If you have been keeping up with my blogs, you will notice that I have three different worm “projects” going. I have the original two pounds of worms that I ordered which included the Eisenia Fetida (a.k.a redworms, red wiggler, etc.), and the European Crawler (Eisenia Hortensis). These are the worms which I started in the blue plastic bin and have now moved to the DIY stackable wooden bin. I am estimating that since I first received these around Christmas, they have at least doubled in number.
However, I would say that the most productive has been the outdoor worm pit which I started 2-1/2 months ago. As I began to dig in more and more kitchen and yard waste, the native worms started moving in like crazy. One thing that I noticed is that after it would rain, I would find lots of additional big worms and so I assume that rainy weather is a signal for them to scope out new territory.I am not a worm identification expert but I seem to have about three different varieties therein. I know that there are lots of the extremely productive blue Excavatus worms, but I am also noticing some other large crawlers and redworms (Foetida?). As I mentioned in my gardening section, I have been harvesting large amounts of vermicompost out of this pit for my garden. This is very encouraging considering the short amount of time it’s been in existence! If anyone can help me identify the worms in the left lower pic (taken from my pit), I would appeciate it. Meanwhile, get that worm pit started!
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If you have been keeping up with my blogs, you will notice that I have three different worm “projects” going. I have the original two pounds of worms that I ordered which included the Eisenia Fetida (a.k.a redworms, red wiggler, etc.), and the European Crawler (Eisenia Hortensis). These are the worms which I started in the blue plastic bin and have now moved to the DIY stackable wooden bin. I am estimating that since I first received these around Christmas, they have at least doubled in number.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
That long brown one looks like the ones in the wetlands behind my house in Mandarin. I don’t know what it is however? Do you think it is one of the PEs you suggested in the other post? The worms that I have in a bin that I was speculating were PEs are redder with a blue tinge but they may be juveniles??
Dwayne
June 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Yes Dwayne, that would be an Excavatus. The PEs also have a distinct blue hue when the sun hits them just right. The Eisenia and crawlers have alternating bands and tend to be more reddish in color. The PEs also seem to move a lot quicker (and even flip around on handling). Hey, I used to live in Mandarin (and am now up in Fernandina). Thanks for writing–