redworms

I am looking for a good sorce for redworms. I got the bins Saturday after reading my organic gardening magzine. Thanks for your help.

Pat

I suggest you check your local "throw away" paper for a supplier. The one I get here in Lancaster usually has ads for one or 2. If no luck there try the back of OG magazine there used to be several suppliers listed.

Chris

If you have any in the area, check a local bait shop. Cheap!

I watched an HGTV gardening show on this topic last weekend...as I recall, they deemed bait shops too expensive for the quantity of wigglers needed (their opinion, not mine!) They suggested checking with your extension agency for local sources of vermiculture supplies and worms.

Ok, i have to know, do you have worms that are red before they get on to the compost, because i have only ever seen them in the compost and nowhere else ?.

Alan

Since some people make extra money raising worms under their rabbit hutches, I'd suggest looking into that.
In the back of Domestic Rabbits magazine, there are a couple of adds for worms.
Here's the prices on both the adds:
One pound red fishing worms $16.00 Three pounds $39.00 postage paid.

2000 large worms $20.00 inc. S&H

E-Mail me if you're interrested in their addresses.

Heidi

Alan, yes they are red before they get in the compost....turn over a cow patty and you'll probably find some there....my dad used to have a spot of rich loam that he'd dig from when he wanted some fishing worms. And a friend of our family's used to raise worms to sell as fishing bait. So I can vouch for what they look like, in or out of compost.

But as I understand it, the red wigglers sold for vermiculture/worm composting are a special "breed" - I don't know if you can use the worms from your compost heap in a worm bin. But I'm not a worm composter (YET!), so maybe someone who's got a worm bin can provide a more specific answer to your question.

Here are some sources for redworms from Field & Stream:

Redworms 5,000 - $29.95
10,000 - $54.95
30,000 -$145.00
Phone # 912-995-4654

Redworms 2,000 - $19.00
5,000 - $35.00
10,000 - $60.00
www.smith'sworms.com

You can find more in other outdoor magazines.
Hope that helps

Thanks for all the help. I hate ordering from a company that I never heard of. I have gotten help from others here at DG. This is a great place to get advise.

Pat

Go-vols, i am in the Uk, i have have spent a good many hours digging holes in my garden, and elsewhere too, but i have never seen a red worm any other place but the compost, i wonderd if they were ordinary earth worms and the compost sends them red, i put down a thick mulch of farm yard manure, garden compost, and any other organic matter that comes to hand every Autumn, but still when i dig the soil there are no red worms in it, just the compost, they must be naturaly red in the us then, ?.

Alan.

Alan, I don't know what to tell you, maybe the manure you're using is composted beyond the point where there's anything to attract the worms? When I collect fresh manure from my neighbor's adjoining pasture, I almost always find several worms wriggling around in each "patty."

Go-vols, no, my soil is stuffed full of worms, just not red ones.

Alan.

I had redworms once, but my doctor gave me some medicine that cleared them right up.
Just a thought....

Red, thats BAD, lol.

Alan.

I've been doing a little studying on raising redworms, and from what I've learned so far, you can only find them in compost piles. There are also many different names for them, but each one includes the word "red", and they're suppose to be the same worm. Also, supposedly they won't survive if you get too many of them and you try turning them loose in your garden. They need a combination of compost and manure to survive, and there's nothing for them to eat in your soil, so they'll die real fast there. That's why you can't find them in your gardens. I've also checked on pricing at different places, and $25.00 for one pound of worms is as cheap as I've been able to find. I've called my local bait shop, and supposedly they're going to be way cheaper than that there, but I can't get them until fishing starts in this area. Hope I've helped ya some!

It answers my bit, thanks, AuntyB.

Alan

Yes, thanks, AuntyB! I guess my dad must have had a compost-y area where he would hunt for those red wrigglers/wigglers for fishing.....(he only recently got into "formal" composting), and they of course are in the cow patties - it all kind of makes sense now!