A couple of weeks ago, I excitedly reported that I had finally started up a brand new RWC experiment (see: “The Euros vs Reds Head to Head Challenge“)! Well, my excitement was certainly short-lived – within a couple of days, all my Euros except for one had perished (still not sure what happened there)! As I discovered yesterday, at least three of the Red Worms managed to survive.
I’ve decided to see if I can actually get this experiment off the ground (lol). Unfortunately, I don’t have heaps and heaps of Euros available, so I’ve had to make do with what I could find (in my other bin) – which happened to be six somewhat smaller worms (last time I selected individuals that were clearly adults – this time at least some of them definitely aren’t) and two cocoons.
You may be shocked to learn that I am using the exact same bins (with same material in them) – but the fact is, we’re not dealing here with some sort of persistent chemical toxin. Whatever it was that killed those Euros (my guess is a quick release of ammonia), it’s almost certainly not still going to be an issue in the bin two weeks later – especially given the fact that the surviving worm was in there the whole time, likely doing his part to make it more worm-friendly.
Similarly, I am also leaving the Red Worm bin as-is. I’ve only been able to find three worms in there, but there could very easily be some others hiding out in the bedding material (remember, they are very small) – I will definitely be able to come up with an accurate tally once they get a bit bigger, and I start adding more food.
So, it looks like the deck is still stacked in the Euros’ favor – but we shall see!
I’ll aim to provide another update next week.
8)
How big do Euros’ get?…Mine have grown to the size of the nightcrawlers that I find in my yard in the Springtime…
I’m sorry, if a Euro can grow to the size of a nightcrawler, then you must of gotten crawlers in your batch. Even if you have fed your Euros steroids, they will not get the size of a common crawler. I am in know way a specialist in this field, but 3 to 4 inches has been the max on this type.
Though about it and sorry if I sounded a bit loud. Maybe theres crawlers out there that are not as big as the ones I see on my lwn on a misty night in MA.
If there for sure Euros, please give me some advise because mine are in no way close to a crawlers size.
Hi Ted,
While I don’t think I’ve ever seen Euros as big as some of the huge Canadian Nightcrawlers (“Dew Worms”) we have up here (very common in much of northeastern North America) – I’ve definitely seen them bigger than 4 inches.
Perhaps if we ask nice, John will take some pics of his brutes!
🙂