The Difference Between Nightcrawlers and Red Wiggler Composting Earthworms.

Basically, there are two types of earthworms, those that borrow deeply into the ground and those that live on the surface of the soil. Nightcrawlers live in tunnels deep in the earth, the openings of which are surrounded by their castings and appear as miniature volcanoes. There are many different types of nightcrawlers and they are named after the areas where they are found, E.G. the African Nightcrawler, the Canadian Nightcrawler, the European Nightcrawler and the Arkansas Nightcrawler. These earthworms are relatively large and are primarily used as fish bait. Most importantly, these large worms are relatively inefficient composters. Red Wiggler composting earthworms, on the other hand, are the same the world over. They also are called manure worms because they are invariably found in horse and cow manure piles throughout the earth. These small worms are ideal for composting organic waste and, under ideal conditions, will consume their weight on organic material every single day of their lives. They also are prized by worm farmers because they are very fertile, doubling their numbers in a worm bed every three months. Other than scented woods, like red or cedar, composting earthworms will eat anything that was once alive, including the scrapes from your kitchen table and your newspaper waste. Most importantly, the castings from these marvelous composters are the finest slow release organic fertilizer on the face of the world. Best of all, if you make them yourself, they are dirt cheap! By the way, we all know the garbage is an environmental problem, but did you know just how big a problem? In the USA we produce over 250 billion metric tons of garbage every single year. Fifty percent of this discarded waste is organic material that composting earthworms, if given half a chance, would gladly turn into valuable organic worm castings. What are you doing with your kitchen waste and newspapers?