A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Worms in the grow beds (or lack of)

Last year I placed worms in my grow beds. Some were bait worms I bought at Walmart, such as red worms. I also bought compost worms from a local vendor north of Tampa.

I have been harvesting veggies this spring and have not seen any worms so far.

Which worms should I be using here in Florida?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by wes on April 22, 2013 at 9:03am

The red wigglers or commonly called compost worms are the best for AP. Not the regular bait and fish worms. If you don't see any dig a little more. One thing to know about worms is they grow or shrink in colony size based on the food available to them. If they don't have enough food to eat they will not grow and the colony size will be very small.

Permalink Reply by Ned Berndt on April 22, 2013 at 9:16am

Hey Dan,

I'm using red wiggler composting worms...like Tony says...They're Great!

Permalink Reply by Rik on April 22, 2013 at 12:48pm

you're in gainesville, aren't you Dan? hit me up and i'll give you more worms than you can handle.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on April 23, 2013 at 5:59am

Just because you don't see your worms, doesn't mean they are not there. Leave them alone, digging in the bed to find them isn't necessarily good for them since you can easily mangle a worm while scraping around in gravel.

So, unless you are finding that your grow bed is gunking up, I wouldn't worry that you are not seeing the worms as you harvest.

Permalink Reply by halemart on April 24, 2013 at 5:11am

I have found putting a filter from an aquarium directly under where the water comes into the growbed is a great way to catch solids and to give the worms a perfect place to eat the solids. I have red wigglers and you might look up a book called "Worms eat my Garbage", it has tons of good information about growing worms.

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 25, 2013 at 7:34am

Rik,

I would like to take you up on your offer, Thanks, reply to my friend request and we can talk between us.

Thanks again

Rik said:

you're in gainesville, aren't you Dan? hit me up and i'll give you more worms than you can handle.

Permalink Reply by Conrad Chin-Yee on May 5, 2013 at 4:32am

Is there someone who has red wrigglers to sell and lives in Sarasota? I want to buy about a pound of them.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on May 5, 2013 at 6:32am

do a google search, I'm not sure but I think worms way might be over in that area.

Or you can buy them online. I got my worms from a local place when they had their stall at the market near my house but they also sell online. They are North of Apopka in the greater Orlando area Our Vital Earth and you can order from them online.

Permalink Reply by Converse on May 5, 2013 at 9:54am

Hey Dan,

Sounds like you have gotten some great offers for free redworms. " Seen one, you've seen 'em all."...Not the case with worms. If you bought fishing worms from WalMart, most likely they came from a refrigerator, and those are "earthworms/night crawlers". They require lower temperatures to survive, which is why they are kept in a refrigerator. The type of worms you want for and AP system thrive at higher temperatures. Redworms are the composting worms you want in a system. There are a few kinds that are great for AP.. Eisenia fetida are very commonly used in AP systems...There are many more as well that are suited for an AP system. You want to be sure if you have a small system that you use a variety that do not have a "wandering Habit". In that regard Eisenia fetida is a safe bet, and is very tolerant of pH swings and temperature variations. Common names of redworms are often used interchangeably. Eisenia fetida is often called red wiggler, manure worm, tiger worm, to name some....but these common names are also used by people to refer to other worm species, too.

You won't be seeing the redworms much. The red pigment in their skin is very light sensitive, and they will be paralyzed if exposed to light for long, followed by death. Don't be digging around to find them. They do not handle disturbances well, and will stop their eating and reproducing habits if they are disturbed too much.

If you cannot access the free worms offered on this thread, I can send some to you via US mail. We run a redworm farm...Send me a private message if you need some, and I'll get the details to you....

But really, if you had already added the redworms to your media beds, they are there....