What do worms eat?

What do worms eat? There are many different types of worms (probably over 1000 species) but for the purpose of this article we will discuss composting worms, specifically e.foetida or red wriggler worms.(Since that is my specialty)

I joke when I teach worm composting classes that it is easier to say what worms cant eat than to say what they can eat. But really it is easier to say that. And just to make things a little more confusing, I will throw this out there: Worms will eat just about anything. BUT certain foods they dont prefer and certain foods will stink and attract rodents and pests as they decompose so they are not preferable. So, where does that leave us?

Here is a list of foods that work well as the diet of a worm:

1. raw fruit scraps. Just be careful with citrus, add a little at a time

2. raw veggie scraps or cooked veggies (with NO spices or salt). What I have discovered that they take forever to digest is: raw cabbage, raw broccoli and use onions sparingly.

3. Grains they love corn flour

What is the best worm food? Well, these are the foods that I have seen the best results with: pumpkin, watermelon, cantelope, pears and yams.

What should you NOT feed worms: Meat, starches (breads,rice, ect), any food with spices or salt, lots of citrus or onions.

Don't forget BigTex Worms rules about feeding worms:Feed in a corner, add bedding with each feed and only feed again when all food is gone.

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