Red worms are hermaphrodites which means they are both male and female (although it does take two to tango). They produce eggs or capsules from the saddleback which you will see on the 13thsegment on their bodies. The egg looks like a tomato pip and starts off a yellowy-green colour and as they age they go a brownish-red. Each one will have between 5 and 15 tiny worms inside, and these take about 10 days or so to hatch out.
Gradually add waste until the top tray is completely full. This will take longer than you think because every time you add waste and the worms process it - it drastically reduces in volume. At this stage most of the worms will be in the Top Tray - the Bottom Tray will contain fully worked waste, ie worm casts. Now is the time to take out the Bottom Working Tray and harvest the rich casts. Once you have emptied this Bottom Working Tray it goes back on the top of the pile becoming the new Top Working Tray and you start adding scraps here to begin the process all over again.
If you're looking to get started with Worm Composting, please Wiggle on over to https://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/wormeries.html and take a look at our Urbalive Worm Composters!
