Re: CULT: Worms

From: "Dell Perry" <Dellp@gwmail.plano.gov>

Hi, 
Dell here.  I am a vermiculturist, on a small scale, and teach it in my Master Composting classes. 
Worms are great for the garden. I encourage them in my irises, as they eat dead materials, aerate (sp?) the soil, help till it, and amend it as they tunnel around in their everyday work and leave behind those more precious than gold droppings.
Those egg cases are almost impossible to find. I know you have seen worms with a 'collar' around one end. This 'collar' is where all the worm sex occurs. When two worms meet up, they both go home pregnant. Worms are hermaphroditic, or both sexed.  The sperm is deposited at the collar, where the eggs are. After fertilization, the collar slowly moves down the body of the worm (as the eggs mature), and finally falls off carrying with it the eggs. When the eggs hatch, the worms are tranlucent, usually almost colorless, a quarter of an inch or less long, and about as thick as fine hair. They mature rapidly and reach sexual maturity within 2 months, and the cycle repeats. 
A worm bin is a very easy to build and maintain addition to your compost operation. They will take care of all those food scraps you do not want in your compost because they attract critters like skunks, racoons, coyotes, armadillos, etc.  Worms eat their weight in waste in about 2 days - 1 lb of worms will eat about 3 lbs of scraps a week.  And if you feed them, the worms will stay (they are dumb, but not that dumb).  They will eat everything except meats, dairy products, and citrus. They love coffee grounds, tea bags, whatever that was in the crisper that you think used to be lettuce; if it is rotting, they like it better, and eat the rotting stuff first..yum-yum....so there is no smell associated with a worm bin other than a good earthy one.
A properly maintained worm bin will not harbor ants.  Ants do not like wet soil...worms do...not soaking wet, but constantly damp. Worms breath thru their skin, so too much moisture and they drown (that's why you see so many on the sidewalks after a rain - high ground), too little moisture and their skin drys out and they have pulmonary paralysis - asphyxiation (that's all the dead ones who escaped drowning and forgot to get back in the ground when the sun came out.)

If anyone is interested, get with me off-line, and I can get you info on how to build a worm bin in your yard, or make a small one for your kitchen or office out of a plastic tote, where to get the right kinds of worms, and all the necessary info to make it work... it really is simple and easy....and kids just love it... great Cub/Boy Scout, Brownie/Girl Scout project...or classroom project for schools.


>>> <HIPSource@aol.com> 01/20/00 09:45AM >>>
From: HIPSource@aol.com 

In a message dated 1/20/00 7:35:09 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
drsnooks@buffnet.net writes:

So what do those worm egg cases you mentioned look like and where are they 
found?
 
Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com 

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