top of page
Writer's picturePaul Yang

How to Take Care of Earthworm Cocoons (Red Wigglers or Nightcrawlers)

Updated: Aug 26



If you recently bought Brown Banana Worm Cocoons from us, each cup of cocoons contains roughly 100 cocoons. Each cocoon carries an average of 4 baby worms. Therefore, once all the cocoons have hatched, you should have about 400 worms. When you go to buy adult worms in that quantity, that would typically cost you anywhere from $35-$65. Buying cocoons is a very cost effective way to start your own worm farm.


Step 1: Start Your New Worm Cocoon Bin

First start with a bin that is 6”-10” in depth. If you bought a small container of cocoons from us, you won’t need a bin much larger than 12”W x 18”L x 8”D, or something similar in size. Be sure to poke or drill holes in the lid or upper sides of the bin for airflow. Be sure to use a bin that is dark in color to reduce sunlight. Once your bin is ready, dump the cocoons into this bin and add some moist bedding.



Step 2: Add Bedding to Your New Bin

Once the worms are in their new bin, add 1” of “bedding” to start. Keep worm bedding moist during their entire life – but not wet. Using a spray bottle is typically all you need. 70% moisture. Your bedding shouldn’t feel sludgy. It should feel like damp soil. Adding too much moisture can drown the worms. However, bedding that’s too dry will prevent the cocoons from hatching. And if you already have baby worms that have hatched, bedding that is too dry can also kill the worms.


What is Bedding?

Bedding is any soft organic material that is high in carbon. The bedding is where the worms live - it's their house. It provides a safe place for them to live and helps regulate temperature and moisture. The major difference between worm houses and human houses, is that the worms will eventually eat their house LOL. So be sure to continue to add more bedding as they consume it. Bedding can consist of coco coir, peat moss, finely sifted compost, shredded newspaper, or finely shredded cardboard. Something that has a high carbon source and has a neutral pH. Avoid glossy paper (i.e., newspaper ads or glossy cardboard packaging).


Bedding Moisture

The rule of thumb is if you wring out the bedding in one hand, you shouldn’t have more than one droplet. If more than 2 drops of water excrete out of your hand, your bedding is probably too moist. If no droplets excrete out, the bedding is probably too dry.



Step 3: Feeding Your Baby Worms

Once the cocoons are in the bin and your bedding is set, you can feed the baby worms our Brown Banana Worm Chow for the first 1-2 months. Our Worm Chow is high in minerals, oats and protein that the worms need to grow big and fast. Worm Chow is like milk for the baby worms. It's very high in nutrients, and easy for the babies to consume. However, Worm Chow is not required, but you may notice that your worms will take longer to get to full size.



When adding worm chow, only do a light sprinkle on top of the bedding, like you’re seasoning food. It doesn't require a whole lot. Less is more. If you don't put enough one day, you can always put more the next day. But if you put too much one day, you run the risk of protein poisoning. You'll know if your worms have protein poisoning if they begin to have what we call "string of pearls". Where their bodies get lumpy and start to develop a...well...string of pearls. Luckily, we do add lime and oyster shell flour in our Brown Banana Worm Chow which helps prevent protein poisoning.


PROTEIN POISONING EXAMPLES:


Don’t be alarmed if the worms aren't eating the worm chow very quickly in the first month. That's because they're little babies and can only consume so much. You should only have to feed worm chow 1-2 times a week for the first month.


At the start of the second month, you should notice the worms are finishing the worm chow almost daily. Add more Worm Chow every time they have fully consumed it. Do not overfeed - like mentioned above.


At the start of the 3rd month, you should notice that you're now feeding worm chow daily. And you should notice that almost all your bedding has turned into worm castings. If at any point during month 1, 2, or 3, you notice that the bedding has been completely consumed and turned into worm castings, be sure to add another 1" layer of bedding, along with worm chow, as their food source.


Cocoon Hatching Cycle and Fun Facts:

Cocoons will have different shades of color. Here is what the colors mean.

  • Tan/Yellow: new cocoon and has several more weeks before hatching.

  • Amber/Orange: about halfway in it's cycle.

  • Brown/Maroon: the cocoon is days away from hatching.



As long as the bedding is moist and the temperature is consistently around 72° F, the cocoons will typically hatch within 1-2 weeks. However, if the conditions aren't right, earthworm cocoons have been known to last several years without hatching. This is how earthworms survive mother nature. Adult earthworms will typically lay cocoons before extreme temperatures (i.e., going into winter or summer). The cocoons will survive these harsh conditions, while their parents may die off. When fall or spring come around, the cocoons can finally hatch and start the whole cycle over again.


Once they've hatched, they are extremely small and fragile - almost the size of a hair. You'll be able to identify them due to their pink hue and their squirmy movement.




Baby earthworms will become full grown within 3-4 months. They will be mature enough to start reproducing around month 4. Under ideal conditions, earthworms are known to live about 4-8 years, but 1-3 years in the wild.


