Worm Bedding

Indoor vermicomposting and commercial growing are the places where worm bedding becomes an issue. The 'rich food source' types of worms are not the only ones that are raised commercially (in bedding), but for the indoor vermicomposter, E. foetida and R. rubellus are almost certainly the worm varieties of choice so I will talk about the beddings which are good for them.

Worm bedding must have certain attributes, which, combined with a steady and adequate food supply and the other prime conditions of life in the worm box, will result in happy healthy worm populations. The bedding provides a place for the worms to go when they are not attacking the primary food source or, should that food source 'get hot' then the bedding provides a place of refuge. It is damp, edible, acid/base neutral (or close), dark, easy to move through, and temperature constant. It is a place to meet other worms, drop off cocoons, or, for the hatchling, to safely grow from babyhood into a young adult. In short, it is home and heaven combined for a worm.

Beddings do not have to be composed solely of organic materials. In fact, it is good practice to add some dirt or fine sand to it so that the worms will have something to put in their gizzards. Worms don't have teeth (although one of my granddaughters is convinced otherwise), and so need to have some grit to properly process the materials passing through them. It doesn't take a lot but there must be some sand or such added to the bedding material. Ground egg shells work and provide some action against acid conditions as well. One thing to remember about the sand or dirt you use for your bedding is that you don't want 'living' soil like you would get from your garden. Why? This is going to be in your house remember? The dirt in your garden is full of all sorts of critters which will just love their new home, multiply rapidly, and cause you a never ending headache! Use pasturized dirt or pasturize it yourself before it goes into the box if you want to avoid the bugs.

Peatmoss (pasturized), shredded paper, shredded newspaper, cardboard, (cut into small chunks), or shredded, aged sawdust, crushed peanut shells etc., well composted and pasturized compost mixed 50/50 with any of the above, will all work well. Commercial beddings are available (Topline does not sell bedding at this time) which have been developed by the professionals to be all the things worms like and have none of the problems of the average home brew. Save yourself some problems starting out by getting the 'pro' stuff or do it the hard way like I did. It took me 4 months to get rid of the small flys that came in some of the bedding materials that I used when I first started! If I had it to do over, I would get the commercially produced bedding and spare myself all the initial hassle.

For those of you who are contemplating raising worms for sale; do yourselves a BIG favor by getting the *complete* Shields Publications Library before starting. The reference library will pay for itself many times over in just your first few months, and give you added profits for the life of your business! We give a specially discounted price to those who order the whole library and throw in a free gift as well. Drop us an email or write for more info on the 'Library Offer'.