Question For You Vermicomposters

[fanleaf]

I was just going through my worm bin so I could feed them. As I lifted the damp newspaper that I have covering the top I noticed all of these eggs stuck to the underside of the newspaper.
for those of you that compost with red wigglers for your fresh earthworm castings, can you tell me, are these indeed worm eggs?

 

[Blew Hiller]

Cocoons.

Is that newspaper your only cover? You keep it wet? Wondering about air flow.

Here is some info on cocoons I snatched off the interweb....
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There’s a lot to know about the wonderful world of Eisenia fetida and their impressive fertility techniques. This month, we shine a light on the precious bundles that are red wiggler cocoons.

Little Golden Gifts
First things first. Red wiggler cocoons, those tiny lemon-shaped capsules scattered throughout the worm bin, are often mistaken for red wiggler eggs. However, it’s more accurate to note that it’s actually within the cocoon that you’d find eggs.

When I first started worm composting, I was oblivious to the tiny amber-colored gestation sacks that hid in the recesses of my bin. I’d read about them but figured my worms just weren’t making any. Eventually, I noticed the inevitable bunches of hatchlings and knew my worms were doing their thing.

When I harvested my first batch of worm compost I was elated to finally be able to get up close and personal with some of the egg sacks that had been hiding. Those cocoons are so small, only 3-4 mm long, that they are often hard to see amidst the rest of your worm compost.

Luckily, when they are first dropped, they are distinctly yellow. Not bright, but obvious against the dark rich soil of the worm bin. In time, they darken to a rich maroon color and blend right in.

“Before you use your worm compost, let it dry just enough that it will break up when sifted. Sifting the somewhat dried out compost allows the cocoons to stand out against the finely textured black gold. From there, you can just hunt and pick them out one at a time.”

Take ‘em or Leave ‘em
You may be wondering why you’d remove them at all. There are a few reasons I sometimes collect red wiggler cocoons.

For one, Eisenia fetida is not one of the native species where I live. They aren’t known to damage the ecosystem here, but can’t survive the winters. I’d rather not send them to a sure death. Instead, tucked safely inside my worm bins, each of those cocoons promises me a stronger worm workforce.

For two, I use cocoons to help balance the populations across my bin. If I have a bin running low on worms, I throw in some cocoons and expect many more mature worms in just a few months.

Lastly, it’s sometimes fun to experiment with a worm bin started from cocoons alone. Worm farmers of all ages enjoy the miracle of life and witnessing babies emerge and grow so quickly!

An Inside Look
As I sat there picking delicate cocoons from my first sifted harvest of worm compost, I noticed one seem to shake. I laid it onto my open palm in the bright light of the sun and looked closer. I could see right through that thin shell to the blood coursing through the miniature worms inside!

And then, the littlest, pink, wet worm began to poke through the opening of that cocoon! It came most of the way out then changed its mind and went back into the safety of its egg-shaped womb.

Fascinating! Seeing one hatch (almost) was all I needed to want to know all about those wee little babies and how they came to be. I knew red wigglers were well known for their rapid reproduction, but what else could I find out about those cute cocoons and the thread-like babies inside?

The Cocoon
What I learned surprised me. A red wiggler makes its cocoons in a way I could have never imagined. It begins to form as a ring around the outside of the mature worm’s body. It is made of the mucus secreted by the large clitellum gland, where some of the reproductive organs of mature red wigglers are located.

When hermaphroditic worms join to mate, they exchange sperm and begin to create this mucus ring around the clitellum. When they have finished, the mucus ring begins to dry and the worm scoots backward out of it.

As the worm slides through and out, seminal fluid, ovum, and amniotic fluid are drawn into the small capsule. It hardens and dries as it comes off the worms head, with only the tiniest hole on either end. Cool, right?

The Incubation Station
A freshly deposited red wiggler cocoon may contain as many as 20 eggs. It is inside the cocoon where some the eggs become fertilized and some do not. Those that do begin to develop and live off of the nutrients in the surrounding amniotic fluid.

For an average of 23 days, red wiggler zygotes develop into a worm that’s ready to hatch. But It takes a special set of circumstances to call forth the next generation of red wigglers from their cozy confines into the world.

Crazy Cool Adaptations
You can hardly count on Mother Nature to serve up hatching weather every day. So, these surface dwelling worms have developed specialized survival techniques that are ultra amazing!

For one, when conditions are less than ideal, the cocoon and all its contents can just sit put and wait. They’ve been known to wait for years in fact!

Second, is a trait that works to our benefit! Red wigglers are surface dwellers, which means in nature they and their cocoons are exposed to a wide variety of adverse conditions. So, to offset a low survival rate, these worms produce relatively more cocoons than almost any other worm.

