Worms

Worms for composting, growing, lawn and garden care.

Below you will find information on many worm types.  Vermitechnology Unlimited sells many of these worms for use as bait or to those customers wishing to operate their own vermitechnology compost system.

Redworms (Eisenia foetida)

A non-burrowing worm.
AKA: California Red, California Redworm, Brandling, Redworm, Tiger Worm.

This worm is most frequently confused with the “Other Red Worm” called the Lumbricus ruebellus. This worm has more girth and is slightly longer than the Eisenia foetida. You can keep the Lumbricus ruebellus in a standard bed but it will not breed, or is very difficult to breed and then will not reproduce in significant numbers to be beneficial to the “worm farmer”. This non-burrowing worm is seldom found more than 12 inches below the surface. Hostile conditions on the surface will not usually force these worms down, but they will leave out the top of the bed. This is the best all around worm that you can grow. It is tough and will remain in the beds with minimum migration. They are very sensitive to vibrations, as are most worms, and will take a couple of days to settle down. It is best to put them into your new beds in the morning and then keep lights on them for the first 24 or 48 hours. If they still want to crawl, then you have a problem with the bedding.

European Night Crawlers (Eisenia hortensis)

A Fantastic Bait Worm!

Tired of scrawny, half dead worms that you can’t get on a No. 6 hook? Or maybe you are getting the Canadian Night Crawler that is as active as a slug. The European Night Crawler™ is shipped to you fresh from our farms. The dew worm or the Canadian worm is kept near freezing in coolers for months before they get to you. This worm is fantastic for all types of fish. The European Night Crawler™ is the toughest worm on the market and the only earthworm that can be used in the brackish salt water. I have tested this worm for ice fishing in Northwestern British Columbia where the ice was 18 inches thick. It out fished all the other bait worms including the native Night Crawler. The European Night Crawler™ was still very active on the hook after 30 minutes in these freezing waters. This worm has the toughness of the red wiggler and the action of the Alabama Jumper.

NOTE: The bedrun European is ideal for ordering in the Fall/Winter months because you usually get more than twice the amount of worms per pound. These will be ready for the bait season in the Spring. The smaller worms will adapt to a new environment much quicker that the larger breeder worms. They will also produce more offspring than the larger breeder worm.

India Blue

(Perionyx excavatus) – A burrowing earthworm.
AKA: Spikes Tail or Spikes

This worm is known for its mass migrations and has been found on top of buildings during rain storms. Some authors seem to think that it is the presence of a toxin produced by anaerobic bacteria that trigger this mass migration. This worm is a prolific breeder and consumes large amounts of organic waste. I sometimes use a combination of this species and the redworm (Eisenia foetida) in vermicomposting mixed produce waste. The redworms will consume feed that is below the surface as well as feed on the surface. Whereas the Perionyx is strictly a top feeder and if you cover the old feed with new feed, they will not consume the old feed and therefore the castings will not be pure. By the addition of the redworms you will end up with 95% to 99% pure castings. The Perionyx is often confused with the Redworm because their color is identical. The easiest way to identify them is to compare the location of the band (clitellum). The Perionyx clitellum is much closer to the front of the worm. When you are offered cheap redworms BEWARE, you may be getting redworms that are contaminated with these Perionyx which makes your market for these mixed worms very limited.

Alabama Jumpers

(Pheretima) – A burrowing earthworm.
AKA: California Golden Giant, Florida Wiggler, Georgia Jumper, Brown Nose, Grays.

I don’t know how this worm was dubbed a “Golden Giant” because it is not a giant and it is not gold. Maybe it’s worth it’s weight in gold to some folks but not me. The brown nose and the grays are strictly named for their appearance which varies because of the environmental conditions and may very well be a subspecies of the Alabama Jumper. I do not claim to be a taxonomist. This worm enjoys the tropical and subtropical areas but can escape the freezing weather of the Chattanooga TN area, and is also found in the temperate California climate. The Pheretima is the most widely distributed genus of the megascolecid group of earthworms. There are many peregrine species spread throughout the world. This is the only earthworm that is quite comfortable in sandy soils that has very little organic content. They do not pull their feed into their burrows, but feed on the surface organics and deposit their casts on the surface. Great for land reclamation in areas where there is plenty of shade and organic matter for them to consume. It may be anything from manures, food waste, leaves, etc…

African Night Crawlers

(Eudrilus eugeniae) – A Burrowing earthworm
AKA: Japanese Tiger, Super Red, California Super Red

This worm is a very temperamental worm to raise and had the tendency to crawl for no particular reason. It is often used exclusively for the casting production market. The marketing of this worm for bait or for land reclamation has been very limited. It produces a very beautiful cast but it is no better than any other castings except for looks. This worm is often marketed as a Redworm to the unsuspecting bait dealer, but the fisherman always knows the difference. It is very costly to hold these worms between 70 and 80 degrees to promote capsule production. They are very prolific breeders.

Lawn and Garden Worm Culture

Excellent for organic gardeners.

This is a mixture of three species of worms that will adjust to about any climate. The temperature and climate will determine which of the three worms we become dominant. The Eisenia is a surface dweller, the Pheritema is a deep burrowing worm and the Dendrobaena is an intermediate burrowing worm and is considered a great leaf worm. Comes with directions for care of garden culture. Excellent for new and established lawns. Approximately 1500 to 2000 worms per 5 lb. culture. Contains egg capsules, small and large worms.

European Night Crawler Egg Capsules

European Night Crawler Egg Capsules are collected fresh when processing the pure worm castings. This is done every two to three weeks. It may take 3 to 4 weeks of lead time before your egg capsules may be shipped.

Each pound of the hatch material will contain 750 to 1200 egg capsules and each egg capsule will hatch 1 to 5 small worms. Average hatch of 2500 worms per pound of hatch material.

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