# Worm Bed Questions



## miztergentz (Oct 8, 2007)

My wife and I purchased a home back in November that has a small pond on it. When we bought the house the lady had a worm bed that she had just let go.... Heres what I have.... it's a large steel bath tub that sits behind one of my yard buildings... I am actually fine with the tub, I just want to get it "full of worms"... my son cleaned it all the way out for me a few weeks ago.... so I am starting from scratch.... What would you do if you had this tub and wanted to raise worms??? What kinda dirt, mulch, food, worms, etc....

Thanks!


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Start by stripping newspaper..1-2"" strips will do fine. Soak a day or two and squeeze out as much water that you can, and separate. Use lots of paper. Place worms in the tub (on top of the paper) and they will find their way down. Keep their new residence wet (moist) not saturated. Now you can go to the store and pick up some potting soil and mix with leaves (this will be their food)and cover the paper. After a week or so you can add more food. They will eat just about any type of vegies...they are the true vegitarian..NO MEAT or DAIRY. Good luck. I raised worms years ago, and not only easy to maintain but relatively free bait. Whatever worms you would normally buy to fish the pond with will be just fine. They must enjoy sex as it doesn't take long to XXXXXXXXX

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicomposting#Bedding

By the way, worms don't like light, so placing a croaker sack/burlap bag (after the bed is established) over the bed before harvesting will make them easier to harvest. The lighter it is the deeper they go.


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## bamasam (Sep 27, 2007)

What Ron said plus make sure it is a loose soil and feed them cornmeal.


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## Dylan (Apr 15, 2008)

> *bamasam (2/17/2009)*What Ron said plus make sure it is a loose soil and feed them cornmeal.


Cornmeal!:clap


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Potting soil and leaves are loose enough. Worms can burrow through "dry gumbo" if anyone knows what I'm talking about. Its like concrete when dry. As for feeding, feed them scraps from your garbage... does two things.. cuts down on vegi garbage and feeds worms. Although cornmeal is good, why feed them it when you have plenty of food of their choice on hand, that you are going to throw away anyways??


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## Geronimo (Oct 2, 2007)

Chicken poop = big worms. It can't be too fresh or it will catch the oak leaves on fire.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

> *Geronimo (2/17/2009)*Chicken poop = big worms. It can't be too fresh or it will catch the oak leaves on fire.


Actually rabbit crap would be better. All the excretion would be from vegis and never a chance of burning up the bedding or worms. Years ago, 20+ I raised rabbits to eat..8 weeks and white meat. You wouldn't believe the amount of worms that made the crap pile "home".

Come to thimk about it, build a hutch above the worm bed and raise a rabbit or two. Table meat and fish food.:clap:clap


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## miztergentz (Oct 8, 2007)

Thanks for ALL the great replies...one more question.... do I keep the top covered ALL the time?


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

> *miztergentz (2/18/2009)*Thanks for ALL the great replies...one more question.... do I keep the top covered ALL the time?


NO...just before harvesting if you remember (a day or two). The worms will be closer to the top when covered. After eating food from the top they won't have a need to head to the bottom.


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## AUradar (Oct 1, 2007)

> *Tuna Man (2/18/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *miztergentz (2/18/2009)*Thanks for ALL the great replies...one more question.... do I keep the top covered ALL the time?
> ...


are you sure? I think I would keep it covered to keep it moist. In the summer it could easily dry out.

I've never raised worms, but I remember my Aunt had a bed we used to collect worms from. Actually, she just had a few pieces of tin laid over a very wet place in the back yard. May have been part of hte spetic drain. Before fishing we would go out there, move the tin, and use boards to score them up.

drive one stake into the ground and rub it with another. Creates a vibration that drives the worms to the top. Then just pick them.

You might want to considerraising crickets as well. Although I think the worms would be easier.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

> *AUradar (2/18/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *Tuna Man (2/18/2009)*
> ...


That is why the worms were at the top...ie ...it was wet and not moist. Worms like to burrow and wet ground will force them to the top. A cover will help in keeping the sunlight out. Since it's a old tup being used, a piece of plywood/tin will work fine. I wouldn't lay the cover directly on the bed. Feeding and watering once or twice a week is all that is needed. No moisture and freezing will kill the worms. In a month or two you will have more worms then you could use.


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## cyd (Mar 24, 2008)

Throw all of your used coffee grinds into the bed and the worms will really multiply.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

cornmeal, coffee grinds and all the table scraps are great......egg shells are really good too. Make sure if it's a tub with no drainage don't soak it down too much or you'll cause it to mold and mildew....I would at least make sure when you cover it, there is air circulation. I know when I was a kid, all our table scraps and yard debris went into a corner of the yard and boy ohhhh boy I could dig worms up all the time.....Now the watering deal, with a small tub I wouldn't worry about getting them to the top...if it was an actual bed like when I was a kid, I'd put the sprinkler on it before I went diggin'.....Good luck on the bed brother:letsdrink:letsdrink:letsdrink


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## otto (Dec 3, 2007)

Using a cooler is a good way to combat the drainage issue as most large coolers have drain plugs. That's my 2 cents.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

> *miztergentz (2/17/2009)*Heres what I have.... it's a large steel bath tub that sits behind one of my yard buildings... Thanks!


Bathtub....... = drain hole.. make sure the drain hole endlower then the opposite end. And put some kind of screen over the hole.


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## miztergentz (Oct 8, 2007)

Already covered that base...*<U>THANK YOU</U>* so much for all of the advice. Tomorrow while I am off from work, the worm bed and liming my pond are on the chore list.......


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Biggest problem = ANTS!!!!

Hard to keep ants out of the bed with all that food (including the worms)

Only way I've found is to raise the bed up on posts (4 corners) then put the posts in coffee cans filled with water.

Then you have mosquitoes if you don't treat the water. A teaspoon of old motor oil on it will work.

It really is nice to have a worm bed. I live on the river, so when I get the urge to fish I don't have to run to the local bait store (9 miles away).

When I do buy worms I just chunk the leftovers in the bed for future use.

It's hard to lasso them at roundup time though!


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## NavySnooker (Sep 10, 2008)

man this is some interesting stuff. i never figured it would be that easy. i've been wanting to get more into the freshwater fishing, but never really knew anyone on the river that would show me how. keep up the good work guys.


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

_*30 years ago I grew them. *_

_*Got a tub full of cow manure, wash it clean of ammonia, and then put the worms in, placed card board on top to cover, the worms ate the cardboard, and grew big time. *_

_*Also -sometimes would put chicken feed in also.*_


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