Can I add worms to my compost heap?

Worms are worms - right? They're all the same - right? WRONG!  Although many people assume that worms are all the same there are actually around 28 species of worm in the UK alone!


So collecting up earth worms from around your garden and adding them to your compost heap is not really helping - they are the wrong type of worm.  The worms you want in your compost heap are not earth worms but specialist red worms and tiger worms which have huge appetites and specialise on eating rotting food and organic material. 

You see all worms live in different depths of soil, and are grouped into three main categories. Deep, Shallow and leaf litter.  The most common one you find in the garden are the deep burrowers known as Lob worms - these guys do not want to be in a hot sweating rotting compost heap and if you put them in they will (if they even survive the ordeal) try to get out, they like to live in cool deep dark soil.

The ones you want are the one who specialise in living in rotting leaves, manure heaps and compost heaps. These worms are often red in colour and much thinner than Lob / Earth worms.  The 3 main species of worms you want for composting are :-

•Red Worm (Eisenia andrei) also known as red wrigglers

•Tiger Worm (Eisenia fetida) also known as brandlings / Manure Worms

•Dendrobaena (Eisenia hortensis) also known as Dendras / European Nightcrawler

Red worms as their name suggests are red and the same size as the Tiger Worm (around 5 cm's) Tiger worms and Dendrobaena are very similar to look at as they are both stripy, however Dendras are twice the size and fatter (around 10 cm's long).

So the official advice from our Master Composters is no - do not add worms to your heap - simply place your compost heap on bare soil and you will attract all the (appropriate) worms that you need - once the heap is mature and cool enough for them.