European Nightcrawlers vs. Red Wigglers for Home Composting

Eisenia foetida

I have been composting with worms for almost 3 years in my home.  I started with 1 lb of eisenia foetida and in a two year period I grew that amount to more than 19 lbs. I supplemented my composting efforts with rabbit manure purchased locally from a rabbit farmer to help multiply my worm population faster. If you have lots of worms you also need lots of food for them :-)

After our move from Florida to Michigan, I started my worm composting efforts over from scratch with 1 lb. of eisenia hortensis worms.  If you have never compared the two worms up close here's a quick description based on my experience and observations.

EF's

• 2-3 inches long
• small and skinny worm
• eat almost anything
• tendancy to ball up and group together in the bedding
• multiply quickly, 1 lb can double in size within a couple of months
• will compost and reproduce well in temperatures up to 100 degrees air temperature
• lots of room for error in bedding, they will tolerate poor bedding conditions for short periods of time
• commercially viable for vermicomposting ventures

EH's

• 5-6 inches long (even longer when extended)
• fatter worm than EF's
• a very active worm compared to EF's
• do not multiply as quickly as EF's, 1 lb can double in size in 5 or 6 months
• tendancy to roam and will escape if conditions do not suit them
• favor cooler temperatures
• favor lots of neutral material in their bedding
• do not like bedding that heats up
• do not like bedding that is too wet
• appear to do well in paper and cardboard bedding with small amounts of food material
• commerically viable for retail and wholesale sales as a fishing worm
• less desireable for vermicomposting and home composting, but acceptable

I have no plans to switch back to eisenia foetida for my home composting efforts, but if I do decide to get back into the business of selling worms to other home composting enthusiasts on a small scale I will add EF's back into the equation.