Worm Composting Secrets

Composting Worm Varieties

"I used to have a worm bed several years ago, but I have since
forgotten a lot about it. My son and I went fishing today and
several cups of worms were left behind by other people. I picked
them up and brought them home. Noticing later that there were
three different types of worms, my question is will different
types of worms co-habitate?" ~ Terry Tyson

Hi Terry,

That is a good question, and provides me with the opportunity to
talk about some of the different types of worms used for worm
composting/farming, as well as those that are not ideally suited.

It is quite difficult to say for sure what species of worms you
found in the bait containers without seeing a picture, which also
makes it hard to conclude whether or not they can live together.

This is mainly due to the fact that bait dealers can often sell
both the 'composting variety' AND the 'soil variety' for fishing
- so it's quite possible that you could have found both.

The technical terms for the two major groups you will encounter
(soil & composting) are "anecic" and "epigeic". Anecic worms are
the burrowing, soil worms - your typical 'garden variety', if you
will. In other words, worms you will find when digging in dirt,
or will see out on the pavement after a heavy rain fall.

Epigeic worms on the otherhand are the "surface dwellers" - the
type of worms that are required for worm composting/farming
operations. While these worms don't literally live on the
surface, they do tend congregate in the upper layers of rich
organic matter - NOT soil. In fact these worms will not survive
in typical soil unless it is very rich in decomposing organic
matter.

One of the most common worms used for bait fishing is the
"Canadian Nightcrawler" or "Dew Worm". These are the very large,
brownish soil dwellers that people collect out on golf courses
(or lawns) at night. Because these worms (like other anecics)
like to create long burrows and do not tolerate crowded
conditions, it is very difficult to effectively 'farm' this
species (known as Lumbricus terrestris, by the way). These worms
are also useless when it comes to worm composting. If you have an
outdoor worm bin that makes contact with the soil, you can often
find some of these worms in the lower reaches of your bin, but
you definitely won't find them in large numbers and they won't
venture too far upwards.

Aside from Dew Worms (which are by far the most common type of
bait worm up here in Canada), you won't typically find any other
soil-dwelling worms for sale (but many people do dig up the
smaller soil worms to use for fishing on their own).

You will however often find some epigeic species for sale. These
worms have the advantage of being smaller (better fit for the
hook), more active on the hook, and much more tolerant of warm
and crowded conditions. Conversely, Dew worms are kept
refrigerated until sold, and will not survive for very long in a
bait container (unrefrigerated).

Here are a couple of the common epigeic varieties:

Eisenia fetida (Also known as the red worm, red wiggler, manure
worm, tiger worm, brandling worm)

This is the most common variety sold and used for home
vermicomposting. While it can be (and is) used for fishing, often
bait dealers (and fishermen) prefer its larger cousin...

Eisenia hortensis ("European Nightcrawler")

This variety can be used for worm composting as well, but as
mentioned due to it's larger size it is often raised for use as a
bait (or feeder) worm.

To answer your question about co-habitation, both E. fetida and
E. hortensis can easily occupy the same worm bed, in fact they
can make almost ideal companions since the former tends to live
very close to the surface while the latter tends to prefer the
increased moisture levels in the lower regions.

If you have a desire to sell your worms however, I would highly
recommend you keep them in separate beds (unless you are selling
a mix), since it will be quite difficult to separate them.

If the worms you found are several inches in length, reddish in
colour and quite active when you place them in your hand, there
is a decent chance they are the type of worms ideally suited for
worm composting/farming.

You may also want to visit some of your local bait shops and find
out what kinds of worms they have for sale to help narrow down
the possibilities.

That being said, your best bet for getting your worm beds up and
running again is to order some composting worms from a reputable
supplier. You will receive FAR more worms than you would from a
bait shop and rest assured you will have the correct variety for
the job!

Hope this helps!

Bentley