red wriggler size

[rfeiller]

in the mid to late 70's i raised bins of red wrigglers. the adult size was about 3". when i had my commercial hatchery i would receive from a local worm farmer 10lbs of red wrigglers a week to feed to the discus fish i bred, they also were about 2 1/2-3" and robust.

the only red wrigglers i can find today and are like the ones in my 5 bins reach about 2"max. are they being inbred so much they have become weak and stunted? they are reproducing, the info today says 2+ in each egg capsul, it use to be more like twenty to a capsul.

i feed very little newspaper or cardboard to them. the type of food determines the nutritional value of the castings. guys marketing worms say feed newspaper. it makes selling worms a whole lot easier then telling people to go out and collect manure and organic waste. but there are studies to show the difference in casting quality.

what size are the worms that you have in your bins?

[davidstcldfl]

Hi rfeiller, I've just recently added reds to my flood and drain beds. (2 months maybe ?) I've been trying not to bother them much, so I'm not sure how big they have gotten (?)
Other then the fish pooh.....I do add banana peels on a regular basis.

I did notice when I bought worms for fishing, there was a size difference, from where I bought them. I just figured it depended on 'how fast' each grower was harvesting them. But now, you've got me wondering too.

I've been wanting to get a worm bed setup (besides having them in the GB's)

[urbanfarmer]

I haven't really dug them up to check the size, but the ones I have accidentally seen when adding banana peels appear to be on the larger side. If you feel the genetics of your worms are stunting their growth, simply add a few "new guys" to the mix.

[rfeiller]

That's what I'm looking for; a source for better worms to mix in. Any good source would appreciate knowing about so I can order some.

[davidstcldfl]

Hi rfeiller, you might want to check with one of the advertisers here at DIY.
( They help pay for the forum, so we can carry on with our addictions .... )
I'm not sure if they are showing worms on thier web site (yet)...I know they've been doing alot of work to it.

Might be best to email them and ask....

info@backwaterprovisions.com

[stucco]

http://backwaterprovisions.com/Helpfultopics.aspx This is the standard red wigglers we can also do European, but they cost a bit more.