Worms that like to live deeper, such as earthworms, often won’t touch the surface compost and aren’t practical to use.Įpigeic originated from the Greek language, meaning “above the earth”. There are three main types of worms: Anecic, Endogeic, and Epigeic.Įpigeic worms live on or near the surface and swarm around microbe-rich organic wastes, where they find plenty of nutrients to decompose such as leaves, decomposing branches, and other organic materials. Surface soil is where most of the composting usually occurs, making epigeic worms the best choice. The best composting worms are epigeic, which includes red wigglers, redworms, brandling worms, and African nightcrawlers.Įpigeic worms live on the surface, such as in leaves, manure, and other loose environments. This begs the question: which worms can function as compost worms? What Kinds of Worms Can You Put in Compost? This difference mainly has to do with the depth at which the decomposition takes place. However, there’s a difference between being a good decomposer and being a good composter. Worms are an important but unseen feature of gardens, and they’re amazing decomposers. Earthworms (or garden worms) live deeper and don’t compost well. Since composting also usually takes place on the surface, epigeic worms make great composters. These two worms are epigeic, which are those that live close to the surface. The best type of worms to use for composting are red wigglers and redworms.

Brandling worms (AKA “tiger” or “trout” worms).

So, after some researching and testing a specific type of worm, I found a good answer. The biggest question I had were what worms should I use and where I can get them. When I first started my vermicomposting bin, I knew close to nothing.

Download red wigglers for composting