The Worm Bin - whose home is it anyway?

A healthy worm bin is going to have more critters calling it home than just the worms. Depending on what you use for bedding material, many of the critters will come along from that existing environment.

As a starting point though, lets begin with the worms since the worm is the primary resident and the one we will strive to keep the conditions optimum for.

A healthy bin will have worms growing at all different stages. In my opinion, when you are shopping for worms opt for bed-run as these will have worms at all stages of growth.

The mature worms look like this and are capable of reproduction. Each worm has both sexes and produces both eggs and sperm.

Redworms mate at all different levels of the bedding and under proper conditions will mate at all different times of the year.

Mating worms look like this. Each worm's clitella secretes large amounts of mucus which forms a tube around the joined worms. The sperm of each worm moves down a groove into the receiving pouches of the other worm. The sperm is held in storage sacs for some time. After the worms separate the clitellum secretes a second substance that contains albumin. This material hardens on the outside to form a cocoon.

It takes at least three weeks for the baby worms to develop in the cocoon before they are ready for emergence. The time to hatching is highly dependent on the temperature and other conditions of the bed. This is a good thing, because if the conditions of the bed become uninhabitable the cocoons will hibernate until the conditions are favorable for young worms.

Newly emerged worms are whitish and nearly transparent. But there is a definite pink tinge which is the blood vessel which runs the length of the baby worm. Although each cocoon may contain as many as 20 fertilized eggs, under normal conditions usually only two or three hatchlings emerge. The number of hatchings emerging from a cocoon is highly dependent on such factors as the age of the breeders, the nutritional state of each breeder, the temperature of the bin, whether the temperature fluctuated or is constant. For this reason it is possible to establish conditions for optimum hatchling production.

Juvenile worms can vary in size. The time for a baby worm to become a breeder varies, again depending on conditions in the bin. Temperature, moisture, food availability, and population density are all factors of how quickly a juvenile worm will develop into a breeder.

Once a juvenile becomes a breeder and begins depositing cocoons it can deposit as many as two to three cocoons per week, again depending on conditions of the bin.

The math of a growing worm population quickly becomes complicated. However, if the conditions of the bin were kept at an optimum level, before the first two months are up the first hatchlings will be able to breed and you are probably well on your way to doubling your worm population.

At some point the worm population will level off as the conditions in the bin have reach maximum potential regarding food levels and fresh bedding. If you want to continue growing your population you will have to expand by providing a larger area for your worms to co-hebetate or divide your worm population and begin a second bin.

Mature Worm	The swollen area which is just down from the head of the worm is called the clitellum, sometimes called the band or the girdle. The presence of the clitellum indicates the worm is sexually mature. This means they are old enough to breed and produce offspring.
Mating Worms	When the conditions are right in the bed, two mature worms will find each other and line up with their heads in opposite directions and their bodies closely joined.
Cocoon	Cocoons are lemon-shaped and a little smaller than a match head. They change color as they mature, starting out a luminescent pearly white, becoming yellowish, then brown. As they baby worms are nearly ready to emerge the cocoon turns a dark, reddish brown.
Juvenile worms	A redworm can become sexually mature and produce cocoons as quickly as four weeks, although six weeks is more common. Once it breeds and begins releasing cocoons, it can deposit as many as two to three cocoons per week for six months to a year.
Cluster of worm cocoons	Cluster of worm cocoons discovered while turning the bin. Normally finding half a dozen worm cocoons in a square foot area indicates a healthy bin. I found numerous clusters of worm cocoons while turning this particular tray of material.

Red worms are very resilient and prolific, but like any other form of life, conditions in the environment have a profound effect on the overall health and life-cycle of the red worm.

How fast your worms are going to grow and reproduce depend on two major indicators. One being how many of your worms are mature breeders. Secondly, the environmental condition of your worm bin. Things like moisture, temperature, PH levels, food supply and physical space for the population to expand.

All things being favorable, the worm colony can double in number every 60 to 90 days. Under these same conditions a breeder will continue to produce cocoons.

Worm colonies are self regulating in that they will reproduce or not depending on the conditions of the bin.

Drosophila melanogaster (from the Greek for black-bellied dew-lover) is commonly known as the fruit fly and often becomes a pesky inhabitant of the worm bin. While it's presence does not present a problem for the bin as an ecosystem, it none-the-less is an unpleasant addition for the worm keeper.

Fruit fly eggs generally hitch a ride on the rinds and peelings of the food waste you add to the composting system. If you microwave or freeze the food waste prior to adding to the system the eggs will be destroyed. You must also be sure that the food waste is well buried beneath bedding. A good way to accomplish this is to add a thick layer of shredded newspaper on top of the buried food waste. All food waste should always be buried to keep all flying pests from finding access to it.

A Journey in Video

Plans are in the works for a series of videos that would take you from start to finish (so to speak) of how to have your own worm bin composting project. Once the set-up process was complete the series will continue with the maintenance of the bin including feeding and harvesting worms and castings.

If you would like to be notified of the release of these videos please fill out the form below. As always your information is safe with me.

1x2x3 BIN

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The Worm Bin - whose home is it anyway?

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