The experiment involved hatching numerous eisenia fetida cocoons in Petri dishes which contained water, a feed mix and several types of insect larvae. The eisenia fetida not only hatched while submerged but also fed and grew in size. Growth was not as fast as observed in a “bin” environment, however the experiment was not designed to optimize growth. The project is being repeated and if successful it may be of value with the control of fungus gnats. It’s not a “normal” environment for eisenia fetida and full life cycle aquatic reproduction may not be possible.

Also excited for this upcoming release:
Vermiculture Technology: Earthworms, Organic Wastes, and Environmental Management

Every paper that I’ve reviewed points to moisture control as being very relevant to a productive operation and as you refer, I also experimented with wigglers proving that they can survive (not necessarily thrive) in water. That experiment ran for 43 days before I terminated it (Bti testing).

I now have three Rubbermaid bins and one stacked wooden flow-through indoor setup going, all initiated from my original 1 pound supply of wigglers – into my fifth month. My original Rubbermaid bin is my primary breeder and the moisture in that bin averages 80% (meter read). All feed is blended and fed in fashioned cardboard troughs. Bin three is receiving quite a bit of pumpkin these days with about a four month supply in reserve.

Your point on moisture, which you cautioned when I first started, is really important. In my case, every bin requires individual attention. It has been my limited experience that moisture retention/environment is dependent in large part on the maturity/type of bedding and quantity of mature/processed VC present. Controlling that is a little labour intensive but rewarding, my goal being expansion/optimum breeding conditions.

I mist spray for moisture control and really have to watch the wooden flow-though as it will not retain a similar level of moisture like the rubber bins, but does provide much better air flow. It’s relatively new to my little operation and it will take a few months to assess productivity and make comparisons to rubber bin production. Rubber bins work if you are attentive and keep the material aerobic. I may eventually be converted, but for now it’s working very well.

I’ve been trying out Clive Edwards’ suggestions of ‘optimal’ conditions for a worm bin and one thing that has been really surprising is how much moisture vermicast/vermicompost can retain and not seem ‘too wet’. My bin at school is kept between 80-85% by monitoring the moisture using
gravimetric analysis
, and yet it still seems ‘dryer’ than any plastic bin I’ve ever had.

Definitely one of the great perks to still being in school is the access to unlimited scholarly journals. I don’t know if all schools have this but the City Univ. of New York let’s me order books via WorldCat from practically any institution in the world – which I would never be able to afford myself. I just got Zenjhun’s Vermiculture & Vermiprotein – can’t wait to dig into it.
Great Post!

-j

So now for the questions…did the Dominguez and Edwards happen to mention the exact size of the containers they used? I think that having an ideal worm-to-volume ratio might help me better visualize the ideal population density in there study.