Uncle Jim's Worm Farm 2000 Count Red Wiggler Composting Worms Mix for Garden Soil or Fishing | Starter Pack of Compost Worms Improves Soil Structure and Quality for Healthier Gardens

I ordered these on a Sunday, and they arrived on Tuesday with "expedited shipping." All of my worm arrived alive and happy in a bag packed tightly with a little peat moss. I got some good size worms. I don't know about the count, but I don't think there were 2000. After much agony researching online, I decided to try Larry Hall's bucket method for vermicomposting. You can look him up on YouTube. I purchased four 5-gallon buckets and four lids with rubber seals in them. Mr. Hall recommends 500 worms per bucket. My father used his jigsaw to cut out a hole in the lids leaving a 2 inch rim. In a big 18-gallong tub, I screened peat moss through a 1/4 inch bucket screen to remove all the twigs and big chunks. I mixed in 1/3 cup pulverized garden lime with enough peat moss to fill the 5-gallon bucket to about 2 inches shy of the top. I added about 12 cups of water to get the peat moss moist. That was my bedding for my worms. I did that 4 times to fill up each of the buckets I had bought. For worm food, I used the recommended Purina Worm Chow, which I found a little cheaper on EBay. I buried a few teaspoons of it in each bucket bin in different spots about a couple inches deep. Then, I dumped the bag of worms in the tub to break them all up. It was a little creepy holding a writhing mass of worms in my hand! I had to remind myself that they were perfectly harmless. Then I scooped out equal portions of worms and added them to each bucket, just going from one bucket to the next till all the worms were gone. It took them about an hour to all disappear into the bedding. It's been about 4 days since I got my worms and put them in their bins. I spritz the top of the bucket each day with water and bury another teaspoon of worm chow in a different spot. Yes, the bins are essentially OPEN - no screen, nothing covering that big lid hole. Mr. Hall says these are escape proof buckets with the rubber seal. To be on the safe side, for the first few days, I put the buckets under a lit lamp each night to shine light on them, just in case the worms decided to organize an exodus. Thankfully, I haven't seen a worm in sight. When I poke around in there with a baby fork, they move pretty fast and seem quite happy hanging out at the layer where the food is. Just so you know, I do not intend to feed my worms food scraps. I am just feeding them the commercial worm food, which is a mix of cornmeal, oats, and other stuff. I didn't want to deal with flies, smells, etc. Instead, I am processing my food scraps in a bokashi bucket system, which thus far is going okay. You can read my experience about that under my review of that purchase. I would order worms from this company again. Even with expedited shipping, it came out to only an extra $10 to get twice as many worms than just the 1,000. UPDATE 12/30/14 ----- After a week or so, I noticed my worms getting more sluggish when I would poke in to put some more food. I realized that the peat moss bedding was drying out. I quickly added some more water to each bucket, but I wanted a way to make sure that I wasn't putting too much or too little water, as I like to be exact in my approach to things. So, I ordered a soil moisture meter. It was such a good decision. The probe goes more than half deep into the bucket. I can insert at different places and read the meter, which is too easy to interpret: a dry range of 0 to 3, a moist range of 4 to 7, and a wet range. I read online that worms like it "Moist" at level 5. Easy-peasy then - Each day or so, I check the moisture around each bucket when I feed them. I add water as needed. Now, I notice my worms are back to darting around really fast when I poke in for feedings. That's my indication that they are doing well. I hope this helps someone else. And I forgot to mention, no worms have tried to escape my buckets, and yes the hole is still exposed. I keep them inside. Due to the food and bedding I am using, there is no smell.

I ordered the Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm 2000 Count Red Wiggler Composting Worms to start our new compost bin, and they have been fantastic. A very generous amount of worms arrived in great condition — healthy, active, and ready to get to work. I really appreciated the fast 2-day express shipping, which ensured the worms didn’t sit in transit too long. We had our compost bin ready before they arrived, and I recommend anyone ordering do the same. It also helps to spritz the bedding with a little water if it feels dry upon arrival, and to keep everything in a cool, shaded spot as they acclimate. Within a short time, the worms were actively working through the material in the bin. No issues at all — very happy with the purchase. I would definitely recommend this starter pack for anyone looking to kick off their composting efforts. Great value, great shipping, and excellent results so far.

