Feeding Worms

Redworms and European Nightcrawlers are easy to grow.  They're basically vegetarians and like to eat the wastes from your kitchen, yard and garden.  They cannot eat anything inorganic, like plastic, glass or metals. They will eat hard foods like apples, carrots and other fresh vegetables, but these foods must begin to decompose slightly.  If you feed your worms these kinds of foods, don't worry  if it takes some time for them to disappear. It's all part of the Vermicomposting process. It does help to break or cut up hard foods, bit it isn't required.

Worms don't have teeth, but do have mouths.  They  take food in through their mouths and then digest it in their gizzards.  A worm's gizzard needs a small amount of grit  to grind food.  That's why it's important to add a handful of garden soil to the bedding material in your bin.  Numerous variables affect how much your worms will eat.  For example, they are more active at room temperature than at 50°F.  A general rule is that they will consume approximately one half their body weight in food waste per day, so if you purchased 1 lb of worms, you can expect them to consume about ½ lb. of garbage per day.

Overfeeding your worms can cause odor problems.  If you over-feed your worms, just stop feeding them and allow the worms to catch up.  As the worm population increases, you should gradually add more food to the bin.

Foods Worms Like

Apples
Artichoke
Banana
Bean
Bran
Bread
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cereal
Citrus Fruits*
Coffee Grounds*
Coffee Filters
Corn Meal
Cucumber
Egg Shells
Grapes
Grits
Honeydew
Lettuce
Molasses
Oatmeal
Onions ·
Pancakes
Papaya
Pasta
Pears
Peas
Peaches
Pizza (minus the cheese)
Potatoes
Rice
Spinach
Tea Bags*
Tomatoes
Turnips
Watermelon
Zucchini

*Small Quantities Only:

Do not feed your worms any of the following:

  • Meat, Poultry & Dairy Products:  May produce odor and attract undesirable insects
  • Heavily salted foods:  Salted peanuts, potato chips, etc.
  • Animal feeds:  May contain antibiotics and are generally too high in protein

  Important --- Manure from cats and dogs:  May contain wormer or antibiotics that kill worms. 

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