Buying Red Wigglers

[rkmcdon]

I'm needing 5000 red wigglers. I've been watching Uncle Jims for over a month and all of the 1000 or greater options have been sold out every time ive checked. Anyone have a line on volume purchasing of red wigglers from a reliable source?

 

[Aussieaceae]

I probably can't suggest a supplier sorry, UJ's is who mostly supplies here too. Having said if you have time on your side and buy a small pack with eggs too, it won't take long to get those numbers at all. Keep the food a plenty and they don't stop.
Matter of months and you'd be over your 5k imo.

 

[rkmcdon]

Thanks. I'm probably going to get a combo pack. That's 500 red wigglers and 250 super reds. That will at least get me started, but i still want a 5000 pack to speed things along. I've got a lot of compost to turn!

 

[MustangStudFarm]

Thanks. I'm probably going to get a combo pack. That's 500 red wigglers and 250 super reds. That will at least get me started, but i still want a 5000 pack to speed things along. I've got a lot of compost to turn!

The worms will reproduce on their own too. It might take a couple of weeks, but they will come in force if there is food. If you really need something to churn the worm bin, look into black soldier flies. However, you really don't want them indoor because they will be flying all over the place. I felt like I was walking into a scene from "Silence of the Lambs" when I had BSF indoors.

 

[rkmcdon]

I had considered bsf's as it would allow me to stop buying insect frass. However, the bin is indoors in my garage which is attached to the house, so i was worried about the flies. Also, wasn't sure how combining red worms and bsf would work. My main concern was that bsf larvae would be so fast that I would have mostly frass without much ewc's

 

[MustangStudFarm]

I had considered bsf's as it would allow me to stop buying insect frass. However, the bin is indoors in my garage which is attached to the house, so i was worried about the flies. Also, wasn't sure how combining red worms and bsf would work. My main concern was that bsf larvae would be so fast that I would have mostly frass without much ewc's

Here is what I was dealing with. I struck gold and found a grocery store that donated a trailer of produce, it was more than I expected, so I ordered BSF to chew through the food. Seriously, I was a little overwhelmed by the food that I got.


This is my worm bin made out of 3'x3' pallets, it's about 5 pallets long. I threw in some soil to recycle because I ran out of brown material from filling my other worm bins.


I have 3x of these made now, but the grocery store is not giving away produce anymore. On top of that, the city compost facility has been wiped clean. My great idea was so good that other people ran me out of business. I'm back to composting leaves, grass, and weeds again. It was good while it lasted.

 

[Wetdog]

Thanks. I'm probably going to get a combo pack. That's 500 red wigglers and 250 super reds. That will at least get me started, but i still want a 5000 pack to speed things along. I've got a lot of compost to turn!

Trust me, that combo pack will be more than enough.

Do you have anything rotting? If not, get it going. Worms don't *eat* anything (no jaws or teeth), but rather slurp up the bacterial slime from decomposing organic matter. Have something ready for them for when they arrive, otherwise they have to wait to eat.

Wet

 

[rkmcdon]

@MustangStudFarm wow...just..wow. That would have overwhelmed me to the point that i probably would have just taken it all to the dump. Kudos to you for being able to handle it! Sorry to hear the source dried up. Did you just use it as is, or did you go through and pic out the citrus, onions etc?

Once mine is established, i may try to look for a local produce donator as well. What I'd really like is a source of manure, but I think chicken farms are the only ones that actually collect their manure and i don't know of any local chicken farms

@Wetdog yes, i have some stuff already getting ready for them if i can ever get them here!

 

[IIReignManII]

The worms will reproduce on their own too. It might take a couple of weeks, but they will come in force if there is food. If you really need something to churn the worm bin, look into black soldier flies. However, you really don't want them indoor because they will be flying all over the place. I felt like I was walking into a scene from "Silence of the Lambs" when I had BSF indoors.

lmaooo I had some hatch out of my soil during my mandarin cookies run and it scared the living shit outta me when I unzipped the tent and giant black fucking buzzing hornet wasp looking bitch was coming at my face. After that I always peeked thru the window first before unzipping