White worms are not treated as “cultures” in the same way as Microworm, Banana worm etc. being free existing i.e. they are not parasites and do not need a host on which they rely on for survival, they are naturally soil dwelling and this is the type of medium they should be grown in.
On arrival, place a piece of damp bread onto the surface, before long the worms will come and feed just under the piece of bread, this should be replaced if it should go mouldy, this will be the best place to remove any for use, it may take a day or so for them to start gathering.

Alternatively, to encourage faster breeding, the contents should be decanted into a larger container, the size of a 2 litre ice cream container is ideal, with a good fitting but ventilated lid, extra bedding should be added along with a small piece of wet bread (water is best) about a quarter of a slice is ideal, it should be placed on the top of the medium, after a while the White worm will congregate underneath and feed on the bread, when the piece of bread has been eaten, replace it with a bit twice the size, this will encourage the worms to spread, breed and grow, if the piece of bread should start to go mouldy, replace it with a fresh bit. If you should decide to move the worms into a different container, on tipping them out a lot will usually stay stuck to the bottom and sides of the original container so check you have got them all out!
The lid should always stay on the container but pop it off every couple of days to change the air. The worms should always be kept in dull conditions and in cool temperatures, cold floor, cellar etc but we do not recommend a refrigerator.
With a little care and management your White worm colony should thrive. As the colony grows it is always a good idea to divide into 2 or 3 separate tubs, so if anything should happen you will have another colony to fall back on. Dividing them also gives them more space and with food, will encourage the population to grow.

Please note, whiteworms grow in a lumpy mass, this is put into the container first and then covered by a fine layer of new bedding, the “lumps ” are deliberately not broken up as this would cause damage to the worms, they will migrate into the new bedding.

During hot weather

You may find that mites develop in the culture medium, sometimes this can be quite extensive, unfortunately these mites are almost always present in the soil based medium used to grow whiteworm and high temperatures can trigger a “bloom” they are harmless if somewhat annoying. The whole culture can be slowly submerged in water allowing the mites to be poured off and then the culture allowed to drain and drip dry, further info is available on the internet.

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