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Worm Color
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Posted by jaytea 9 (My Page) on Thu, Nov 15, 07 at 18:38
Hi,
I am new to vermicomposting and also new to the forum here. I have a Can O Worms set up and it seems to be going okay. I also have an outside compost bin (Garden Gourmet). I was going through the stuff in it yesterday to get it better mixed and also to see if there were any worms in it. I found some worms the size of the red wigglers, but they were transparent. I could see the dirt/food inside of them. It was weird. I was just wondering what type of worms these were. They seemed to be composting worms, but I had never seen nor heard of transparent worms before. I thought maybe they were like this because they hadn't been exposed to any light before.
I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about 'clear' worms, and if it was okay to add them to the Can O Worms.
Thanks!
JT
Oh, btw, from reading different posts here on the forum I have seen where a while back a lot of people left the forum for some reason, but I cannot find what that reason was, could someone enlighten me on that? and if there are any other informative places on vermicomposting if I could have the links, I would greatly appreciate it. This forum works very well for me and I don't understand why people would leave. Thanks again! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Worm Color
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- Posted by wfike 8, Atlanta, Ga. (My Page) on
Thu, Nov 15, 07 at 19:03
A joke comes to mind here;
A man was stranded on a deserted island for over 25 years all alone. When rescued the rescuers asked what the little building was on the hill. To which he replied "That is where I go to church"! The rescuers then asked what was the BIG building up on the other hill? He replied "that is where I used to go to church before we got to arguing all the time"! |
RE: Worm Color
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| The worms that you have found sounds like pot worms. When pot worms are found in abundance, it usually mean that something is wrong in the bin. |
RE: Worm Color
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| But the OP said they fond the transparent worms in the outdoor compost bin. I have noticed that the very young compost worms are a bit translucent but they do have a pink tinge to them. And even some of the bigger red worms have a bit of translucence to them and I've noticed that the tail end of em sometimes seem as if they gotta go if you know what I mean. As for adult size transparent worms, I don't know. Do you mean transparent as in no pink/red to em like they are colorless clear and you can see stuff moving through them? or is it more that they have the pink/red tinge but are a bit translucent and you can kinda see that there is stuff in them? Pot worms are very small and white/transparent. They may be an indication that something is slightly off in the bin but not necessarily wrong enough to cause panic. |
RE: Worm Color
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So sorry to take so long to reply to this. Now, 7 months later, and a lot of reading and research I have figured out that the first worms that I got when I went to the Vermicomposting workshop are Eisenia foetida. The EF have very pronounced stripes.
The worms that I found later outside in the GG bin are Lumbricus rubellus. It appears that the LR worms are pinkish and have a trasparenacy that the EF worms don't. As the LRs grow older that transparency lessens.
Is there a preference between these two? Or do they pretty much have the same habits, etc?
(I think I know what the pot worms are. They are the small white worms that seem to appear when there is too much food or moisture).
Thanks for the replies!
JT |
RE: Worm Color
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| From Wikipedia: Lumbricus rubellus is a species of earthworm that is related to Lumbricus terrestris. It is usually reddish brown or reddish violet, iridescent dorsally, and pale yellow ventrally. They are usually about 1 to 4 inches (25 to 105 mm) in length, with around 95-120 segments. It is one of the species of earthworm commonly claimed for used in vermiculture although each instance, on proper inspection, has been found to be Eisenia fetida. |
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