I would say anywhere between 30 and 50. The poupulation will soon adjust to the "carrying capacity" of your set-up. Winning compost is the difficult part in the whole operation. What I do is to wait for a sunny day, place a plastic sheet on the ground, make a pyramid (or 2 or 3) of the bin contents, then skim the compost progressively from the outer surface of the pyramid. The worms will be in a mass at the bottom of the small pyramid that is left. Regards, Peter.

Whether or not you keep a lid over the bin makes a difference in how much moisture is evaporated, and how much is needed to add. The time of year and temp and humidity obviously will make a difference. I found my worms really, I mean really, liked cantalope during the melon season. I'd find stores that had trimmed the rinds rinds etc off and would give that to the worms and in a day or two there would be nothing but the fiberous outside, and my worms would be gathered there. Coffee grounds are something they enjoy, and are also good for the soil without the worms, but with that worm kick... They also seem to like to hang out in egg shells. Give them a bit of grit so they can grind the food up, as that's what they use to help digest the food. If you have outside bins in phoenix you will probably need to mist them occasionally. I did. Not soak, just a misting. As mentioned above, with a lid partially covering they moisture may condense on the container and last longer. There was a guy out in cave creek that sold the red wrigglers. Not sure if he's still there. He would go to some of the farmers markets in northeast phoenix. From what I've read the material said the microbes like the castings themselves as 'housing'. Says the casting are porous and the microbes 'move in' and take up residence there and start breaking down the soil as useful products for the plants to use. Red Wrigglers like to hang out at compost areas, where as the night crawlers alot of bait shops sell are more deep soil worms. They don't so much stay around in the shallows and process compost material like red wrigglers. They probably won't stay where you put them as they'll be going deep and moving around. Nightcrawlers are better for aerating your soil then red wrigglers though, so they both have their place in the garden and compost pile. The red wrigglers will stay to the outside of the compost, or more like where the compost isn't as hot while it's 'digesting'. You will want to compost hot fertilizers a bit before putting them with the worms, as the environment may get a bit hot, especially in the phoenix area, as the material breaks down, then the stuff that's on the edges of the pile, or under that is already 'cooled off' will be where the worms will frequent. Red wrigglers will mostly stay where the composting material is though. That's what they thrive on. I saw an article, can't verify this yet though, but someone had a cardboard box that had been soaked with soy oil that sat on the ground for a couple weeks, and said when they lifted it there were a colony of worms under it. As though the soy oil was what they were after. May be wrong, but I intend to experiment with this. The soy, being a legume, with add nitrogen fixing nodules to the ground, and the beans will give oil if 'processed', as well as the meal feed critters, so it's gotta be a win win situation. Enjoy

I would like to begin composting with these worms. Does anyone have a handful I could get a start with? I understand that I can't "buy" them on GW, but I don't have a lot to offer as I just moved from OK to TX a few days before Christmas. I do have some garden-related books I could part with. Or, I make my own notecards, which I have traded with quite a few people on GW for plants and seeds before. They seem to be quite a hit. I also have scrapbooking supplies as I work part time for a store now and try to snatch up everything on clearance that I can find. I have lots of stickers and papers with flowers on them. :) ~Carla

Thank you for the guidance. The bait cup simply said "red worms" on the label, so who knows what kind of worms I really have. But it sounds like I may have gotten the European nightcrawlers. They seem to be about 3 inches long. This is something akin to a science experiement for me. Don't want to invest a lot of money until I am sure it is going to be workable. I made my bin from two old kitty litter tubs, the kind with a hindged lid. On the bottom one (for catching the drainage) I removed the lid and drilled several holes in the sides (about 3 inches from the bootom). On the other tub, I drilled lots of holes in the lid, along the upper sides and smaller holes in the bottom (for drainage). From what I have read, surface area seems to be an important thing, and since the kitty litter tub is deeper than it is wide, I am only using less than half of the depth. I put damp newspapers, some soil with a bit of sand, the worms (only about 60 so far), a small amount of food, and more damp shredded newspaper on top. So it is a very small set up. I was pleased to find this morning that no worms seemed to have been able to escape (none were even trying - probably too deep) but they had eaten much of the overly ripe 1/2 banana and the centers (seeds) out of a few cucumber slices. So they seem to be happy enough so far. If I can keep these guys alive and producing those wonderful castings for at least a few weeks, then I think I will order some Eisenia foetida and get a bigger tub. Thanks again for the advice. I do hope this works.