Article 17804 of rec.gardens:
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
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From: yen@stsci.edu (Felix Yen)
Subject: re: red earthworms
Message-ID: <1993May28.170217.1939@stsci.edu>
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Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
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Date: Fri, 28 May 1993 17:02:17 GMT
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David C. Adams (dadams@cray.com) writes:
>  Gardens Alive offers 500 red earthworms for $19.95.  I think this is a 
>  pretty steep price.  It seems that I have seen a better price somewhere.
>  Does anyone know?

Bountiful Gardens is charging a "mere" $15.00 for 500.  But before you
order from them or anyone else, make sure you're getting the right
species of worm for your application.  "Red earthworms" are probably
Lumbricus rubellus which are fairly easy to buy and nice for composting,
but they won't do well in your garden unless your soil is quite rich.

Another common variety is the night crawler (Lumbricus terrestris) which
also has some nice properties, e.g. they are deep burrowers and don't
require as much food, but they aren't as active as other species and
they're migratory.  Thinking that my garden is a virtual worm prison,
it being surrounded by concrete slabs and brick/stone walls, I implanted
some Canadian night crawlers in the shady corner.  One year later, while
removing part of a brick path about 2 feet underground (I was digging a
pit for assorted plant refuse), a large worm crawled out from beneath a
brick.  He/she was either one of the original Canadians (African night
crawlers simply will not do at all) or one of his/her offspring.  In any
case, it clearly was not doing my plants much good hanging out underneath
a layer of bricks.

The best worms for garden use are common field worms (Allolobophora
caliginosa) even if they're slow reproducers, and swamp worms (Pheretima)
but both are hard to buy.  I have yet to find a Pheretima dealer, but did
manage to transplant a few earlier this year.  (Live, damn it!)

Your best bet might be buying castings or cocoons/eggs of an appropriate
species.  Last year, Gardener's Supply sold night crawler cocoons (I don't
get their catalogue anymore) and Bountiful Gardens sells castings, but
their catalogue does not indicate what species of worms/castings they are
selling.  The curious may call them at (707) 459 6410.


Felix
yen@stsci.edu


