Worms and worms

Need to know the best time to plant?

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Monika
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I could do with some clarification: when I empty the compost bins, I dig all the compost-making brandling worms into the soil. What happens to them? do they die or do they live on as "earthworms"? And the "normal" earthworms: if I collected some and put them into the compost bins with the new stuff, would they help to break down the green stuff? In fact, do earthworms and brandling worms fulfil the same purpose?
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Monika, looks as if you have got us all beat with your question. :?
I would say either worms in the opposite conditions
would probably die unless they could make their way back home. :wink:
It would be interesting to know the right answer.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
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Chantal
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When I empty my wormery I remove all the worms from the compost I'm taking out and put them back in the wormery to carry on munching.

However, I've never done the same with my regular compost bins; just emptied them out. The thing is, I never ADD brandling worms to my compost bins and yet there are always some in there.

I would suggest you go to http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/ and contact them for an answer.
Chantal

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Alison
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When I wash and prepare my red cabbages, there are always brandling worms in the middle of the leaves and there are gnawed patches round them. I have decided that their benefits are greater than their damage, and put them back in the compost.... but why do they do this to my lovely cabbages? :cry:
So I presume they must be a natural denizen of the ground anyway!
Alison.
Monika
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Thanks for the hints, I shall go to Wigglywigglers poste haste!
Gerry
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Monika, Please do let us all know if you get the answer from wiggley wiggelers. Regards Gerry
PAULW
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MONICA
All my compost bins are full of brambling worms and I have never put them in there so they must come out of the soil in the first place.
madasafish
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I remove cow manure from the adjoining field and compost it. Often it is full of brandling worms.. so I assume they live in the soil and feed on concentration sof dead plant matter .

All 5 of my compost heaps/bins have brandling worms. None were introduced from outside. So I assume they occur naturally.

Needless to say the bin with kitchen waste has most worms and the heap with fresh leaves hardly any..
I spread my compost complete with worms onto the ground and don't dig it in.. so many worms must be eaten by the birds/local foxes or badgers - who also dig up my lawns for worms (and use part of the garden as a toilet).

Since the number of worms appears to have increased in the garden over the past 24 years we have lived here - by sight and not a definitive and quantifiable claim!- I assume brandling and normal worms reproduce in numbers dependent upon the food supply...

My compost bin has - on warm days - concentrated masses of brandling worms collected round the rim of the bin - several hundred I would guess - so we appaear to have thriving populations .

I understand worms form a significant part of fox and badger diets - bourne out by the contents of the deposits left in our garden!:-( (the smell can be offputting on hot days ).
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Primrose
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Help - I feel really ignorant now! Can somebody please explain to me what the difference is between ordinary earth worms and brandling worms. What type are the ones which live in my compost heap? I thought they were all the same.
Monika
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I emailed wigglywigglers but no reply yet. Will keep you all posted!
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Chantal
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Primrose, lob worms are your standard garden worm and burrow deep. Brandling/tendra/red worms all work nearer the surface and are good compost munchers. Tendra worms in particular will eat half their body weight each day. :D
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