My first attempt at vermicomposting last year began by digging worms out of the manure pile and putting them in a plastic tote. I started with about 100 worms, and over the months that number grew until my tote was teeming with red wigglers. However, I lost my worms through a period where I was not home, and the bedding dehydrated to the point where my worms all died. Back to the drawing board... I was looking for a way to jump-start my worm bin, and found this 2lb package of worms. I was a little concerned about ordering worms to be shipped, as I saw some of the reviews where the worms came in not good condition, but my fears were allayed by the fact that most of the reviews also stated that the company sent replacements right away. So, worse case scenario, I might have to make a call to customer service for replacements. I ordered on a Friday, and received an email saying the company only ships on Mondays to avoid loss due to packages sitting in warehouses over the weekend. My tracking info showed my order was labeled on Monday, but picked up on Tuesday. Thursday, my worms arrived! I was excited to see my Priority Mail package when I got home Thursday night (actually 2:30 am Friday morning). I was anxious to see the condition of my worms after their 2 day travel, so I got a 5 gallon bucket with a little potting soil, added some carrot pulp from my juicer, and enough water to get everything wet. Then I opened the package. I did not weigh the bag inside, but it felt heavy enough to be 2 lbs. When I opened the bag and peeked inside, I was happy to see the peat moss moving energetically! My worms were alive! I dumped the contents of the bag on top of the bedding in my bucket, added a little more water to help them re-hydrate after their trip, and went to bed. This morning, when I got up, I checked the bucket, and it looked like all the worms had disappeared into the bedding. I know, I know, buckets don't make good worm beds. It is temporary until I make proper bedding for my tote. I normally use a mixture of peat moss, composted manure and lime. So, overall, I am very pleased with my new worms so far. I am looking forward to making some killer compost tea!

Had a few hiccups with the order but their customer service was top notch in getting the issue resolved. I was unaware they use USPS to ship and placed an order not knowing this, as a result the worms never got to me at first. If you're like me and live in a town so small they only deliver mail to the post office/PO Boxes, then make the necessary arrangements to have a hassle free shipment because it WILL be shipped via USPS. I had prematurely sent a message concerning the order via Amazon, but upon opening my email discovered that they had attempted to contact me days before! They were more than happy to replace the worms, no charge! 5 stars just for that. My only issue is that I got my package 4 days late due to a mishap. I got my worms on the 11th, but apparently it was there since the 7th! I checked my PO Box daily for a package notice, but nothing. The only reason I even knew to ask for my package was because their customer service rep (who was polite and prompt) had informed me my package had arrived on the 7th when I had asked them where it was. The story may not seem like it has much to do with the product, but I feel it does. These worms survived 4 days longer than they should have without any food or much hydration. The bag smelled a little bad so I'm guessing that some of them died, but I had a lot more movement than I thought considering I was expecting them all to be dead! Definitely a quality product and I can't help but wonder what they'll be like when they haven't sat longer than they should have, I'll be sure to leave another review once I place my next order with them in a few weeks. All in all, I think the stress of sitting in the post office got to a lot of them because I certainly don't have 1000 worms let alone 2000. I haven't done much digging because I don't want to disturb them, but if I had to guess I probably have 100-200 worms max after this entire ordeal. The ones that I do have left though are growing by the day, some of them are HUGE! I have them in a rubbermaid bin/tote, with a peat/newspaper bedding for them. I put some of my compost in the bin, some from my pile outside as well as some from my container in the fridge. When I do dig around, they're often found either on the side with no food chilling in their bedding, or they're deep in some coffee grounds. All things considered, I would (and will) definitely be ordering from them again. Their customer service was stellar and what little of their product that I didn't manage to kill has performed exactly as advertised. For anyone on the fence about this product/company, my personal experience has been 5 stars. Just keep in mind that they ship via USPS and arrange to either have it shipped to someone with a deliverable mailing address, or to a PO Box.

Got the worms, fairly quick shipping... ordered 2000.. I expected there would be a potential loss in worms but at 2000, I assumed the numbers would be incredibly minimal. Upon opening the box, I was hit with the smell of rotting flesh... I started to spread out a few within my worm beds and almost thought I got short changed.. then I started to see more, about 30 to 60... the bag was still heavy and i got excited thinking I was about to hit the mother load... and I did! A mother load of pure wormy genocide. Thousands of worms decaying within a slime ball of pure rotten stench with just a few burrowed between their relatives squirming to the surface as if they were begging to be put out of their misery. I felt terrible for even ordering worms now. The packaging was sub par without any real venting. The bag of worms inside were left without any sort of real insulation to protect against temperature or impact. What an absolute nightmare it must have been... I did think perhaps I had enough of these survivors left to at least reproduce quickly to compensate... however as I scooped the decaying, shredded and smashed ball of goo that was once living beings.... I would guess I only got 200 out of 2000 between 2 worm bins... not enough to make these bins functional. We're about to prepare the mass burial of these fallen brethren complete with a 21 gun salute... I can only imagine that if this is what they experience when shipped, how many murders did they witness within their motherland.... Sarcasm aside... this was terrible

Great worms. Thank you!

