Red Worms: (Dendrobaena)

Red Worms will aggressively feed and reproduce in compost piles and garden conditions, leaving their castings to feed your plants.

These worms are surface feeders that are sensitive to light. In warmer temperatures their metabolism increases and allows them to consume large amounts organic matter, such as leaves, up to half their body weight per day. Under ideal conditions, a single worm will produce two young per week. A cocoon is laid containing one worm and takes approximately 60-120 days to hatch and then matures in 60-90 days.

Earthworms travel underground by making contractions that shorten and lengthen their bodies. The burrowing is helped along by the secretion of lubricating mucus. Their moving body then works as a “piston” pumping air through the tunnels as the worm moves along. This movement is what creates soil aeration and the mixing of the soil. This movement is more rapid at night.

In areas where there is plenty of humus and ideal growing conditions worms are capable of producing as much as ten pounds of castings per worm annually, which is a good assumption that if you have a high population of worms you have healthy soil.

Do not allow you worms to dry out; moisture is very important as they need it to breathe through their skin.

Average Amounts Needed For Gardens

500 worms - 200 square feet

1000 worms - 400 square feet