Re: Worm Tube for the SFG

audrey.jeanne.roberts 3/30/2015, 12:35 am

I found mine online - it's been so long ago I don't remember where. I think they're also used as bait worms so you might try fishing shops as a source as well.

**sanderson** 3/30/2015, 5:28 am

Kate, I bought my first worms at a fishing shop, sold as bait, 25 per container. The last purchase (1/2 pound) was from a local worm "rancher" advertising on Craig s List. They are little (2-3", skinny worms, not the bigger earth worms. However, the big earthworms are also good guys.

Triciasgarden 3/30/2015, 2:06 pm

Go to the fishing section of WalMart. They sell red wigglers. That is where I got mine. You can also dig for them in another part of your yard to put in the beds. It's ok to start off with just a few, it won't stay at that amount for long though. Wait for rain for them to come to the surface and start collecting them, lol!

**AtlantaMarie** 3/30/2015, 2:41 pm

That's what my DH said! I can just pick them up off the driveway...! Rolling Eyes

rhfollett 3/30/2015, 3:32 pm

I was impressed by the concept which seems to capture the spirit of organic gardening in a very natural way.

I am new to gardening and have setup a table top and a 3x6 for this spring. I will add a worm tube to both.

Great idea!

**sanderson** 3/30/2015, 3:45 pm

rhfollett wrote:I was impressed by the concept which seems to capture the spirit of organic gardening in a very natural way.

I am new to gardening and have setup a table top and a 3x6 for this spring. I will add a worm tube to both.

Great idea!

Welcome to the Forum from California! $glad you\'re here$

**AtlantaMarie** 3/30/2015, 4:07 pm

Hi RHFollett. Welcome from Atlanta, GA too.

Triciasgarden 3/30/2015, 6:04 pm

RHFollett welcome from Utah!

**Kelejan** 3/31/2015, 12:41 pm

$glad you\'re here$ RH Follet happy hi

from me as well. I like worms, have three tubs inside during the winter and plenty outside all year in the compost pile.

After several years of gardening my first worms came in a bag of sheep manure that I put on the compost heap. Ir you have worms in your compost, you will have happy gardens.

Kelejan from Canada :canada:

audrey.jeanne.roberts 4/1/2015, 1:11 pm

I cleaned out 3 of my 5 worm tubes yesterday. Here's the complicated process involved Laughing

:

1. Take lid off
2. Shove arm down into tube and pull up gunk (which is a combination of worms, castings and a little bit of food material.
3. Drop into bowl (to take to other gardens)
4. Repeat until you reach the bottom.
5. Add fresh kitchen scraps and put lid back on.

I wanted to spread the worms out to other garden beds so I just scatter the castings and worms together, sprinkling them on top of the gardens. The worms quickly bury themselves and start munching on all the mulching material I have on top of the new beds.

If I wanted to leave the worms in the table tops, all I do is pile the material on top of the bed in a corner and let it sit for a while. The worms go back into the soil and leave the good stuff on top ready to gather.

I love my wormies I love you

**sanderson** 4/1/2015, 2:17 pm

The stuff in the tubes is gunky!

This is what I do in the free range worm box, Coarse costume netting (bigger openings than bridal veil tulle) is good for screening out the castings but capturing the worms. I use the screenings for seasonal potted veggies and the worms go back into the box.

CitizenKate 4/24/2015, 8:49 pm

Chopper wrote:My worm tube was abandoned pretty fast and I never saw them again. Maybe I did not have enough worms?

This was posted back in 2010, but I wonder if Chopper or anyone else figured out what happened to all his worms? I read through more of the thread but didn't find any replies. I really like his idea, but maybe not so much if the worms scream and run away from it.

(Click here to see the photos he posted showing how he made his worm tube.)

audrey.jeanne.roberts 4/24/2015, 11:02 pm

I wasn't around back then so I can't tell you. I can say, there's almost no way you can mess up worm tubes from my experience. And in ground gardens you only need the worm tubes if you don't want to do normal composting and want to put all your kitchen waste directly into them to feed the worms.

I always have one or two piles going so most of my kitchen waste goes out into them. I only have to feed the tubes once every 3-4 weeks.

**sanderson** 4/25/2015, 2:35 am

Kate, Worms are like pigeons, they keep coming back for the hand outs. So, Josh's worms are probably still thriving since I image that his folks put new compost in when replanting.

