A colony holds three life stages at once, not a kilogram of biomass
Weight without the age structure tells you nothing. Only a complete colony works: those that eat today and those that will carry the system on tomorrow.
A 15–20 kg box
The colony travels in its own substrate, the processed manure it is used to. Don’t move it into plain soil: these worms live in organic matter, not in mineral soil.
About 1500 adult worms
Mature, with a clitellum. They are today’s workforce: they process feed and lay cocoons from the first weeks.
Cocoons and juveniles
The main thing to look at when buying. Not every adult survives the move, and that’s normal: from then on the system is carried by those that hatch. Lemon-shaped capsules and thin white young worms in the top layer mean the colony is reproducing.
2–4 weeks of food
The food is already in the substrate, so you don’t feed at all for the first weeks. This supply lasts through adaptation.
How to stock
The bedding is prepared in advance, the colony is tipped out in a mound with its home substrate, and a light stays on over the box the first night.
Three stepsThree steps on arrival day
The bedding is prepared in advance: it’s the only thing to do before the colony arrives. Stocking itself takes half an hour.
Prepare the bedding
A 10–15 cm layer: torn corrugated cardboard, shredded paper, coir, aged leaf litter or well-rotted manure. Moisture 70–80%: squeeze a handful and 1–2 drops come out. Let the bedding stand for a week or two so aerobic microflora can establish: they are what prepares the food.
Tip the colony out in a mound
Together with its home substrate, right onto the surface of the bedding. Don’t spread it in a thin layer: let the colony stay in familiar surroundings and explore the new ones gradually, at its own pace.
Leave a light on over the box
A desk lamp over the open reactor for the first night. Worms move away from light and down, so the whole population burrows straight into the substrate instead of crawling off to the edges.
If you are processing manure, adaptation may go faster, since the colony arrives from familiar food. But don’t count on it in advance: the first-month routine stays the same.
Better to underfeed than overfeed
The most critical period. Almost all beginners’ losses happen here, and almost always for one reason: the colony was given more feed than it could eat.
Week 1 · pause
Don’t feed at all. After the move the colony is stressed, and there is enough food in its home substrate and the bedding. The only thing to do is watch the moisture of the top layer and, if needed, spray it with water left to stand: a fine mist, never a stream.
Weeks 2–4 · little and often
Feed in a 2.5–5 cm layer and only over half the reactor: the other half stays a safe zone to retreat to if the new portion starts heating up. The next portion goes in only once the previous one is eaten. If it sits untouched, extend the pause.
What to avoid
Fresh manure heats up and releases ammonia. Meat, fish, fats and dairy bring protein poisoning and flies. Too much citrus acidifies. Ash and slaked lime are alkaline and burn the skin. Chalk and dolomite are fine, but at the dose the app calculates.
Colonies are prepared to order only
We don’t keep ready colonies in stock: each one is put together for a specific order, so please don’t come without a confirmation, as there simply won’t be one.
Request and confirmation
Tell us how many colonies you need and where. We confirm the date, and only then do you come to collect or wait for delivery.
400 lei per colony
One colony is a 15–20 kg box with substrate, worms and a food supply. For companies we calculate quantities and timing separately.
Pickup
Production site: 1 Shkolnaya Street, Teia village, Grigoriopol district. An order of one colony is pickup only.
Delivery
From 10 colonies, free within Chișinău. Delivery elsewhere in Moldova and Transnistria is discussed separately and depends on volume and route.
Why made to order
A colony is a living population with cocoons and juveniles, not goods off a shelf. It is taken from a working reactor shortly before handover, so you get living substrate, not a dried-out box.
Request a quoteHow many colonies you need
For a home reactor one colony is enough: from there it grows on its own. For a company we calculate from the organic waste, roughly one colony per cubic meter. Tell us how many you need and where, and we’ll confirm the date and put them together.
We reply during working hours. If you’d rather talk, leave your phone number and we’ll call you back.
Breed Eisenia fetida and become a supplier
We ourselves work in Moldova and Transnistria. If you breed worms in your own country, fill in the application: once it’s verified, your contact details will appear on the site for your region.