As a new season of harvest rolls around, fresh peaches, pears, apples, and much more will start filling up kitchen pantries. It’s a great time of year to not only make delicious morning smoothies and fresh fruit pies but also give your worms a succulent treat they will devour with gusto!
This year, instead of letting all of your fruit trimmings go to waste, start a compost pile with them or give them to your worm farm! Worms are huge fruit fans – it’s one of their favorite snacks. Any vermicomposter will tell you just how much worms thrive and produce more castings when the fruit is a staple in their diet. Their vermicomposting prowess is unparalleled when they have a diet rich in their favorite munchies.
Since the irresistible fruity feasts don’t have a very long shelf life and tend to go bad occasionally, you’ll likely have plenty of opportunities to share some fruity goodness with your wriggly friends from time to time. But what kind of fruits do worms truly relish and go crazy for? Let’s uncover the top 10 fruits that will make your worms wiggle with excitement!
The Delicious 10: Fruits That Worms Can’t Resist
Worms will eat just about anything, but one of their favorite dishes is organic fruit skins. Yes, that’s right – the food scraps that usually end up in your kitchen garbage disposal or trash. They’ll gladly take the fresh kitchen scraps off your hands, work on them in their little compost bin and turn them into valuable organic material you can use as plant food and to improve soil structure!
So, what fruit do worms like to eat the most? Worms love eating a wide variety of fruits. However, here are the top 10 fruity delights your wigglers won’t be able to resist:
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew
- Banana peels
- Apple cores
- Peaches
- Apricots
- Pears
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes*
*Can worms eat tomatoes? Tomatoes are slightly acidic, but worms still seem to like it and will tolerate it just fine in moderation.
The No-Go List: Fruits to Keep Away from Your Worms’ Menu
Attention all worm farmers and enthusiasts! You also need to get a handle on what not to feed your worms. When it comes to feeding fruit to your beloved worms, there’s one crucial rule to keep in mind: avoid fruit with high citric acid content. In other words, citrus fruits and other acidic food. These “fruit foes” are notorious for causing worms to recoil in disgust. Food sources rich in citric acid that you definitely want to avoid (including their citrus peels) include:
- oranges,
- lemons,
- limes,
- grapefruit,
- and pineapple.
If you’re thinking of offering your wriggly pals any of these, think again! These fruit scraps can send your worms scurrying for cover or, worse, put them in harm’s way. Also, beware of other hidden enemies, such as insecticides and pesticides that can linger on fruit skin or foods with preservatives, as they can kill your worms.
While worms are voracious eaters, not all foods are suitable for their delicate digestive systems. Dairy products, fatty foods, salty foods, spicy food, and oily foods are also a no-no, as they can disrupt the balance of your worm bin, attract pests, and even harm your worms. Don’t let these unfriendly, acidic, or toxic culprits ruin your worm composting game – keep your feeding routine safe and delicious for your slimy friends with untreated, organic food.
Slice, Dice, and Treat Them Nice: How to Feed Fruit to Your Worms
Got an excess of melon rinds, mushy apples, or leftover fruit trimmings, like banana skin? Don’t let them go to waste! Your worms will be eager to indulge in these fruity delights, but first, you need to know the drill.
Worms, being soil creatures, have a unique way of eating. They don’t have teeth or jaws as humans do, so their feeding process is quite different. Worms eat by using their muscular pharynx to suck in and swallow food particles, often breaking them down with enzymes during the digestion process.
Their natural diet primarily consists of organic matter and organic waste, such as decaying plant material, dead leaves, and microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. Worms also consume small insects, insect eggs, and other tiny invertebrates that they find in their environment to produce “black gold” – worm castings contributing to nutrient cycling and soil fertility.
So, when feeding your worms some fruit, it’s all about slicing it up into manageable portions to create bite-sized worm food treats for your wriggly composting companions.
How Often Should You Feed Your Worms Fruit?
Your composting worms will love fruit so much that they might eat their body weight in food in a day! Yup, these tiny wigglers are pretty hungry. However, moderation is key.
Feeding worms fruit too often will increase your worm bins‘ acidity level due to their high sugar content and might even attract unwanted guests such as fruit flies. You can always balance the pH of your bin by adding some egg shells and lemon rinds (at the same time). And don’t let your worms go swimming in their food! While they love watery fruits like melons and tomatoes, wet food can throw off the moisture balance of the bin.
To avoid these pesky issues altogether, follow the general rule of thumb – don’t feed them wet fruit or too much fruit to avoid creating a toxic environment. A little feeding prep goes a long way in keeping your worms happy and your composting game strong. And remember, a compost worm’s diet is no fruit fiesta – as much as they enjoy this type of worm food, they need a balanced diet to thrive.
Include different types of foods and food waste in their diet and aim for a good balance of green matter and brown matter. They’ll gladly nib on anything from vegetable scraps, such as potato peels (potato skins), animal manures, such as cow and horse manure, dry leaves and dry grains, coffee grounds, shredded paper (not glossy paper!), egg cartons, cardboard, and even moldy bread!