I have 2 different worms, the free ground worms that found there way into the beds when they were on the ground, and the little red wiggler I had to buy and put in the tubes. The funny thing is that the little worms absolutely love the compost I stored on top the beds for the winter so I haven't really had to feed them. I started feeding them about a month ago, and yes, when the food gets moldy they come and eat and then seem to drift back out. That's a good thing because they leave casting where ever they go. Our ground doesn't freeze so I can't speak to the northern experience of little red wigglers.

CitizenKate 4/25/2015, 11:26 am

sanderson wrote:Our ground doesn't freeze so I can't speak to the northern experience of little red wigglers.

My raised beds were frozen solid from around mid-December to early March this year, and I do have landscape fabric underneath them to keep out the bermuda grass, which has invaded my yard. I'm afraid the little guys will be trapped and just freeze to death in the winter unless I can come up with an easy way to round them all up - or most of them, anyway - and put them in an indoor bin for the winter. Or maybe cover the beds to keep them warmer... but that would also keep out needed moisture.

Hmmm... thinking

Oh by the way, I did find red worms at Walmart. Wadda ya know, I never would have guessed to look there. I'll go pick up some when I have all the details worked out.

**sanderson** 4/25/2015, 12:39 pm

CitizenKate wrote: I'm afraid the little guys will be trapped and just freeze to death in the winter unless I can come up with an easy way to round them all up - or most of them, anyway - and put them in an indoor bin for the winter.

Rounding up worms! rofl

I hope other northerners can help you out.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 4/25/2015, 6:50 pm

sanderson wrote:
CitizenKate wrote: I'm afraid the little guys will be trapped and just freeze to death in the winter unless I can come up with an easy way to round them all up - or most of them, anyway - and put them in an indoor bin for the winter.
Rounding up worms!

I hope other northerners can help you out.

Isn't that a little like "cat herding?!"

However, on a serious note CitizenKate - You could "round up" quite a few in the fall, using material you know they like to eat like a big pile of leaves, manure or other natural material. Then gather that up into a container you want to use for an indoor worm farm. If they're red wigglers you can use them for the seed stock for your worm farm. You can find tons of videos on youtube about that.

CitizenKate 4/25/2015, 9:44 pm

Cat herding is exactly what it reminded me of - haha! I can picture Kate The Worm Herder...

On another note, I just happened to see a post from a local friend on Facebook, talking about his "eccentric" neighbor, who always goes out after it rains to collect earthworms in a coffee can, and puts them in her garden. Numerous wry and witty comments followed. I sat there looking sideways and grinning to myself...

Audrey, that sounds like a good idea. I don't have to save all of them, just enough of them to re-populate the beds the following spring, and have them producing compost (and babies) over the winter. It's looking more and more like I'd have to just keep a regular worm bin over the winter.

ralitaco 4/25/2015, 10:17 pm

CitizenKate wrote:On another note, I just happened to see a post from a local friend on Facebook, talking about his "eccentric" neighbor, who always goes out after it rains to collect earthworms in a coffee can, and puts them in her garden. Numerous wry and witty comments followed. I sat there looking sideways and grinning to myself...

I thought you were going to say you were his neighbor Razz

A few worm questions:
1. Do the worms do ok in Tabletop beds?
2. How many worms do you need in a 4x4 or 2x8 bed?
3. How much do you need to feed them?

Thanks in advance

CitizenKate 4/26/2015, 10:51 am

ralitaco wrote:
CitizenKate wrote:On another note, I just happened to see a post from a local friend on Facebook, talking about his "eccentric" neighbor, who always goes out after it rains to collect earthworms in a coffee can, and puts them in her garden. Numerous wry and witty comments followed. I sat there looking sideways and grinning to myself...
I thought you were going to say you were his neighbor

No, but since I've started picking up all the night crawlers I've been finding around our place after it rains and chucking them into my garden beds, it might as well have been me. Although I haven't quite made it to the point where I go down the street with a coffee can... What a Face

audrey.jeanne.roberts 4/26/2015, 12:14 pm

ralitaco wrote:
CitizenKate wrote:On another note, I just happened to see a post from a local friend on Facebook, talking about his "eccentric" neighbor, who always goes out after it rains to collect earthworms in a coffee can, and puts them in her garden. Numerous wry and witty comments followed. I sat there looking sideways and grinning to myself...
I thought you were going to say you were his neighbor

A few worm questions:
1. Do the worms do ok in Tabletop beds?
2. How many worms do you need in a 4x4 or 2x8 bed?
3. How much do you need to feed them?

Thanks in advance

1. Yes, at least in my zone and garden. I have 5 raised table tops. 3 of them have worm tubes, the other two are new and don't have them. I tossed just a few worms into the new ones and there is about 2-3 inches of wood chip mulch on top of the beds that they'll eat and I'll renew as needed.

