Full Disclosure of Taiwan Red Worm Farming Techniques

Let's take a good look at the secrets hidden beneath the "nickname" Tai Ping No. 2.

There are two kinds of Si Si, and Tai Ping No. 2 contains three kinds

As stated above, everyone says Tai Ping No. 2 is Eisenia foetida, and it sounds as if Tai Ping No. 2 is a pure breed cultivated from a single earthworm species, as precise as breed names like "Tainung 71 (Yi-Chuan Fragrant Rice)," "Persian cat," or "Shiba Inu." But no matter how you look at it, the farmed red worms in various places are not even a pure "species," let alone a pure "breed." Among the piles of worms labeled "Tai Ping No. 2" scooped up at farms everywhere, there is actually more than one species - there are as many as three seen so far, and they are not all called red worms.

Some might think, who cares how many kinds of earthworms there are, as long as they eat kitchen scraps, turn compost, or serve as feed that animals will eat. Yes, if that is all you require, then it does not matter even if there are 30 species in the farm. But if you really want the earthworm farming industry to become more refined, and the worms you raise to have more delicate niches and uses, then figuring out what differences the worms in your hands have, separating the species for farming if possible, and providing the best farming environment for each species' needs and functions, using them in the most suitable way, should be the better direction.

Three kinds of earthworms said to be "Tai Ping No. 2" lying in a row - do you see the differences?

What's more, the three species among Taiwan's farmed earthworms are not like the Pomeranian, the fox dog, and the Chihuahua, which differ only as breeds, or like the tangerine, the liucheng orange, and the pomelo, which are merely similar but different species in the same genus. The three species among Taiwan's farmed earthworms are Eisenia andrei, Perionyx excavatus, and Eudrilus eugeniae.

Moreover, these three earthworms belong to different "families," meaning the differences between them are as great as those between "cats," "dogs," and "raccoons"!

So if you just want to collect droppings, and raise these three "hairy, four-legged, tailed, all meat-eating" animals together as if they were the same, then of course it does not matter. But if you want to raise one that "catches mice" or "guards the house," or even want to provide the least food but collect the most droppings, then figuring out what kind of animal you are raising and selecting the most suitable kind is still a bit better.

Below is a comparison table of these three kinds of earthworms:

The differences among the three kinds of "Tai Ping No. 2."