Unleash the Power of Fruits on Your Worms’ Palate
Think of it this way – the next time you check out at the grocery store, think of buying fruits and vegetables as a healthy investment for you, your house plants, and your home garden. By following these simple rules and tips, those fruit trimmings can go to your hungry little composting worms, and they’ll happily turn your kitchen waste into some of the richest nutritional compost you can get your hands on!
At Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, you can find all the information, tips, tricks, and products you need for feeding your squiggly helpers and keeping them thriving and grinning ear to ear! Well, they might not have ears but boy, do they know how to show appreciation for a fruity feast with some epic wiggles and jiggles!
Your Curious Queries Answered
Do Worms Eat Apples?
Yes! Worms are true apple aficionados, munching on everything from sweet apple cores to tangy apple peels. They’ll happily devour the whole fruit and leave nothing to waste.
Can Worms Eat Grapes?
Absolutely! Worms definitely have a soft spot for grapes – they’re like tiny worm-sized treats!
Can Worms Eat Avocado?
You bet! More like avo-cadon’t leave them out! Worms love the creamy avocado goodness.
Can Worms Eat Mango?
Oh yes, indeed! Mangoes are a juicy delight for worms!
Do Worms Like Papaya?
Definitely! Worms can’t resist the yummy tropical taste of papaya – its sweet and tangy flavor is a feast for their taste buds.
65 thoughts on “Food Frenzy: 10 Fruits Worms Love To Eat”
I am making Kombucha and wondering if I can put the fruit left after the second ferment in my worm composter?
Can I mix Red Wigglers and Night crawlers in the same plastic bin?
Patrick
The thing to remember with nightcrawlers is that they are more for tilling and aerating your soil than for composting. They don’t consume nearly as much as red wigglers because in nature nightcrawlers are deeper in your soil and are responsible for tilling and aerating the soil. Your smaller worms like red wigglers live in the top layer and are voracious eaters. 1 pound of them can consume 2-5 lbs of kitchen scraps a week. Hope this helps!
Yes
Can Red Wigglers eat apple seeds safely? (They have trace amounts of cyanide compounds) Especially, if I run them through a blender with the other scraps?
I just rescued a nearly dead, dry earthworm. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I put her/him on a soaked cloth, and gave her some dirt to play with. She isn’t very big, and not looking too good, so I’m guessing she’s a baby?
I don’t fully understand what else to nurse her back to health. Please help!
What I suggest is…. put it on a hook and go fishing!
Hell yay
Obviously not a fisherman. Fish are very fussy and est eat the healthy plump worms.
Try lions mane mushroom or reishi mushroom
Feed the worm banana peels or smooch apples small amount 1st
can the apples from homemade apple cider vinegar be fed to compost worms?
Can I feed red wrigglers dried fruits such as apricots, dates.
Do earth worms eat watermelon rind.how do we attract worms
My Red Wigglers attacked the watermelon rind that I gave them with a voracious appetite. I was amazed. I just gave them the last of what I had. I’ll have to wait till next summer before they can feast again.
Try it. You’ll be amazed.
how much citrus, if at all, do red wigglers consume? we are on a kick making lemonade, and wondering if the lemon rinds are favorable to put in our new worm composter?
Thanks!
Hello David,
Citrus is ok to added in moderation. Too much acidity could cause a mass exodus of the worms. You will want to keep the soil pH neutral, so maybe add crushed egg shells at the same time as adding lemon rinds to balance out the pH.
What about peach and mango pits and cherry stones?
I don’t give mine cherry stones because of the cyanide in the pits, but I did give them a couple mango pits to see what they would do. It was like a worm feeding frenzy! They cleaned those pits clean in less than 24 hours. I am new to worm composting, so it’s fun to see what they eat and how happy they can be…
I’m just starting to learn about composting. I had some coffee grounds and egg shells so I just threw them in a container in the refrigerator for the time being. I want to find something to store it in outside. Do I cover the container? If I don’t I will have every animal for 50 miles in it. What do I need to do? I read the list of things I can put in and things not to put in, but I need help to know how to store it. Thank You
MY wife makes cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving and this year we found an old jar of the studd in the back of the fridge. Can we give it to our worms?
My nightcrawlers seem to LOOOOOOOVE apples and apple cores. They go absolutely bonkers so we cut them up and freeze them. When we need to feed our squirm squad we just unthaw what we need in the morning and pop them in with some newspaper.
Save them in the freezer, and thaw to room temperature before adding them to the worm bin.
Can I give my red wigglers granadilla fruit?
When feeding the worms, do I leave the food on top of the soil or do I mix them in? I noticed that if I left them on top if the soil, there would be mold, but if I mix them in, the heat from the rotton banana peel could kill the worms or send them away. What shall I do? Thanks. Cindy
Can worms eat those mcdonalds cup holders?
Do worms like prunes, or plums as they are now called? I love your web site, it is so informative! Thanks!
