Originally posted by damn yankee:
Attention worm ranchers:
Would it be practical to adapt the principle of a rot basket to redworms or earthworms? Would they "volunteer" to drop into the water?
That's a tough question, but my gut feeling is that it won't work.
I've been playing with fishing worms and crawlers for over 50 years. The only worms that really reproduce well in captivity are red worms/red wigglers, or whatever they are called locally.
The things that would kill the project would be light, air, and meat. As far as I know, they are mostly vegetarians. They ain't gonna like rotten road kill or fish guts. But-- they really hate light, and they are not real fond of dry air. And, unless you have a really huge rot basket, you just won't get enough worms to make it worthwhile.
I could imagine the first family of them dropping out of the rot basket in desperation, on the first rainy night, to get away from the stench. But, that would be just about as good as just throwing a handful of them in your pond.
I think you'd be better off starting a worm farm, and taking a handful down every couple of weeks.
Good luck,
Ken
