How long would you say it takes for a culture to mature enough to harvest?
It depends on a number of factors. You could start multiple cultures at once to have them ready to harvest at different times. For example, you could order two starter cultures. Use all of one to start one culture which would be ready first. Divide the second culture unevenly, (2/3 and 1/3 or so) so that they will mature more slowly and will be ready at different times.
Any tips on transferring them over to new substrate? Should I not cross contaminate the soil?
Cross contamination shouldn’t be an issue unless you are experiencing problems. But, a good practice with the new soil is to bake it to prevent any potential pests that may have hitchhiked in with it. If you do not want to include any soil from your older culture, you can flood it to bring the healthy worms to the top. From there, you can collect and transfer them to the new culture.
It is really hot/cold right now. Will it be OK to order a white worm culture in this weather?
I ship in insulated mailers and include cold packs when appropriate. White worms tend to be very resilient to cold weather so cold should not be an issue unless it is a hard freeze and you are not able to bring them in right away when they are delivered. Hot weather, on the other hand, can harm them very quickly. The insulated mailer and cold packs help, especially during the first part of shipping. However, you should only order during hot weather if you will be able to bring them in immediately upon delivery.
