What to feed Red Wigglers - Uncle Jim's Worm Farm

What to feed Red Wigglers

Live Worms, Red Worms

When you’re breeding earthworms, it’s not enough that you provide them a nice and comfortable bin to thrive in. You should also be able to provide the right food supply to them. So, what to feed red wigglers then, you might ask? Read on further below to know more.

What to feed Red Wiggler worms

When you’re raising red worms, it’s best that you feed them only what is good for their diet. There are certain organic wastes that they can eat, and also can’t eat. So, you really have to be very knowledgeable about what to feed them with. So feeding them, comes with a little bit of care and maintenance as well. Feeding red wigglers is actually simple. You’ll just have to feed them decomposing organic wastes, that have been cut or chopped into smaller pieces already; and are then buried under the ground (to sway away from unwanted visits from pests and to also avoid odor build-ups). Moving forward, the best thing that you can feed your red wigglers is animal manure. Only feed them something that has been days old already; and have been produced by vegetable eating animals, like rabbits for example (manure from pets are not as healthy especially for worm consumption). Aside from animal manure, you can also feed them the following organic wastes:

  • Crushed Egg Shells – adds that much needed grit for the worm’s digestion. It also provides calcium, helps in the worms reproduction, and also helps in increasing the pH level of the worm bin.
  • Fruits and vegetables (uncooked or peels) – you can feed your worms any variation as long as it’s not citrus based (you’ll have to stay way from lemons, oranges, pineapples and all that since it has high acidity levels)
  • Starchy food wastes – these can be in the form of bread, oatmeal, and pasta.
  • Bedding materials – the materials that you place inside the worm bin can also be consumed by your red wigglers. You can also add pre-soaked peat moss and newspaper shreds (cardboard for some), some soil (avoid the sandy or clayey ones), and coconut coir.
  •  Garden wastes – these can be in the form of dried grass clippings and some fallen leaves.
  • Coffee Grounds – visit a nearby coffee shop, as they often give out there used grounds for free. Also add in those coffee filters and used tea bags.

The kind of organic wastes to avoid

There are also selected foodstuffs that shouldn’t be fed to worms. And as previously mentioned, it’s best not to feed them citrus-based fruits. The acid content will definitely aid in lowering the pH level of the worm bin. But other than that, there are other food scraps that should be avoided, and these are:

  • Raw eggshells with some egg white’s still stuck inside (it’s best to clean these before using them for your worms, as these may carry diseases that can harm your compost pals). It will stink up the whole bin too if you don’t clean these first.
  • Fats and Oils –also helps in lowering down the pH level of the worm bin; and also causes odor build-up especially when these start to decompose.
  • Processed foods that contains salt and other additives
  • Meat and Poultry products – these will only attract unwanted pest visits; and will also cause odor build-up.

So, always take note of these helpful reminders. You simply want nothing but the best for your red wigglers; and of course, to got nothing but the best results from them as well. Make it a point to take in these considerations on what to feed red wigglers, before you put in any kind of organic waste inside their bin.

Uncle Jim’s recommends the 3 Month Feed supply for your worms

Get your very own specialized worm feed from us! It’s filled with nutrients, and is very much organic. It’s something that your worms will keep on eating for sure. Our 3 Month Feed Supply will definitely keep your worms healthy, and parasite-free. Get yours now! To know more about the product, check the 3 Month Feed supply here.

 

44 thoughts on “What to feed Red Wigglers

  1. Hello, My name is jared

    Im doing a science experiment for highschool on red wigglers, and im curious to know something;

    it says, “”Garden wastes – these can be in the form of dried grass clippings and some fallen leaves.””

    “some fallen leaves”? what does it mean by that, is it talking about something like fruit vine leaves? or can it be anything besides something poisonous?

  2. Can I feed ground seed like wheat corn millet Milo black oil sunflower seed to the red wigglers. I read that you can feed cornmeal to the red wigglers but what about wheat flour or rye flour?

  3. Hello. I bought worms from you many times. Thank you.
    Can I give my red wiggler worms, coconut meat? The coconut was old and went bad; so.I cut it in big pieces and put it in the dirt. is this okay? Please let me know

    1. Elena, did you get your answers from your question..?
      Im also wondering if its okay to feed coconut meat..
      I have coconut shreds from the meat, but they are oily..Im wondering if that is okay for the worms.

      1. Kristin – what a heartfelt and emotional post. I felt both your happiness and sadness in this and feel so happy to know you as the woman you are. Strong, but with so much comnassiop. Thank you for sharing your story.Missy | Literal Mom’s last awesome post…

  4. Hello,

    I originally bought your Red Wiggling Worms for my Vertical Tower Container(s) and then bought a lot more of them for all of my gardens. My problem is feeding the little guys given that my wife is out of time and I have limited organic waste. I do have a fair amount of brown leaves and a lot of compost, including coco coir. I notice that you have a link to worm food for sale but it does not work.

    Help!!

    Paul

    1. Hi, Paul.
      George here. What if you ask some friendly neighbours for some leaves or organic waste? You’d be like Sweden who imports all kind of waste cause they need it to warm their houses and to generate electricity =) So your neighbours can colaborate to keep your garden healthy.