Lastly, the unique design of the red wiggler compost worm cocoon and its reproductive material is shockingly adaptive. It can even be frozen and preserved through the winter to hatch safely when the weather warms in spring!

When Worms Emerge
As temperatures rise and moisture returns to the soil, life springs back into action. Worms instinctively know when it’s time to emerge. Perfect conditions are maintained when their environment remains between 65º-85ºF (18º-27ºC) and the moisture content is between 80-90%.

But out in the wild, temperatures fluctuate far beyond this 20-degree range sweet spot. In excessive heat, worm cocoons will perish. But as I said, in extreme cold, these cocoons and all that is within them, freeze, go dormant, but do not die.

When the time is right, an average of three worms will emerge from every red wiggler cocoon.

Preparing for Your New Arrivals
Compost worms are some of the greatest pets because of how little they require in terms of hands-on care. The same goes for their hatchlings. In their modified “natural” environment of the worm bin, they have everything they need to survive and even thrive into maturity.

Remember, if the babies hatch, its because basic environmental conditions are right for those babies to survive. So, to best prepare, place your worm bin where the contents will remain between 65º-85ºF and moisture will stay near 80%.

Using a simple probe moisture meter and thermometer to measure these levels is the easiest way to be confident things are just right for nursery status. Add a bit of soft food and nature will take care of the rest.

Just make sure you’ve got enough worm bin space to handle what’s coming! If you need to, you can multiply your worm bins to allow for faster population growth.

Predicting Population Growth
For every healthy worm bin, there will be countless cocoons being formed, filled, and hatched at any one time. However, the production, rate of maturation, and survival of the cocoons very much correspond to population density, the age of the worms, temperature, moisture, and what food is available.

On average, a mature red wiggler will produce 3 cocoons per week. With an average of 3 babies coming from each of these, you can see how quickly the numbers add up. After only 12 weeks a newly emerged compost worm also becomes a reproductive member of its worm society.

Try this handy compost worm calculator to see just how big your herd can get!

Conclusion
Next time you’re visiting your red wigglers, get a little closer and see if you can find cocoons that are new, old, and even already empty! It’s fun when you know what you’re looking for and what’s inside!

 

[fanleaf]

@Blew Hiller, this is the newspaper that I cover the top up with. I do keep this newspaper damp. It is not the only cover though. As I just got done feeding the worms some vegetable scraps I stir in some of the bedding when I cover the vegetable scraps back up and then after I level out the top I add roughly an inch of shredded brown paper and then place my damp newspaper on top.
I suppose my bin must be fairly healthy if they are reproducing this fast. This bin is only a few weeks old.

 

[fanleaf]

I'm going to read that article. That looks like a ton of good information. So they are cocoons, that's awesome.

 

[Blew Hiller]

As long as it doesn't smell..great. I've never heard/used wet newspaper directly over the worm pile, but there are many ways to do it...as long as the bin doesn't get stinky (anaerobic).

Yes, cocoons are a good sign.

 

[Blew Hiller]

I add roughly an inch of shredded brown paper

coco/pro-mix also works well

 

[fanleaf]

As long as it doesn't smell..great. I've never heard/used wet newspaper directly over the worm pile, but there are many ways to do it...as long as the bin doesn't get stinky (anaerobic).

Yes, cocoons are a good sign.

Thank you! I just keep it damp as recommended by the many videos I watched on it. Seeing the cocoons on that paper though makes me think it may be best to leave that paper dry so they start putting their cocoons somewhere safer LOL. Thanks again, all great information.

 

[Blew Hiller]

You putting coffee grounds/tea bags in there? Makes it smell nice and they love it...they work faster with some french roast. Crushed egg shells as well.

 

[fanleaf]

You putting coffee grounds/tea bags in there? Makes it smell nice and they love it...they work faster with some french roast. Crushed egg shells as well.

Yes, I usually put in at least one coffee filter full of coffee grounds into the food processor along with what would be equivalent to a quarter head of lettuce as well as some tomato scraps, avocado husks, cucumber ends. I save the egg shells until I have at least a dozen egg shells and then I put them in the food processor with the next batch of food as well. When I started the bin I started it with some Coco coir, pumice,a little bit of oyster shell powder, some azomite, powdered rock dust etc.

 

[Blew Hiller]

I keep mine simple...potato/carrot/cucumber peelings, coffee grounds, egg shells. I just throw it in there and they break it down...

 

[fanleaf]

I keep mine simple...potato/carrot/cucumber peelings, coffee grounds, egg shells. I just throw it in there and they break it down...

