Well, there is not any one single factor that I know of. Keeping everything in good balance is the most important thing. Worms seem to breed a little more when stressed do to lack of food or moisture. Adding to much grass can cause problems, but may help increase the temperatures. Just be careful when adding anything that may heat, as it also consumes the available oxygen in the worm bin.

The red wiggler eggs are smaller and darker which make them harder to see. Red wiggler worm egg capsules typically contain many more worms per egg. I have been told by a colleague that he has seen over a dozen red wiggler come from one capsule. I commonly see 5-7 red wigglers per egg.

If I want to breed my red wigglers. everybody says to use out side bins, but in Denver Co. i could only do that for about 5 mo of the year . so if I get 2 large RM bins and use them for breeding in my crawl space it stay's about 45 deg in the winter and about 75 deg in the summer will this work. if I use about 1lb of adults in each bin and thin out the young ones every mouth or 2 ? wat would be the best bedding for this.
I''m open to any other suggestion from you
thank you Alan (cobra1)

I have noticed from experience several things that help stimulate breeding. Like Matthew stated, there is no one single thing.

What I have found is this:

1) worms love to lay cocoons on corn cobs. Corn is a soft material that is readily eaten by the babies and is great for their sweet tooth.

2) egg shells - worms need calcium to produce cocoons. Whole egg shells are great for them because they give the babies added security and protection. Crushed egg shells act as grit and a calcium source for the breeders.

3) straw - I'm not sure exactly why, but the highest densities that I've found in any of my worm bins was around straw. This may aid in helping the worms "scrape" the cocoons off.

4) composted manure - this is one of their favorite foods and they breed quite quickly in it.

5) moisture - when the worms are breeding, they enjoy a higher moisture content. This is why people have separate breeding bins than the ones they use for making castings to sell. The castings will be mushy and not a very good consistency in the breeding beds.

These are the biggest factors that I've noticed from experience. If you combine all of these, I think you will be happy with the results.

Hamilton Organics, LLC

Hi Hamilton Organics,

I have a question about straw.  We use it outdoors on heavily trafficked areas of our yard to keep mud down to a minimum.  We are about to rake up some well-trodden, dirty straw.  Can I add that to our basement bins?  Would it be considered bedding and should I put it on the top or mix it in? Our bins are 3 weeks old now, and I see our worms appear to have doubled in length since they arrived, and I am seeing some very small worms, so we must have babies.  If straw makes them make more babies, that's great!  So - old, dirty straw or fresh, clean straw? Mix in or lay it on top?

Thanks! Dee

Thanks Matthew,

I added the straw yesterday mixed in with some compost matter and torn up and saturated egg carton.  When I looked underneath it this morning, I saw lots of happy worms.

BTW, our worms bins are 3 weeks old now and they are getting noisy.  It sounds like soda bubbles fizzing and popping, a kind of wet, airy, squelchy noise.  Is that a good thing?

Dee

May be a silly Q, but does the ink from the news paper harm the worms at all?

Hi Matthew,

I think the worms are making the sounds when they move around.  If I watch carefully. I can see the surface of the bin on the half where the food is, rising and falling slightly - cool!

So our two bins of one pound each of red wigglers is 5 weeks old.  I tested the soil PH yesterday and it said between 7.0 and 7.5 according to the test kit color chart.  We bought lime, but haven't added any yet. 

Do you recommend dividing the bins now?

Our two bins have been given as near to identical treatment as possible, but the one on the right has fruit flies and the one on the left does not.  Could the one with flies be too moist?  Do you use any kind of moisture meter to test your soil or just test by look and feel?

BTW, how have the covers on your outdoor beds been working?  Does it keep the beds warmer? 

Thanks,

Dee