Las Vegas Worms is NOT OPEN ANYMORE. I am leaving the site up because it has really useful information that has helped a lot of people!
Throw out your fertilizer and use worms from Las Vegas Worms to nourish your garden! These Las Vegas red wigglers are specially bred to thrive in Las Vegas or other South Western desert climates.
Once you get your worms, all you need to do is feed them every once in awhile and keep the soil moist. That’s it. The worms will eat the fruit and vegetable waste you put in the bin and give you the best fertilizer you can find for your garden or house plants.
When I first started raising my special Las Vegas red wigglers many years ago, I had my worms in a dishwashing tub under the sink. I would just chop up my food scraps and toss them in the bin. Every couple of months I would harvest the vermicompost for my garden. This was a GREAT system and really easy to take care of.
I think a dishwashing tub is the easiest way to start out. It’s easy to make your own indoor worm bin.
And what I have for you here is the simplest way I’ve ever seen on how to raise red wigglers.
A lot of places I researched when I first started had you adding all kinds of things to the bin, adding “ladders”, putting holes in the side of the bin, and whole bunch of other things. I soon discovered that a lot of that was nonsense.
All you need is some moist coconut coir (pronounced “core”), a handful of sand, your worms, and a piece of vinyl or plastic to cover the dishwashing tub. There is no need to complicate things.
Finding coconut coir is easy. Just go to any hydroponic store and they will have it. I go to Advanced Gardens Hydroponics on Valley View and Desert Inn.
If you just can’t find coconut coir, then you can use peat moss, but you have to rinse it at least twice.
To get the coconut coir the right “wetness” just soak it in water for a few minutes then squeeze it in your hands until the water that comes out changes from a stream of water to drips of water. When the drips start coming, it’s just right.
Put that in your bin and mix in a bit of sand. I put in about 1/4 cup of sand in each of my little tubs. That’s probably more than you need, but better safe than sorry.
Next, add whatever fruit and vegetable scraps you have on top of the coconut coir and sand mixture. I put the food in a row across the bin rather than in a big pile or scattered around the bin like other sites suggest.
Next, put your vinyl or plastic cover on top of the food. The covers I use are from old political signs, store openings, or advertising signs. DO NOT put the cover on top of the tub like a lid. You want the cover to sit on the surface of the food/soil.
Then get my special Las Vegas red wigglers (and not some generic worm) on top of the food scraps.
After that, just cut a piece of vinyl or plastic so it fits on the surface of the coconut coir and you’re done. The whole process takes about 60 minutes and you are up and ready to go creating your own vermicompost!
do not use cardboard or newspaper to cover the soil with like all the other sites say to do.
Paper products get damp and fall apart into a million pieces. It’s a real pain to
try to lift up 20 pieces of cardboard to feed your worms under it.
A lot of other sites tell you to dig down into the soil and bury your food… don’t bother with that mess!!! The beauty of your system if you do it like this is that all you need to do to feed your worms is lift the cardboard and put your food scraps under it! Lift and done… sweet!
Don’t throw the old cardboard cover away, it will usually have red wigglers and worm cocoons in it!
crazy question! If I do a worm garden like your directions will the worms etc draw scorpions. We have had a few around our house, we have palm trees! I would love to engage my 6 year old grandson in all this…..I used to play with worms as a kid back in Indiana….they were all over the place! Want my grandson to experience and learn how important worms are!
Hi Kathy,
In 8 years of having worms and selling them to 1,000’s of people in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the rest of the Southwest, I have never heard of anyone having a scorpion problem because of a worm garden. I’d think the opposite, that the garden is so wet that it would repel scorpions.
I’m from Wisconsin and we used to go find night crawlers for fishing when I was a kid, so I can relate to you playing with them as a kid. This would be great for your grandson too!!!
I’ll look for your order coming in!
John
Hi Debbie!
I sent you an email but did want to let you know that yes, you can get great heat tolerant worms from the site! They are delivered!
Check it out here: http://lasvegasworms.com/worms-sale-online/
Hi Alison,
Yes, you can keep your red wigglers outside in a shady place, or in a sunny place. It doesn’t matter, these worms are fine in the heat and cold of The Southwest like Vegas and Phoenix. Just let your worms go in your container garden and you are all set. A
And glad you are going to order. I’ll look for it coming in! 🙂
Talk soon- John
Hi John
I’m having a great time with my indoor worm bin thanks to your answers to others on the website but now I have a few ?? of my own too.
#1
Is there an optimum temperature range for raising worms and is it different for worm bins and/or the in- ground beds?
#2
Is there a way to visually tell if you are feeding the worms too little or too much as the population grows?
Thanks again, Kat
Hi Kat,
First of all, thanks for ordering with me by mail and I’m glad everything is working out great!!! 🙂
I’m not exactly sure what the optimum temperature for raising these specail heat tolerant worms are since I’ve never done a controlled study. But, my guess is that they’d do best between 70-85 degrees and will do fine with air temperatures between 40 and 110. It doesn’t matter if they are in a bin or in-ground.
Yes, you can tell if you are feeding too much or too little by looking at the bin. If there is lots of extra, uneaten food on top, you can feed less for a few days. If all you see is the shiny, clear outside peels of the fruits and veggies you’ve put in, you’ll want to feed them right away.
What kind of sand do you add to the indoor worm box?
Thanks
Excited to get started🤗 Kat
Hi Kathryn,
Any sand will work. I get mine from the side of the street after a rain. You can also sift the native soild in Vegas to get the sand out of it. Or use sandbox sand. Beach sand is a little rounded, but it will work.
Hi John. I live in southern New Mexico. I’ve been reading about worm towers which are just tubes stuck down in the ground where you put your bedding and food scraps for the worms. It seems to be a good solution for raising outdoor worms in the desert. What do you think? Also I wondered if you still ship. I would love some of your desert hardy worms. What about cocoons? Do you sell and ship cocoons? I’ve tried so many time to raise worms here and they always die. Thanks for your website, it gives me hope.
Hi Robin,
I think those worm towers are silly. Someone did a great job marketing them, but they are totally ridiculous. All you have to do is get your worms in the mail from me and put them in 10″ or more of soil. That’s it. Well, and fee them once in a while.
I have always shipped worms and continue to do so. 🙂
I don’t sell cocoons though. I just don’t have enough to sell. Plus, they are a bother to collect.
And as you’ve discovered from reading the site here, you CAN raise worms here! 🙂
Talk soon-
John
Are still selling composting worms and supplies
Yes, I still have worms for sale here in Las Vegas.
Hey there,
I want to do an outdoor worm bed, I am in your area. Do you have any links or suggested videos on how to build/design one? Or conditions and area outdoors where they would work? If so, I’d love to arrange pick up the weekend after next.
Hey Rachel,
Don’t complicate building a worm bed. Either dig down about 12 inches into the earth and fill it with any combination of rinsed peat moss/loose soil/coconut coir. Or nail some 2×8’s together for a raised bed and fill it with the same.
And fine for you to pick worms up, but YOU NEED TO CALL OR TEXT. I rarely check to see if I have comments here.
Talk soon- John
Do you have worms available now? Where would I pick them up? What do you think about just adding them to my planted garden?
Thanks.
Hi Lin,
Yes, I have red wiggler worms available now. Just order them online here on the site. And it’s a GREAT idea to add them to your garden even if it’s already planted. You want the worms in there recycling everything and adding those nutrients back to the soil!
Looking forward to hearing from you and helping you out- John