Our temps reach 110 a couple times each summer. Our lows get to low 20s. They have survived and thrived.

2. I initially divided 1 lb. of worms to fill 95 sq ft. of beds. From there they've gone nuts. I don't know how few you could use, but if they begin to be overcrowded I believe that they self control their population.

3. I replenish their food in the tube every 3-4 weeks. I clean out the tube twice a year and spread the castings and worms into new gardens or garden areas. Cleaning the tube involves simply shoving my hand down to the bottom and scooping everything out. A somewhat icky but not hard job!

ralitaco 4/26/2015, 12:24 pm

Thanks for the reply...of course now I have some more questions

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:1. Yes, at least in my zone and garden. I have 5 raised table tops. 3 of them have worm tubes, the other two are new and don't have them. I tossed just a few worms into the new ones and there is about 2-3 inches of wood chip mulch on top of the beds that they'll eat and I'll renew as needed.

Our temps reach 110 a couple times each summer. Our lows get to low 20s. They have survived and thrived.

How deep are your beds? I'm guessing not the standard 6" if you can put 2-3" of mulch on top.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:2. I initially divided 1 lb. of worms to fill 95 sq ft. of beds. From there they've gone nuts. I don't know how few you could use, but if they begin to be overcrowded I believe that they self control their population.

Great info. Once I get my 3 beds done, I think I will be get some.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:3. I replenish their food in the tube every 3-4 weeks. I clean out the tube twice a year and spread the castings and worms into new gardens or garden areas. Cleaning the tube involves simply shoving my hand down to the bottom and scooping everything out. A somewhat icky but not hard job!

a. is there anything special you do to the kitchen waste other than chop it up.
b. it sounds like there is a large amount of castings at the base of the tube, is that right?

Thanks again.

**sanderson** 5/17/2015, 4:17 am

I worked on the last bed today, turning over the soil a bit to lighten it. I needed to lower the worm tube so I went ahead and cleaned it out. A wet mucky mess. When I saw the worms, I ran inside for the iPhone. worm tube - Worm Tube for the SFG - Page 18 Worms_10

worm tube - Worm Tube for the SFG - Page 18 Worms_10

Here they are again after I turned over a clump a minute later. worm tube - Worm Tube for the SFG - Page 18 Worms_11

I ended up putting them on parchment paper while i smoothed out the bed and reset the tube. I felt so bad that the teeny babies stuck to the paper. I had to carefully remove each one to get them off. I have no qualms about killing black widows, snails and slugs. Oh, and spider mites. But, each worm just seems so miraculous, now.

**jimmy cee** 5/17/2015, 7:31 am

Wonderful pictures, Thanks

audrey.jeanne.roberts 5/17/2015, 11:56 am

ralitaco wrote:Thanks for the reply...of course now I have some more questions
audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:1. Yes, at least in my zone and garden. I have 5 raised table tops. 3 of them have worm tubes, the other two are new and don't have them. I tossed just a few worms into the new ones and there is about 2-3 inches of wood chip mulch on top of the beds that they'll eat and I'll renew as needed.

Our temps reach 110 a couple times each summer. Our lows get to low 20s. They have survived and thrived.
How deep are your beds? I'm guessing not the standard 6" if you can put 2-3" of mulch on top.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:2. I initially divided 1 lb. of worms to fill 95 sq ft. of beds. From there they've gone nuts. I don't know how few you could use, but if they begin to be overcrowded I believe that they self control their population.
Great info. Once I get my 3 beds done, I think I will be get some.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:3. I replenish their food in the tube every 3-4 weeks. I clean out the tube twice a year and spread the castings and worms into new gardens or garden areas. Cleaning the tube involves simply shoving my hand down to the bottom and scooping everything out. A somewhat icky but not hard job!
a. is there anything special you do to the kitchen waste other than chop it up.
b. it sounds like there is a large amount of castings at the base of the tube, is that right?

Thanks again.

1. The beds are between 6 and 8 inches deep.
2. Nothing special on the kitchen waste. We tend to make sure the pieces are chopped up a little just to fill my compost container more effectively and that's been enough.
3. Yes, they get fairly full in the bottom third or so.

Another thing I do is chop and drop when I thin or trim plants (as long as they're healthy). This increases the mulch layer and provides food for the worms. When I pull plants like lettuce that's bolted. I break them up and toss them on top of the soil. When I have larger plants that have died, I will some times leave the roots in the ground and the worms will eat them as they decay (especially if I don't need the square(s) over the winter.

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