You know, I didn't put anything in the food processor for the first few weeks and everything was fine that way and the food was getting eaten. I only switched over to the food processor recently because I see a lot of people do it that way. I figured I would give it a shot and see if I noticed anything change. So far there hasn't been any big changes that I've noticed as far as how quickly or slowly they eat the food. Pretty soon I may go back to not using the food processor except for maybe the lettuce head cores to help them break it down a little quicker.

 

[Blew Hiller]

So far there hasn't been any big changes

Except another thing to clean

They break it all down over time, so save the effort. I feed my summer worm bins whole carrots (and many other whole things..bins are outside and I feed them a wider variety of food because I don't care about the smell) and they break it all down. Since they are actually feeding on the bacteria from the decaying matter, it's not a bad thing to have things that break down at a different rate...means there is always a food supply.

 

[greenjeans]

I'm going to revive this thread as I think some more growers are getting into this form of "farming"!! I've had worms for, jeepers, not sure, probably 35 - 40 years. But have just gotten real serious about it lately as now I have a real good use for the produce. I have 8 bins on the go...

and have just finished my Trommel Sifter and am real pleased with it. The Shaker style that I built was so noisy and rather violent that it was no fun to operate. This Trommel is so quiet and it seems to handle the wet stuff pretty well. If it seems too wet I just run it thru twice.

The sifted castings are such a joy to work with compared to my old method of just taking off the top 3 - 4 inches and then sorting thru roughly. I probably lost a lot more worms that way but with the Trommel I find very few worms make it thru the 1/4" screen. I have been finding that a top layer of Pond weed (coontail) really brings them to the surface, either exploring, eating or breeding, who knows!!! They seem to like the Pondweed more once it has had a chance to sit for season and turn into a solid amber lump that can be broken up and added to the bin. It was too late in the fall this year but I plan to pull a lot more in the Spring or Summer to have a ready supply for later. I have been preparing the bedding material ahead of time lately. Shredded newspaper, shredded leaves, Pondweed and sawdust. I put it all in a bin and moisten it and mix it all up and let it sit until I need it.

 

[bluter]

frigging gorgeous @greenjeans
great setup.

 

[greenjeans]

“Before you use your worm compost, let it dry just enough that it will break up when sifted. Sifting the somewhat dried out compost allows the cocoons to stand out against the finely textured black gold. From there, you can just hunt and pick them out one at a time.”

I am thinking that this might not be necessary as the majority of the new cocoons would be in the upper portion and surface of the bin and that is usually removed and placed back in the new bin as a starter. The lower, older cocoons would have already hatched.

 

[greenjeans]

OK, just picked up a bag of Alfalfa pellets so I'll mix up a slurry in the morning and see how the little critters like that!!

 

[Vegan4life]

“Before you use your worm compost, let it dry just enough that it will break up when sifted. Sifting the somewhat dried out compost allows the cocoons to stand out against the finely textured black gold. From there, you can just hunt and pick them out one at a time.”

I am thinking that this might not be necessary as the majority of the new cocoons would be in the upper portion and surface of the bin and that is usually removed and placed back in the new bin as a starter. The lower, older cocoons would have already hatched.

I just sort out the worms and top feed with the wet castings... I have bunches of worms in my 20 gallon pots and grow bed. I have been keeping a good mulch layer in my pots for them to feed on.

 

[Stunger]

I'm going to revive this thread as I think some more growers are getting into this form of "farming"!! I've had worms for, jeepers, not sure, probably 35 - 40 years. But have just gotten real serious about it lately as now I have a real good use for the produce. I have 8 bins on the go...

That's fantastic GJ, and as noted great set up you have!

OK, just picked up a bag of Alfalfa pellets so I'll mix up a slurry in the morning and see how the little critters like that!!

That's something I'd like to get hold off. I've read a few times on how good alfalfa is, I think because of it's long roots getting a lot of extra minerals (but could be wrong there!).

I just sort out the worms and top feed with the wet castings... I have bunches of worms in my 20 gallon pots and grow bed. I have been keeping a good mulch layer in my pots for them to feed on.

I have the same, the mulch layer keeps them happy and the roots grow right up to it instead of the top inch being dead and dry.

 

[greenjeans]

I've read a few times on how good alfalfa is

Yeah, over here I can get a 20 kg bag for about $16 at the feed store. It's for rabbit, goat or almost anything feed. I just make a real sloppy slurry and put it in a 2" line across the top of their bedding and they find it within hours and feast like crazy. Other than that it seems most of the kitchen scraps they get are what they aren't supposed to like - potato peels, onion skins, peppers. They really like the pond weed that has sat for a year and compacted into a nice light chunky form.

 

[greenjeans]

I haven't actively tried to have the worms in my growings but may try that this year.