Red Wriggler Compost Worms
Eisenia Fetida Compost Worms
The Red Wriggler is THE most commonly used worm for vermiculture and vermicomposting, and is endemic world over. Some people are concerned that the Eisenia Fetida (Red Wriggler) is invasive and will destroy the eco-system. This is simply NOT TRUE! The Red Wriggler is a very poor competitor in nature, as conditions are too dry in general, and it’s primary food source, namely microbes, are found mostly in moist, decaying matter, not soil. Compost worms use soil as a grit, and far prefer coffee anyhow!
Compost worms, such as the Eisenia Fetida (Red Wriggler), also known as the Brandling Worm, Kariba Worm or Tiger Worm, are found in compost heaps, or under them, as there is a high microbe environment.
OK – onto the Red Wriggler! This baby is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the compost heap. If your compost heap is healthy – he’ll “be back”! Red Wrigglers greatly and speedily reduce mounds of organic matter into fine, sweet smelling compost. They also breed like, well worms, and can double in population every 90 days! The Red Wriggler is an anecic worm – a top soil creator, the muncher of microbes, and saviour of our planet.
Of the +- 5000 worms, only THESE worms are true composters:
Eisenia Fetida, Eisenia Andreii (sub-species of the Eisenia Fetida), African Nightcrawlers, European Nightcrawlers and the Epriony Excavatus, commonly known as the Indian Blue Worm.
Should you try compost with common garden worms, your food will rot away, create mold fuzz and start smelling, with the worms desperate to get away! In nature, earthworm cocoons can wait for months, if not years for the right soil conditions to form. Many gardeners often note that once they innoculate their soil with vermicast and vermiliquid, they notice a myriad of other common garden worms:)
There are three strata and/or functions of worms. Composters are top dwellers, creating compost which is rich in nutrients, and high in humus (essential for efficient water absorption and slow nutrient release to plants), the middle level worms (common earthworms) which in turn till the soil, and bring the organic matter and humus further down. Finally the nightcrawlers or burrowing worms creep up to the soil, move over the grass, and imbed back into deep holes. This is so that when it rains, water is drenched right down to +- 1 meter deep, and the humus holds, much like a nappy, the vital nutrients, minerals and water.
Contact Rudolf at 082 578 4171 for more information, or email rudolf@motherearthworms.co.za
