Earthworm questions

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

My kids (ages 7 & 8 ) love to fish. As were going to the school bus this AM, it's raining and there are literally thousands of worms on our asphalt driveway. (My son wanted to skip school and collect them all !) Is there a good way to construct an outdoor inground storage method to contain the worms?? ( I don't think the wife will go for a couple buckets full in the fridge for any length of time ). I'm looking for a way for them to live naturally (abiet contained) so we can save them for our trips to the lake this summer. Any care & feeding suggestions would be appreciated............

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm not sure I would call it "contained" but I have seen them collect in fertile mature compost piles. After the piles have cooked you have very fertile soil, the worms seem to seek them out. You could simply make a compost bin in an out of the way place and let them come to you. They can't survive (I don't think) in a cooking pile, but after the pile has cooked down, it is a very attractive home for them . . . at least it is on my property.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

When I was a kid, I had 1/2 of a 55 gallon drum buried in sand to about 1" below the open end. There were drain holes in the bottom and several inches of crushed stone. The rest of it was filled with rotted leaves and the occasional watermelon rind. A wooden lid kept it from the rain. Then I'd fill it with worms every now and then.

Worked prety good, always seemed to have worms in it. I think they didn't want to leave the spot with all the food to go crawl around in the sand. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Steve

 

[Wannafish]

We took a 55 gallon drum and cut it into two pieces - top half and bottom half. Drilled holes (OK, we shot the holes /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif, not drilled them /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) in the closed end for drainage. Dug holes in ground large enough for each half to be buried (with the closed end in the down position) - all but the top 6-8 inches.
Lined bottom of each with 10-12" gravel, 6" dirt, 6" leaves, 6" dirt, 6" leaves, etc., until full to ground level.

Make sure you cover the top to keep the rain out. Dig out the top 1/2 each fall and add new dirt and leaves.

Has worked for us for the past 35 years...though the bottom is probably rusted out by now, we always have plenty of night crawlers.

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

I guess I'll have my son started digging the hole for the drum..........Suppose a blue plastic drum would work ?? I already have one that we used as a keg cooler at a neighborhood barbeque several years ago.........( I guess you can shoot holes in plastic?).........I can cut it down with a sawzall...............Thanks for the ideas............Tom

 

[Golfgar4]

I'd always heard that worms just love coffee grounds! Mix some of those in your barrel, and you'll have the most wired worms in the county. Boy, will they draw the attention of the fish! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[thcri]

Do a search, This topic came up once before just not too long ago. When we were kids we dug a hole only about 8" deep but made it 36 x 36 square. We built a wood frame around it with a screen top and it was buried under some taller bushes. Filled it up with worms and took mom and dad's coffee grounds and tossed them in there every so often. Worms you wouldn't believe would grow.


Worms

murph

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Suppose a blue plastic drum would work ?? )</font>

I don't see why not. I've not kept worms like the other guys described, but my Dad had 3 washing machine tubs buried almost to the top at the coast to keep fiddler crabs in for fish bait. If you could find some old washing machine tubs, they might work as well as a barrel. They were great for fidddler crabs, but could possibly be too shallow for worms.

 

[OkeeDon]

Here's a source, from the University of Florida, for more information than you can use about earthworms: UF Worms. While aimed at those who want to raise earthworms commercially, it's filled with information about worm beds, feeding, temperatures, moisture, organic materials, harvesting and predators. Interestingly, they mention the half-barrels buried in sand as a good way to "store" them.

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

To All: the knowledge on this site never ceases to absolutely amaze me !! Don...Regarding predators.........Every year we go to canada fishing for a week........I take a heavy styrofoam cooler ( pirated from my wifes work) which they used to transport human parts(health care 1 time use only) filled with 2 flats of large crawlers. At 2 am one night we heard all h@((........ break loose under our cabin...........It seems racoons love earthworms( something I never Knew) They removed a large rock from the top of the cooler and several of them were fighting over the contents..We had some left but the scene was not pretty.....Tom