If you add egg shells to compost, do they need to be cooked shells, or can you compost raw shells?
Happy Thanksgiving! Doing worms like to eat red grapes?
November 28, 2019 at 3:30 PM
Pat Pete Luboff says:
Happy Thanksgiving! Do worms like to eat red grapes?
Can red wigglers ear Jack Fruits?
Is pith (the fiber inside a palm tree trunk) good for earthworms?
bout feeding worms cherries, dates, plums, mangoes and apple cores. apple seeds have . if I should trace amounts of cyanide, I believe. my ph is around 7.5 and I would like to bring ti down using an organic source. can I puree tangerine peels or whole kumquats. if instead, I shud use a chemical what can I buy in small quanties and what measuements.
I’ve been eating apple cores for 60 years! Cyanide does not buildup in the body like mercury. The trace amount you get in apple seeds is flushed from your body in a mater of hours.
I can’t speak for worm biology. They aren’t mammals and they don’t breath like us, so I don’t know how it may affect them.
Enjoy!
Can worms eat mandarins
I have a School project to do to take care of a worm for 3 days what veggies do worms eat?
Hi Melanie great question, I would feed them Cucumbers and lettuces will do just fine.
Are passion fruit skins good or bad in a worm farm?
Hi Phil,
Passion fruit skin is a great addition to you farm! You can add them in larger pieces or smaller depending on how fast you want the worms to eat them.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for reaching out! The passion fruit is part of the citrus family, therefore I would not recommend using this as a food source. This could cause the pH in your bin to be thrown off.
Have a great day,
Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm Team
can i feed mealworms dried raisins?
I just would like to know if I can feed my worms
I would like to know if I can feed my red wigglers applesauce unsweetened applesauce that I got from the store that I did use
Can I feed my red wigglers on sweetened applesauce that you buy at the store
Can I feed my red wigglers unsweetened applesauce that you buy at the store
How about feeding red wrigglers the trimmings of figs?
Can you feed Fennel to worms?
I juice daily, and my juice includes several oranges and a lemon, and I have to say my worms LOVE it. So, not really true that they dont eat lemons or oranges. I also give them tomatoes, and people say they hate onions etc. and they do not. I give them onion and leek scraps. They eat everything. The only thing I have not given them off of the ‘no no’ list is pineapple, and this is because it has a digestive enzyme and I am afraid that it would burn them. Other than that, I don’t agree with your list of things not to give worms, because my colony has tripled in one year and they are thriving. Never dead worms, never do they try to escape, and they are constantly multiplying. Tons of baby worms pretty much all the time. CHEERS!
(they eat the pulp from my daily juices, just to clarify)
i have a project due on the 9th of September this year and I was wondering if I could feed my worm mashed non-steamed carrots
Hello Richard!
You can certainly feed the worms mashed raw carrots. the smaller the pieces, the better. The worms cannot eat the food until it starts to break down but when it is mashed, it will soften much faster!
I never saw any information on the texture of the food offered to my worms. I’ve been offering them scraps that are mostly raw. Could this situation cause the worms to become more interested in climbing out? There are many on the sides of the worm bin.
Hello Steve;
The worms do eat raw veggies and fruits, however they cannot eat fresh veggies and fruits. The smaller you chop them the better. The smaller the pieces, the faster the food starts to decompose. That is when the worms can eat it. They can eat bananas and avocado right away and they are one of the worms favorite foods as they are soft! Melons and cucumbers too are easier for them to ingest faster.
As far as the worms going up tot he top and sides of the bin, that may be a moisture issue. They go there for the condensation, the beads of water on the lid and top sides of the bin. That is perfectly normal, but if all of the worms are doing that, there is an issue. Try adding a little more water to the soil and see if that helps them stay down, but there will always be a small bunch of worms pow wowing up there.
Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm
i was wondering if i could feed my worms non-steamed mashed carrots cause I’m a Lil bit of a newbie and i don’t know whats good to feed them and whats not
Can you put mango fruit into a worm farm thanks Karen
What food do you feed worms
Hi Ryleigh,
The worms can eat a variety of food! Anything from kitchen scraps, such as: fruits, veggies, eggshells, coffee grounds, grains, bread, and pasta, as well as household waste like paper, paper bags, news paper lawn clippings(aged) and more! You just want to be sure to avoid any processed food, dairy, or meat.
Uncle Jim’s Team
We have a red worm earth smart left here and we do not know how to car for it
Can worms have weed?
very nice sharing thanks
thnx for article…
This is truly a great post. Thanks for your ideas.
Wow, I had no idea worms could eat so many different fruits! As an aspiring worm farmer, this post has been incredibly informative. Thanks for sharing!
Every once in a while we have corn on the cob. I wasn’t sure if the worms would like it. I gave them the cob after we were done nibbling on it. I have a piece of cardboard over the top of my bin. The next day I lifted the cardboard, an to my amazement, it looked like the cob was alive and running away. They absolutely loved it.