can't tell you much about them except that their cocoons should be pretty similar to any, about like a fat grain of rice ... see the link below for some info, doesn't sound like they'll tolerate the standing water

Here is a link that might be useful: about Perionyx excavatus

Thanks Squeeze! Amazing that P.E. is considered an invasive species. I guess they are "safe" here because the workshop worm folks said that they die if on their own. Mine don't do the mass suicide that was shown in one of those pictures!!

I'll just try a handful in the tomato bed and see what happens. If it rains they can always squirm to the top & hopefully not wander off too far and dry up & die!

Worm Nelly

P.S. I keep forgetting to mention - your worms must love all the sweet stuff from your apple SQUEEZings!

my worms don't see much of the apple pulp, just some rotten apple slop, the pulp goes to animal feed, a much better use ...what my worms do love is the constant flow of {{gwi:257816}} from a natural food store, never a shortage of vatiety in their diet!

another thing worms love is the {{gwi:1332764}} production, which make a good cover on the outdoor bin in winter

Bill

Sure wish I could GET veggie waste from any store at all. Most of them refuse to give any away or even sell it--they're afraid you'll eat it and get sick and sue. :(

I don't think the worms have a lawyer yet, but will the produce guys listen? :)

onafixedincome:
It's like that here on Oahu! I asked the produce man at the market I've loyally shopped for YEARS but he couldn't. Then I discovered the Marukai dumpster (and it is even in the shade) that has all their veggie waste in there! I don't ask. . . no one has stopped me. I don't take too much and only AFTER I've been shopping!

Here too, the stores say the same thing. Everyone is to litigation fearful. Kill all lawyers if they refuse to change profession, I say. Unfortunately they use one of the juge compactors so I can't dumpster dive. Perhaps we could show them the benefit of being able to advertize their recycling. Everyone is fearful of a bad green report card.

New Oahu Wormer, I haven't been able to see the PE cocoons with the naked eye and haven't been willing to sift through all the junk just to find them. There are lots of babies, so clearly there are cocoons. Mindy also said I wouldn't be able to see them.

Anything that has come to Hawaii after western contact is considered invasive. PEs have been established for 100s of years, so they're an 'established invasive species.' I don't know how much, but easily >50% of our flora and fauna are invasive.

Unless you're in a region that has snow in the winter and have outdoor bins, I wouldn't consider PEs a pest (as many do.) I know of one HUGE business in California that uses only PEs and used to use EFs. He thinks the PEs are more efficient. They certainly move faster!

Hi Susan - it's me! I changed my name from NewOahu since it's been almost 2 years now!

I did find out that the PE egg sacs are too small for us to spot. AND. . . did you get that email blast from Mindy last year? About PE not lasting long in bin environment?

Mine are going great - I got scared and dumped the bin but I had tons of worms! So I laid down "new" burlap and split up my bin to 2 of those starter flower pots and the rest back in the bin. I harvested a lot of black gold & gave it away.

I am going to get more worms from the Waimanalo folks - I'm concerned about the GENE POOL!

And I did NOT put them in the tiled square foot garden. Figured they would die.

Have you checked out the Marukai dumpster on Dillingham? Great source.

I did hear about the problems with the worms not reproducing. I hadn't had babies in the bin in over 6 months, though it took me a long time to realize what was happening. I'm guessing they thought they were too crowded. I've expanded to 3 bins and it took over a month, but I've just started seeing 2 or 3 babies. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm a little concerned because the density of my PEs was a LOT less than what I see on the pictures for EFs. I guess our guys decide they're maxed out and stop reproducing more quickly than the EFs.

I don't get out to that end of Dillingham, but I've got other sources for food. I especially like eating melons and papaya just so the worms will have a treat!

P.S. Since transport of food has gotten a lot more common, I thought I'd tell the mainlanders: If you get papayas, they love the skin, but don't give them the seeds. We've been told that while they like the seeds and it doesn't make them sick, it does make them sterile.

Susan:
I thought Mindy said that they like to be crowded - so they don't have to crawl around to MATE?!!?

Too funny! I grew papaya trees (6) so I could have papayas to EAT and feed the bin (sans the seeds). Papayas didn't take. I think they were ALL BOYS!

You know what I want to do - one of those pipeline systems. There is supposed to be a restaurant in Kaimuki that has one but I don't go to that area because there isn't any parking.

Maybe I'll catch the bus and look around one weekend???

Hey. . . the email feature doesn't work - I never got an email that your posted.

Do you know if I should get more PEs from elsewhere? Does it matter that I have 2 years from one source and they are all RELATED now?

I don't want mutants. . .

Susan: Did all of your worms come from Waikiki Worm? I want to get a handful from Waimanalo - I forget the name but my friend does construction for them so I was going to ADD to the gene pool.

Amazing! I just got a couple handfuls from Olomana Gardens in Waimanalo thinking about exactly the same thing! It's only been a few days, so nothing to say yet.

Others - After a few years, is there any advantage in getting some worms from a different source?

Wikipedia has something on blue worms in the tropics with a reference - "Composting Worms for Hawaii"

The Wikipedia vermicompost page has some excellent worm composting data and really good references to useful sites. I use it a lot.

African

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermicompost

Hi All; Genetics of earthworms is not something to be concerned about. Each species has its own genetic pool. Individual worms of the same species all have the same genetic makeup. Have any of you been able to see individaul differences in the same species? I don't think so. The color differences come from the worms perferences of food and who got there first.

Susan:

Any difference with the Waimanalos that you got? You wrote in May that your worms weren't reproducing. Did you figure that out?

I'm ready to do another dump & harvest and set up new bins. I found ONE person at work that wants worms!

Hope you & your worms are OK!

The 'Waimanalo Blues' were half red wigglers!!! I didn't notice that until after I'd gotten home. I'd already bought some EFs from Mindy. I now have 2 mixed bins that I occ. go through and sort out the adults into their respective bins. I can't tell the difference with the juveniles, so I'll never have 2 'pure' bins. No biggie.

I think the reason my PEs weren't reproducing is they were at their maximum capacity for the bin. If so, it's a LOT lower capacity than I've seen from photos of the red wigglers. I split them in to two bins and added a lot more bedding and they started reproducing again.

I was disappointed with the Waimanalo worms when I got them. Their definition of 'bed run' included more than 3/4 compost. She just scooped the worms and compost out of the bin and weighed the whole thing. I know you want some of the compost to get all the good microbes and bugs, but not at the same price per pound as the worms!! At Mindy's place in King street, they separated out the worms, weighed them, and then put the compost back in for free.

I sent you a private email over at vermicomposters.ning.com, go check that out.

Where can you purchase blue worms online?