Can I Add Red Wiggler Worms to a Compost Bin?

Red wiggler worms and a compost bin are a marriage made in heaven. Red wigglers in the wild live in leaf litter and manure, so unlike burrowing worms such as nightcrawlers, they can adapt to soilless, shallow compost bins. The red wiggler, Eisenia fetida, tolerates a wide range of temperature and moisture conditions and produces quality vermicompost from kitchen leftovers. A pound of red wigglers can consume 50 lbs. of kitchen waste in 90 days.

  1. Habitat

    • Red wigglers flourish in worm compost bins, which are horizontal boxes wider than they are high and generally 12 inches or less deep. In a regular backyard compost bin, gardeners also report excellent results with red wigglers, although the worms need heat sources to get through the winter in areas outside of the Southeastern United States.

    Moisture Needs

    • To add red wigglers to a backyard bin, ascertain if the moisture content of the bin is around 70 percent (the consistency of a wrung-out sponge) and its temperature is in the 60s, or up to 77 degrees at most. You can find moisture meters and compost thermometers at nurseries. If the compost bin is too moist, add shredded newspaper or cardboard. If too dry, sprinkle it with water from a watering can. Allow any hot-composting materials such as manure or vegetable wastes to cool first.

    Bin Preparation

    • To add red wigglers to a worm bin, prepare bedding such as shredded junk mail, torn strips of newspaper or cardboard or coir about a week before the worms are set to arrive, typically by mail order. Add a few cups of chopped food scraps to the bin, creating a pocket in the bedding and covering the scraps with several inches of bedding to deter fruit flies. Dampen the bedding by spritzing it until, as with a backyard compost bin, the consistency of a wet sponge. Allow the scrap to sit as bacteria and fungi convert the scraps into a form the red wigglers will savor. Give the worms some outdoor dirt to provide grit and eggshells to provide calcium.

    Adding the Worms

    • Plan to be home the day the red wigglers arrive---typically on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday following shipment by Priority Mail on a Monday or Tuesday. Gently place them on top of their bedding and spritz them with water, preferably unchlorinated water left to sit overnight, to rehydrate them. Place the lid on the worm bin and allow them to explore in darkness.

    Feeding

    • Feed your red wigglers vegetable and fruit scraps, grains and cereals, coffee grounds and tea bags. For a special treat, they enjoy melon rinds and mangoes. They cannot have dairy products such as butter or sour cream or eggs, nor meat and bones. Be careful not to overload the bin by given your first 2 pounds of worms more than 1 lb. of food to eat. Wait to refeed until they have eaten the first batch of food. If you have excess food, or foods they shouldn't have such as citrus rinds, place these in your outside compost bin.