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I do not pump air into my container. They get natural air when I remove the top to feed or dampen the newspaper. Sometimes I take a big metal rod and fluff up the first 10 inches or so but that is it. I do not allow it to get very wet and I do not overfeed. Corn meal or wet tea bag is enough for them.
Thanks ship and G3. we will leave the pump out for now. Will work on 48 qt. and medium size water cooler. You'll are taking about red worms. Is that the red wigglers or another species. Again thanks for the response.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scoot
Yes red worms. Just the right size for 'Gills and Shellcrackers. These techniques also work for red wigglers.
This is the newer version I keep in the garage. The smaller one is the one I fill to take to the lake.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...1/WormFarm.jpg
Hello everyone. I have done a lot of lurking here for the last few months trying to learn something about raising worms.
Back in march I bought three containers of worms at Walmart. I paid $2.65 each for them. When I got home I read on the container and it said there were only 20 worms in each one. I thought I must be crazy to pay that. Since I did not get to go fishing I figured now was a good time to see if I could grow a few for next year. I bought 3 rectangular plastic storage containers, around 30 quart. I Mixed composted manure and peat moss half and half and got the moisture to what I though was right. Mixed in some shredded newspaper and dumped the worms in . In about 6 weeks I began to see a few smaller worms but had to really hunt to find them. I started feeding a little Purina Worm Chow. In five months I would estimate there are at least 1500 worms in each box. Place a good layer of worm chow on top and it will all be gone in about 24 hours. The problem I think, is they are not growing the way I thought they should. I asked a neighbor, who at one time had a small commercial worm operation, why they were not getting larger. He took a look at my boxes and said they were way overcrowded and no matter how much I fed them they would not grow as fast or as large as they should.
I am in the process of getting two old freezers ready, (22 cubic ft) and plan to transfer the worms from the boxes to the freezers in a couple of days. When I get my "worm ranch" complete I will post some pictures.
Have a good day all.
David Winston
There ya go.Another crappie.com sucess story.Good deal.
Way to go David. Welcome to the site from Alabama. Are you involved in making knives too? We all want to see photos of your new farm.
Thanks for the comments.
I have been a custom knifemaker since 1974. I make a lot of different styles.
Hunting knives, liner lock folders, sllip joint folders and automatics. I have been retired for seven years and in my shop full time. I try to divide my time between making knives and fishing. I have always loved to fish for bream and catfish. I started crappie fishing after I retired. I never dreamed that crappie were so hard for an amateur to catch. I am getting better but still have a long way to go. My fishing partner used to always beat me about 6 to 1. Now he has to hustle to beat me 3 to 1.
I hope to finish my boxes late today. My plan is to install a 3 inch vent on each one so I can keep the door closed and hopefully this will help me maintain my moisture content......................what do you think? I hope this will give me enough air plus I will be opening it to check on them and feed them fairly often.
I think you should give a nice fishing knife to those who welcomed you here. I raise my redworms in insulated buckets. They get air every other day when I take the lid off plus I have 197 holes in the lid I made with a heated needle. Yeah, I counted every one. G3 and others can verify the count by looking at photographs in this thread. LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by winstonknives
Anyway post photos of your worm bin so the experts on the forum can see and give you good advice. Me, I'm just an old coot born in '45 like you. I fish and tinker with stuff to help me fish. Been retired 10 years too. Yessiree I am just chillin now. G3 and Azslabber are the worm raising experts on here. Listen to their advice.
As I said I just raise enough redworms to fish with. When it gets too crowded I just toss about 1/2 into my veggie garden.
I am sure I could get by on a smaller scale. I guess I tend to go overboard whenever I do something like this. At any rate if my system works I will have enough worms for all my neighbors and kinfolks. My cousins have a new lake on a housing development they are doing. About 50 acres. It has a lot of bass and bream. We have been catching 12 to 16 oz. bream for a couple of years now. I really think there are bigger bream out in deeper water. Bluegill and redear. I bought me an aluminum boat back in the winter so I would be able to get out there and find them. I went crappie fishing one time in the spring then came down with a herniated disc. I have been pretty well out of shape to fish all summer. It got so bad for a couple of weeks I was using a walker to get from one end of the house to the other and out to the shop. I have not missed a day in the shop but it has been hard to get much done. I am a good bit better now and hope to get some catfishing done before cold weather.
How far are you from the Tenn Tom waterway. That is a great fishing hole. We catch a lot of crappie and catfish out of there. The bream fishing is not that great from what I hear. I never tried them. It is hard to find any that are good size.
I will try and catch some of those bream when it cools down a bit.