Farming night crawlers...

[DEADROOTS]

Does anybody farm their own night crawlers? I just got a 15-20 gal plastic storage tub and drilled a bunch of 3/16 inch holes on the bottom and put a couple layers of newspaper then filled it up using 50% Manure and 50% Peat Moss, now all I need are the night crawlers. I was thinking of throwing in 5 dozen to start with. Should I start with more?

[Vulture]

BSP sells night crawler bedding and food. This should help jump start your crawlers. As time goes on feed them left overs. Keep them moist but not too wet. Keep the bed in a cool place and out of the sun. Google this for more info.

[fishmounter]

It is not cold enough here in southern Calif. to raise the large Canadian Nightcrawlers. They have to be raised in a very cool environment. Look them up on the internet...

[troutdog]

Now paging Koshaw....
(Chuck might be able to help with out, aside from being a wood specialist he knows worms too!)


TD

[Koshaw]

Yo! Do I hear my name taken in vain?

=^^=

ya I got a 20-30 gallon tub and I buy worms on Ebay!

Sounds like you got a good set up there.

Buy newspaper, soak it for a day or two and tear it up and put it on top of the peatmoss mixture.

You can also add oats.

Make sure its cool and dry and in a dark area.


Add water at least a day before you add the worms. You want it MOIST but not super soggy.

Grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze. Only a few drops of water should drip out.

Add the worms and let em make more.

I usually buy 250-1000+ worms at a time. The price ranges between 33 bux to 75 bux delivered.

Make sure they got air =) and change the soil ever 2-2.5 months. The worms will DIE if you dont.

Btw at the end of the 2 months you got the BEST DARN fertilizer/soil mix in the world.

Use it in your garden to make your plants/flowers/food plants grow healthy and kick arse. I bet you will be amazed at their growth.

Hope this was helpful!

PS the worms should be reproducing in a couple months once they adjust to their new surroundings.

Koshaw signing off

PM for qs ;)


Chuck

[Ifishtoolittle]

The nightcrawlers won't be a good idea. Try red worms they multiply every week each laying and egg that hatches 3 worms. I know this because I myself have a worm tub/farm full of redworms. I did some reasearch on nightcrawlers before and found that they grow very slowly and multiply every slowly.

[troutdog]

Personally I would rather have a dzn crawlers than 200 redworms unless I am strictly pan fishing, unless of course you just want more pets :LOL:


TD

[fishmounter]

All you really need to do is take your lawn clippings out of your lawn mower catch bag and instead of putting it in the "green" can, find a shady spot of soil in your yard and start spreading it out and keeping it moist with your hose. Get it to be a couple of inches thick. Buy a couple of containers of red worms and "plant" them under the grass . In just a few months you will have hundreds of large worms, babies and eggs that are under the clippings eating away the decaying grass. I have done this in several places and I have way more bait than I could ever use. And you know what? The redworms that you buy for bait are just baby ones! They can get really big! Like a small nightcrawler!

[DEADROOTS]

Thanks everyone! All your advice is much appreciated.

[HANG'IN ONE]

Walmarts easier.

Good luck!

[fishmounter]

...And way more expensive!

[TShaffer]

Me and megafisher94 did this before. It was very productive and convenient while it lasted. We ended up using all the worms though and never replenished our stock.

[DEADROOTS]

Me and megafisher94 did this before. It was very productive and convenient while it lasted. We ended up using all the worms though and never replenished our stock.

:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL: abuser!

[Redside]

I have a grapefruit tree in my backyard with a pet box turtle who lives under it. I feed him nitecrawlers. Evidently, some of them got away. I was looking under the tree one night with a flashlight and I counted eight nitecrawlers! So I guess they will live here in So Cal, under the right conditions. I haven't tried to catch them yet, but I think you have to be pretty quick, whenver they see the light moving they zip back into their holes in the ground.

[JigStop]

Do not buy the Canadian nighcrawlers because they are considered a "shy" strain (doesn't wiggle a lot when drowned). Google Decker or Leaches to buy your brood-stock.

[Daryl]

I have a grapefruit tree in my backyard with a pet box turtle who lives under it. I feed him nitecrawlers. Evidently, some of them got away. I was looking under the tree one night with a flashlight and I counted eight nitecrawlers! So I guess they will live here in So Cal, under the right conditions. I haven't tried to catch them yet, but I think you have to be pretty quick, whenver they see the light moving they zip back into their holes in the ground.

I used to get them up with electricity. Two metal rods hammered into the moist soil about 2 feet apart, attach the rods to an extension cord... Plug it in and watch them come flying up out of the ground.

[old pudd fisher]

All you really need to do is take your lawn clippings out of your lawn mower catch bag and instead of putting it in the "green" can, find a shady spot of soil in your yard and start spreading it out and keeping it moist with your hose. Get it to be a couple of inches thick. Buy a couple of containers of red worms and "plant" them under the grass . In just a few months you will have hundreds of large worms, babies and eggs that are under the clippings eating away the decaying grass. I have done this in several places and I have way more bait than I could ever use. And you know what? The redworms that you buy for bait are just baby ones! They can get really big! Like a small nightcrawler!

Thanks from me. I will try that. My uncle was a big fisherman in Canada and would grow his own worms and fish the river buy his house. I remember digging them out of the wood box before we went fishing.:LOL:

[Joshua]

I looked into this and did some research. First, the holes you drilled are too large, The little suckers will crawl out. They said to put fine screen material on the bottom. Like the pet proof screen material for you windows
Also, I read to keep a light on them all the time to prevent them from trying to crawl up and out. Unless your container is deep enough to keep them contained.

I put some left over crawlers into a potted plant in my front yard. They are still in there and are reproducing. Slowly, but I do see some smaller worms in there.

When I looked, i found them sold in 10 lb bags. I wasnt sure if I needed 10 lbs of worms. 100 worms seemed like a reasonable amount to start with/ I gave up on going into the worm farming business.

[DEADROOTS]

It does seem like a lot of work. Does any one know if it would be ok to put night crawlers and red worms together in the tub?

[Sebastian323]

All you really need to do is take your lawn clippings out of your lawn mower catch bag and instead of putting it in the "green" can, find a shady spot of soil in your yard and start spreading it out and keeping it moist with your hose. Get it to be a couple of inches thick. Buy a couple of containers of red worms and "plant" them under the grass . In just a few months you will have hundreds of large worms, babies and eggs that are under the clippings eating away the decaying grass. I have done this in several places and I have way more bait than I could ever use. And you know what? The redworms that you buy for bait are just baby ones! They can get really big! Like a small nightcrawler!


the compost bins are full of those in the communty garden near my house. i don't know how they got there, but people put water, garden wastes and fruit and vegetable scaps in there. and yes they do get bigger than the ones you buy.the compost bins are full of those in the communty garden near my house. i don't know how they got there, but people put water, garden wastes and fruit and vegetable scaps in there. and yes they do get bigger than the ones you buy.

[fishmounter]

I just got back from a popular SoCal lake and I used those "Super-Redworms" from my backyard and I caught lots of very large Bluegill and Redears. The fish love this bait! Way cheaper than waxworms, crickets and meal worms.