I was planning on taking pictures of these worms when they got here but I was in a rush to get them into the bin immediately and then there was not much to look at. The tracking information stated that the seller shipped them on Sunday (I intentionally ordered on Saturday night to prevent a weekend delay in transit). As one should expect, the courier did not receive them until Monday afternoon and they spent 3 days in a box without leaving the sellers state. The sellers website says they should be OK for up to 5 days in shipping and it took 5 days to get here, so I was in a big hurry to get them into the bin with moisture and food. This is what I consider a chain of events caused by an unprofessional seller. When I actually got the package, I was in a hurry to get them in the bin and hydrated immediately. They did not look ill at all but the package, box, bedding and all, weighed no more than 1/2lb. Most of the volume, and at least 1/3 of the weight that was in the mass of worms was actually bedding. Now, I've read a bit about worms and I know that you can have 1/2lb of worms that number in the thousands even if they are mature and will rapidly put on weight when given space and food, but this was not the case. Relatively few of them had the band on them that indicates that they are mature. This negates the effect of a small but mature Eisenia Fotida reaching full adult size shortly after being added to a large bin with plenty of food. This product description claims both that "Red Wiggler, Eisenia Fotida, worms are approximately 900-1000 to the pound." and also "This is a pack with Two (2) pounds of worms." The included paper made the claim that "The worms can lose up to 70% of their body mass and weight during a 3-5 day trip through the mail." It also stated "Within 48 hours of moisture and some type of food product, your worms will bounce back 100%" (which is a vague statement). It does, however, state that "They will regain their original size and strength within 2 days..." Now, I don't know about you, but I don't find it practical to empty a worm bin to collect every worm and weigh it to ensure that my worms have 'bounced back 100%' and have 'regained their original size and strength' after 2 days. I can tell you that the ones I have uncovered in the bin are the same size as the ones I put in there well after the magic '48 hours'. What arrived was a few ounces of tiny, immature worms, that are incapable of reaching the 2lb description of this product within the claimed 48 hours(or even the 14 days claimed by an author that seems to know what he's talking about) because these are not merely 'temporarily small, adult worms' but immature, bed-run worms of expected tiny size. The ones that came were mostly healthy looking, but the shipment as a whole did not fulfill the claims made by the company. If I had received 2lbs of these bed-run worms then I would be happy, as the immature worms would be more adaptable than plumped-up adults, but that's not what I was shipped. I was shipped magical shrinking worms that were claimed to be 1800-2000 strong and 2lbs when they entered the mail but somehow shrank in mass and numbers in shipping, only to magically regain their mass and numbers in 2 days. I am now aware that I was ripped off and have been sent less than 1000 worms that will take half a year to grow up and reproduce into the form that the seller claimed. That is NOT what I paid for! ***UPDATE*** I called the number that was prominently displayed on the instruction sheet that was enclosed with the worms. After having to describe that I did read and comprehend the instructions, followed them, and the results were not what were claimed, the person on the phone decided to replace the worms with no further resistance. The box of replacement worms was much heavier than the initial one, spent 1 less day in the mail, and appeared to contain an altogether different sample of worms. I suspect that the initial shipment may have been from a worm bed that was nearly depleted and this was more likely to be from a newly harvested bed. The worms from this shipment were dispersed in loose material and were active to the point that they were thrashing around. I just did a checkup on them and when I removed the newspaper on top of their installment location, the residual packing material started pulsing from within with active worms. The initial shipment had very slow worms that took several days to disperse from the initial area, and the bag smelled unpleasant compared to this replacement. The initial worms also were tightly wadded into a ball, likely for a last-ditch attempt to survive. Now, I firmly believe that when you buy something, it should be at 100% condition when you receive it and no amount of RMA or phone calls should cause an increase in product rating as quality control and packaging design are part of the product I pay for. This is a different case though since the product is live animals that I understand are shipped in an environment that is hazardous to them. Since the problem was resolved to satisfaction without a bad experience, I'm compelled to raise my rating of the product. My new rating assumes that the buyer understands that if their shipment goes bad in the mail or an error was made in the shipment, that they can get a replacement shipment without much hassle.

Worms came early so be prepared when you order them. It was packed full of worms, they were very active and healthy looking. Put into my worm tower and they buried down within 15 minutes. I would definitely recommend.

Unfortunately my purchase was to be red wiggles. I however received Indian blues. Disappointed but a lesson to avoid this uncle Jim company