Raising red wiggler worms

Have you ever try raising worms in this area ( N. Tx.) ? Been kicking the idea around of raising some worms.
Any advise would be helpful, Thanks

Hopefully you will get some pretty good replies. Several anglers have had post on this subject in the past. As for me I use artificial baits.

use Gulp earthworms instead...i raised redworms...a lot of work...not worth the time with todays Gulp baits

I raise European night crawlers and red worms, not so much for bait but for the castings to use in houseplants. Best natural fertilizer on earth. For bait, I use Gulp minnows or crickets. I will use some of the night crawlers this fall for river channel cats.

The worms do real well from October to June, then slow way down when the temps get above 90º. They live as long as they are kept in the shade and well watered. I have one big bed the night crawlers are in, and two 60 gallon tubs the red worms are in. I bought the night crawlers, but started the red worms by buying one box of worms from Walmart for each tub. I have thousands of them now and they were started last spring. They make rabbits look like beginners.

The best worm farm in the USA is located at Walmart! Love them Night Crawlers!


Side Note: There are several anglers who have their own worm farms and judging by their past post over the years they seem to do very well. As for me I simply do not want the responsibility and would much rather go to my neighborhood Walmart.

How do you keep the ants out of the worm bed ?

I have experimented with raising worms several times over the years. Trust me, it is not worth the effort. It gets too hot and dry in North Texas. The worms will require almost constant care to keep them cool and moist, but not too moist. I agree with Chuck. The best worm farm is your local bait store. They will keep a long time in the Styrofoam containers in your refrigerator.

I use raised beds and apply granular fire ant poison under them once a month. Not the best solution, but it seems to work.

And just a little cornmeal sprinkled on the top of the bedding will keep them fat and happy.

Raising Wiggler's is super easy. I started with less than 20 from Walmart that were leftovers from fishing trips. I started them in a 5 gallon bucket full of dirt, wet newspaper and old lettuce. Also, I've always kept them in the house in a dark corner or closet. Today I have thousands. I feed them old veggies and fruit when I have some, but mostly I feed the corn mean and oatmeal. Don't feed them self rising meal though. What's in the pics are clusters that were feeding on melon rinds

Whelp, if it means keeping them in the casa, we ain't raisin' no worms. Ive been married long enough to know better!
Wal-Mart's easy.

You don't have to keep them in the house. I raise mine outdoors in South Texas. Just keep them shaded, moist, and fed.

Never use worms but if I did i would use the Walmart Farm!

Does anyone know of a place around Grapevine I can buy a pound of starter red worms ?
I know that they can be bought online but in this heat they would be cooked in the mail. , thanks

Not sure on purchasing a "pound", but Bass Pro may have a few boxes. Only tkes a few to start a farm. I have been to 3 different Walmarts around me and none of them have hardly any inventory in the fishing section and haven't had worms in a few months.

Most worm farms will not ship to Texas in the summer. If you are not in a hurry, get you two or three boxes of worms from Walmart and start them that way. You will be getting adult ready to breed worms. In 60 to 90 days you will have hundreds of worms as long as the bedding, moisture, and food is right. Get the bedding ready at least a month before adding worms!


Go read this from a Texas Worm Farm.

https://www.texaswormfarm.com/page3

I keep mine in a storage tote now, with the locking flip lids.

I got my bedding ready today in a 20 gal. tote under some shade trees. Filled the tote with 8" of damp Peat moss and shredded paper .
Was able to find some red worms at Wally World. So I'm ready to start , I hope.

Keep an eye on the bedding temp. You don't want to cook the worms

That's my source as well. In and out for less than $4 and I'm ready to rock.

Academy Sports in Grapevine has night crawlers, red wigglers and “green worms”. I have no idea what Green Worms are.

They feed the worms a type of food coloring that turns them green.

I ran into a problem the cooler at my Walmart stopped working and all there worms died. All the online dealers stopped shipping due to the heat.
So today I well start looking for red worms. Been doing a lot of reading about raising worms and found out I needed to change up some things on the bedding.
but I'll get there.

I wish I could give you some sort of advice. Looking forward to reading up on this thread on how your worm farm pans out. Best of luck.

I have about 3 nightcrawler tubs in a tote that is inside the house in the laundry room. they get checked about 2 to 3 weeks and my little girl loves to dig in the bin for them.
They have not reproduced to be honest but they get counted everytime the lid comes off, have yet to lose any and they dont stink.

Lamar44, i sent you a private message.

I have a area where my washing machine drains(we have a septic system) that is 4 foot wide and 30 foot long. It is always shaded except for 2 hours in the morning. It has a couple of trees above it so it always has dead leaves in it. Do y'all think that would work for red worms or should I just walk across the road to the Lake Graham bait store?

If you are just looking for fish bait, walk across the road. The area you describe would be good to just mound up old horse manure and peat moss and add worms. IF it stays moist year round.