: >Where can I get the little red worms >that are supposed to be so good for >indoor composting? I tried some >live bait shops in town and found >nothing. The January 1992 issue of Organic Gardening has an article on worms and composting, "Compost Indoors! Worms Do the Work". It gives instructions on building a worm box (although one is available from Gardener's Supply). It also tells how to get the box started and what kind of worms to use. The correct type are redworms (aka red wiggles or manure worms). The are small compared to most earthworms. Their temperature range is 40 to 90 degrees, whereas, earthworms prefer temperature around 55 degrees. Earth- worms also require burrows to breed. A worm box is too warm and too small for them...and they tend to escape whenever possible. Red worms stay put. The article is written by Mary Appelhof, author of "Worms Eat My Garbage". The book is $10.95 including shipping and handling and is available from: Flower Press, 10332 Shaver Road Kalamazzo Mi 49002 The list of companies carry supplies: Cape Cod Worm Farm 30 Center Ave Buzzards Bay. Ma 02532 Carter Fishworm Farm Plains Georgia 31780 Early Bird Ecology RR1 Smithville, Ont canada L0R 2A0 Gardener's Supply 128 Intervale Road Burlington, Vt 05401 Redworms, C/o Ron Clausen 2111 N. Century Blvd McDavid Fl 32568 Snooks Worm Farm Box 14 Harold Fl 32563 I notice that the Burpee Gardens 1992 catalog has an add for "Red Hybrid Earthworms". It says they range from 1/4 to 3" long. Are these redworms? Will hybrid worms breed true to type? (Maybe I shouldn't use the term breed, given the way worms reproduce.) How do they make a hybrid? I assume the idea is to get the worms to reproduce in your compost pile, as they only send 500 for $19.95! I one reply I got on worms so far: >For 2000 bedrun (various sizes where 'breeder' are the larger size. >According to the book 'worms eat my garbage' the bedrun are recommended since >they are cheaper, breed just as well, and may survive shipping better) >redworms, it was 21.00, and with tax that is 22.31 (back in June) >Are bedrun a variety of redworm or something else? >Which variety eats the most? (Oooh you pig worm!) One response indicated that redworms do well in 40 to 90 deg. F. earthworms don't do as well. They also like to escape. What can we say about bedruns? (Or again are they a specific variety of redworm, doing as well with temperatures and housing conditions.) >I notice that the Burpee Gardens 1992 catalog has an add for >"Red Hybrid Earthworms". It says they range from 1/4 to 3" >long. Are these redworms? Will hybrid worms breed true to >type? (Maybe I shouldn't use the term breed, given the way >worms reproduce.) How do they make a hybrid? I assume the >idea is to get the worms to reproduce in your compost pile, >as they only send 500 for $19.95! >Are bedrun a variety of redworm or something else? There are two different sizes' of worms, in a sense. The 'Breeders' are hand selected to be a certain size, usually around the maximum three inches. The idea is these are the ones you buy if you want to start breeding worms. Because they hand select these, they cost more (5 or 10 bucks or so, per 1000) than 'Bedrun' worms. Bedrun means 'mixed sizes, randomly selected'. So if you saw an ad saying '2000 bedrun Redworms, 19.95 and 2000 'breeder' redworms , for 25.00' you'd know the difference and why one costs more than the other. In the book "Worms Eat My Garbage", the author says that bedrun worms are fine to buy, since she feels they might survive shipping better, and adapt more quickly, and she doesn't feel there is any significant reason to spend the extra money on a 'breeder' worms ... >Which variety eats the most? You want the compost worms, red wigglers, redworms, the 'tiny' worms, not anything called 'earthworms'. >What can we say about bedruns? (Or again are they a specific >variety of redworm, doing as well with temperatures and >housing conditions.) Bedrun just describes the size range of the worm you'll be getting. Its a mixed size range. Someone who was interested in ordering lots of worms for *fishing* would be interested in this since he'd want big worms for his hooks and would probably only order breeders. That's why they have the two different size choices... >I have some large pickle or planter crocks about two feet high >and 18" wide. I thought of raising worms in these in my basement. >Is a ceramic crock a good container, or just a waste? Well, it doesn't 'breathe', its sealed, right? I would say you'd want something wider, and not quite as 'deep'. It might work, might not, i really don't know, but if you're serious and have some scrap wood lying around, then go for making the worm boxes described in the January issue of Organic Gardening, or the '1-2-3' worm box (which is just a box that is one foot deep, two feet wide and three feet long, for best results, use a finely screened lid to keep out fruitflies which become a nuisance after time...the box has about 9, 1" drain holes on the bottom. This should be sufficiant size to hold 2000 worms...) The book "Worms Eat My Garbage" is a great reference and a must read for anyone seriously into worm-composting....! According to several of the books I read on raising worms, the "Hybrid" designation is pure hype. No one has been able to prove a true hybrid exists. The differences are usually tracked down to superior feed and conditions rather than any difference in breeding. For composting, you don't need to get into raising the biggest fattest worms, anyway. You just want enough worms to eat enough garbage. I started with worms dug from under a horse manure pit for free, and have had nothing but good results, even when I added them to my outside compost bins (after they cooled a bit). :