Step 4: Incorporating Food/Kitchen Scraps

After month 3, you can now start incorporating kitchen scraps. The ratio of kitchen scraps to bedding should only be 30% food scraps and 70% bedding. Be sure to always bury the kitchen scraps underneath the bedding to neutralize smell and prevent unwanted bugs. If done right, there shouldn't be any foul smell. Do not over feed. Over feeding is the biggest culprit for smelly bins. If your bin smells at any point, just add more bedding or carbon sources. Only feed again when you’ve noticed that the previous kitchen scraps have been completely consumed. You can speed up their consumption by chopping the food scraps into small pieces or blending it in a blender. You can always continue using worm chow as a treat for the worms. Brown Banana Worm Chow also has Oyster Shell Flour and Lime which will help neutralize pH.


*pH is an important component to keeping your worms alive. If your bin has become too acidic due to kitchen scraps (i.e. your pH levels are under 6), your worms will most likely start to die. To combat this, you can add more bedding as well as Brown Banana Worm Chow, lime, or oyster shell flour.


Foods you can use:

  • Watermelon

  • Bananas

  • Pumpkins

  • Fruits (i.e., Strawberries, Apples, Pears, Grapes, Peaches, Mangoes, etc.)

  • Leafy Greens (Spinach, Lettuce, Kale, Cabbage, etc.)

  • Cucumbers

  • Celery

  • Corn

  • Tomatoes

  • Yard clippings

  • Green leaves


Foods not to use:

  • Anything with spice, oil, grease, salt, or fat

  • Meats

  • Dairy

  • Citrus

  • Onions

  • Processed starch or breads

  • Plastic

  • Packaged foods

  • Pet or Human Waste


IMPORTANT:

When you start incorporating food scraps, it's very easy for your bin and bedding to become too moist. This takes some practice. Try starting with dry bedding and spray the top of the bedding with your spray bottle until the bedding is moist, 1-2 times a day. Monitor it daily. After a week at 1-2 times per day, then reassess whether you need to spray more or less per day. Understand the moisture content in the foods that you're putting in. If you put watermelon in your bin, you may not have to spray the bedding at all, versus putting in lettuce.


Step 5: Taking Care of Adult Worms and Starting New Cocoon Bins

By month 4, your worms should be full grown and might also be mature enough to start reproducing. If they are mature enough to reproduce, you will notice your worms now have a Clitellum (see diagram below). And you will see new cocoons in your bin as well.



Worms self-regulate their population. If your worms are reproducing to the point where they are overcrowded in your bin (which shouldn’t happen until after month 6), the older worms will start dying off. If you want to combat this, try your best to harvest out the cocoons and start new cocoon bins and repeat Steps 1-4 again.


To harvest out the cocoons, sift all the material with a 1/4” screen. The larger material and worms will stay in the sifter, while the cocoons will drop through screen. If you don’t care to combat the die off of older worms, you can leave your cocoons in the bins and your original bin will naturally become a new cocoon bin over time.


Step 6: Harvesting Your Worm Castings

Once your bin is full of castings and there’s no more room to add more food or bedding, it’s time to harvest the castings to make more room.


There are 3 major methods to harvesting worm castings.


Method 1: Shine a light on your bin. Slowly scrap off the top layers of the material, making sure no worms are in that material. The worms will naturally burrow down deeper in the material to avoid sunlight. Wait a 3-5 minutes to allow the worms to fully burrow down. Then repeat the process until you’ve harvested as much castings as you’re able.


Method 2: During your growing and feeding process, start with a larger bin at the start - much larger than what I recommended at the beginning of this article. Push all the bedding to one side of the bin, leaving 2/3 or 3/4 of the bin empty. When you feed the worms, only feed the open-ended side. Over a few weeks/months, once the food has reached the other side of the bin, you can start harvesting the side the worms originally started on. The worms naturally migrate to and live where there is food. Once you've cleared out the castings, you can then start feeding again from the new side of the bin and repeat the same process. This should feel like a back-and-forth zig zag pattern.


Method 3: Use a 1/8” screen sifter. Simply grab handfuls of the material and sift it. The larger uneaten materials and worms will stay in the sifter, while the castings will drop through the screen into whatever container you have. Cocoons and castings will drop through a sifter with a 1/4" screen, whereas only castings will drop through a 1/8” screen. Sometimes it's easier and quicker if you're able to stack the 1/4" screen on top of the 1/8" screen. If you don't care about having larger chunks of material or cocoons in your final casting material, a 1/4" screen is all you need.




Step 7: A Certified Worm Nanny!

And there you have it! You're now a certified worm nanny! You can come over and take care of my babies anytime. Well, not exactly. Hopefully my tips were easy enough to understand to where you can avoid all of my past mistakes. But don't feel discouraged if you kill a batch of worms. It took me all of 4 years to finally perfect the process. And even now, I'm still learning and experimenting with new caretaking methods. Therefore, it may take you some time, trial an error, and plenty of dead worms as well. But don't give up. Just remember you now have a new pet. And just with all pets, they require love, care and dedication.


Good luck in your worm growing journey. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are here to help, and happy to answer any questions you have.


79 views1 comment

Recent Posts

See All

1件のコメント


aaron escamillo
aaron escamillo
2023年12月06日

great article well written and informative. also it was pretty funny in some parts. thanks for the content

いいね!
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page