  5. I am doing a college project on Red Wigglers and I am wanting to know does it matter how much of everything I put in my bid? Should I have more of one thing, how much food should I put in my bid…. This is for a grade so I really don’t want to kill my worms.
    I need help!!
    Shelbi

    1. Shelbi,

      You want to go lite with your food sources to start. Don’t just dump everything in and think the worms will gobble it all up. Different temps, moisture levels, food sources, and the amount of worms you have all create a situation where you need to learn about how your own bin will respond and how much food stock they can handle at once.

  6. I have approximately 300 worms. I puree their food and freeze it in cubes. Should they get one or two cubes once a week – the cubes are larger than regular ice cube I would say they are twice the size of a normal ice cube tray cube.

  7. I just want to save my worms to fish with another day. should I give them a nice dirt bed with shredded brown paper bags for “bedding”? Can theses red wigglers eat dirt? I’m not talking clay just garden soil. thanks so much 4 ur help. I’ve spent hours on this topic but unable to answer the dirt ? thanks in advance. Holly

    1. Hi Holly,

      The worms should be fine if left in the bag we ship them in until the following day as long as the sphagnum moss that they are shipped in is kept moist. If you need them for longer than that, putting them in a bucket with some soil and perhaps adding some veggie scraps will keep them for a little while in great condition!

  8. Hello,
    I’ve started a worm bed to be used for fishing.
    Does the red wigglers enter act ok with other worms I my find over my yard and put them with the red wigglers?

    Thank you
    Maxine

  9. Hello!
    I’ve had a red worm composter for quite some time however recently the worms have stopped eating a lot. How can I get them to eat more?
    Thank you.

  10. I have clipped my jade tree and have many cuttings left over. Can I feed these safely to my red wiggles. I have searched many sites and have not found a solution to my question. Also what other plants can I feed the worms safely. All the sites I have googled only talk about vegetables and not house plants. Please help.

  11. Hello,v I have an overabundance of cornbread mix. Do you think this would be okay for the red wigglers? Thanks, Randy

  12. Hello UJWF, I was down a few months ago &picked up my 4000 Red Wigglers. Their doing great so far! So its okay to give them boiled & crushed egg shells? Also, would you consider totmatos under Acidic fruits, that would lower the PH? What is the ideal PH for my bin to be? Thank You All!

  13. What is the difference between Red Wiggler and meal -worms . Would also like a price on both . Is it hard to raise meal-worms ? Thank you!

  14. Do red wrigglers eat sunflower seed husks? I am eating a lot of seeds and would like to be able to throw the waste of the in the bin but I have read that sunflower seeds may be a little risky.

  15. Back in the early 80’s I was a security guard at a soybean processing plant. During the summer months after a good hard rain, the concrete walk ways would be covered with thousands of red wigglers. I filled a coffee can with them. I had a theory I wanted to check. One evening when all the employees went home, I grabbed a potato fork and walked over to a trench in the middle of the property. I sank that fork into the soil and turned it over. There were 30 to 40 wigglers in that dirt. This plant separated the soy oil from the beans and soy meal was left. On a breezy day, the air was full of soy meal and all the vehicles were covered in a coating of soy dust. My question is, after years of soy dust being added to the soil, would this have brought the wigglers in and added to their size? These were not small wigglers. They were very large. Also, can I add soy meal to the medium I’m using ( I use peat moss )to help feed my wigglers?

  16. How do you make a graph which indicates the types of food (vegetables, fruits, grains) that worms eat? How much did they eat week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4?

  17. I feed my pet chickens, dried meal worms. Can I feed my red wigglers a handful of dried, ground meal worms?

  18. What do I use this worm blanket for? I have had my worms for a week and I’m ready to start feeding them scraps. Do I need to keep the blanket on them inside the compost tower?

  19. I have a red wiggler bin, was wondering what type of leaves are best for them, as I’ve only been giving them “maple leaves” & I really need to know can I give them “Ginko Biloba leaves please”? Which they could eat off of the Ginko Biloba leaves then they would make even more babies as it does for us humans & could I please get a list of leaves, weeds etc. & so they have more of a variety? What other types please? Appreciate you & your time… ~”The brightest blessings always”~

  20. Hi Stormy:

    Did you ever get an answer to your question? I am wondering about the same thing. Specifically if I can feed them leaves from my indoor Jade plant.

    Take care

  21. I wish I had gotten an answer, but no luck as it seems impossible to find the answers online, which makes it difficult & frustrating as I know they have to be sick of just maple leaves… Wishing you luck as well & we get our answers as extremely needed… Take care & be back in hopes we have some honest answers… L8er

  22. I got my first batch of worms a year ago. When I read the directions I was really dismayed. I live in Florida where it’s over 90 for many months of the year. I also read the directions for feeding and was concerned about the amount of work. Well after a year in my compost bin with little care to what I threw in and extreme heat my wrigglers were voracious eaters. I recently ordered more because I got an infestation of maggots and I thought the maggots ate my worms. No so. After returning my compost pile to health, there they were wriggling away before I got my new batch.

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