significant benefits to the organic gardener, producing both a natural fertilizer and bait and effective pesticides.