Some uses of Earthworms

Some uses of Earthworms.

Gardens Worms and their castings are beneficial to all native and exotic plants such as fruit trees, seedlings, trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables, and herbs.

The action of the worms will till, aerate, fertilise, and promote the growth of "friendly" bacteria in the soil. As they tunnel their way through the soil, they convert organic matter and insoluble minerals into plant available, soluble nutrients, in the form of worm castings. The tunnels they leave behind allow oxygen and water to penetrate deep into the soil, making it more moisture retentive. The tunnels are coated with a mucus, rich in nitrates, which dissolves as water passes through and spreads it to lower levels of the soil. Roots also follow these tunnels, allowing them to spread quickly and take nourishment from the nitrogen rich mucus.

Compost Bins Add some earthworms to your compost bin or heap, cover with some hessian bags, carpet or similar materials to retain moisture, and sit back and let the worms work day and night to help break down your kitchen and garden waste into Vermi-compost and castings full of nutrition for all your plants around the garden and indoors. All you need to do is make sure the material stays moist (like a wrung out cloth), and to keep adding material to the top of the pile and removing the Vermi-compost and castings from the bottom. There is no need to turn the pile repeatedly with a fork to aerate it as the worms perform this task by tunnelling through, aerating the heap. Heavy and woody prunings should be shredded to assist in the breaking down process. If needed, they can be passed through the heap a number of times.

A family of four living on an average suburban block will produce about 1½ tonnes of organic waste in one year. It would take about 5000 worms to process this amount of waste, but given the rate at which they multiply, a starting population of 1000 worms is sensible and affordable. Once the worm population is matched to the feeding rate, the breeding rate will stabilise unless some are removed. This usually happens as the resulting Vermi-compost and castings will contain worms and capsules which will hatch in your garden, adding "life" to your soil.

Vermi-compost and Castings These can be used in various ways, all producing excellent results.

As a Soil Conditioner, they can be spread around the garden and lawn by hand or using a fertiliser spreader. Best results are obtained if the castings are lightly turned into the top inch or so of soil and well watered. Castings can also be fed to potted plants in the same manner (use about 4 tablespoons in a 6" pot).

Potting Mixes containing up to 30% castings (any more may inhibit drainage) provide sufficient plant nutrition to sustain healthy growth for up to two years, by which time most plants will need re-potting. Vermi-compost can be used as the sole potting medium.

When Planting Out trees, shrubs and seedlings, a few good handfuls of castings mixed into the backfill will ensure they get away to a much better start.

Seed Germination in pure castings is superior to most mediums used and growth is healthy and strong.

Animal Feed Earthworms are high in protein and are a valuable supplement for aquarium fish, crayfish, chickens, ducks, quails, and other varieties of birds.

Bait Earthworms produce amino acids not produced by fish, so have an appetising smell to the fish, and are tried and proven for both fresh and salt water varieties.

What will worms eat?

They will eat anything organic, although some things take longer than others to tempt their tastebuds. Here are some guidelines to follow.

Kitchen waste - all your fruit and vegetable waste is ideal, but don’t give them too much of the acidic foods such as citrus fruit, tomatoes and onions at one time. Bread and biscuits are best crumbled and sprinkled onto the bed and lightly sprinkled with water.

Hair clippings - use sparingly as they take time to break down enough for the worms to eat.

Eggshells - they should be crushed as small as possible. The worms may not eat them all, but they provide calcium to the bedding/castings and help stop the build up of acid conditions which can be harmful.

Cardboard/paper - these should be soaked in water for 24 hours to soften the fibres. Be aware though that these items contain levels of boron and other chemicals which may lead to nutrient problems in the resulting castings, so use some caution and keep to around 10% if you wish to use the castings for soil conditioning.

Meat & Bones - worms will treat these as a delicacy but should be used with extreme care as there are human health problems to consider. They should be well buried in the worm pit or compost bin to hide the odour, or this will attract dogs, cats, flies etc, not to mention neighbourly suggestions.

Rags/Carpet - so long as they are 100% natural fibres. Use any synthetic materials as a covering for the worm bed to exclude light and heavy rain, but be careful not to exclude air circulation.

Garden waste - soft, fleshy type leaves and stems are suitable but avoid hard sticks and "oily" type leaves such as eucalypt and pine. Fresh cut lawn clippings should only be used sparingly, however, dried clippings are better as they don’t create as much heat. Weeds should be treated similarly, and shake off most of soil from the roots.

A small amount of soil is good though, as it provides some grit to aid in the digestive process. Shred material as much as possible to aid breakdown.

Manures - worms love manure, horse, cow, pig, sheep, goat, chook (well rotted) etc, but there are a few things to be remember. Dog and cat manures in particular can harbour pathogens harmful to humans. Fresh manures produce heat so use sparingly at one corner allowing the worms to move away. Old manure is not as bad but still don’t use large amounts at once. Some drenches used for animal de-worming are active in manures for up to 4 weeks, so find out when they were last used. If you are unsure, put 20 worms into a container with the manure for 24 hours and if they die, let the manure stand for a few weeks before it is used.

How much water do they need?

The bedding should be kept about as moist as a wrung out face washer. Too much water keeps out the air supply which can cause the bedding to turn "sour" and eventually kill your worms. Too dry, and the worms will dehydrate. Either condition could also cause them to crawl away seeking a better environment. The quantity of water you need to give them is dependent upon the types of feed you use. Generally speaking, feeds such as scraps and other moistened materials will provide enough water to keep them healthy. Note that the shallower the depth of bedding, the quicker it will dry out, so in the early stages, you may need to sprinkle a small amount of water onto the bedding every day or two.

Where can worms be kept?

They will live happily in any type of container such as foam boxes, bathtubs, drums, buckets, garden beds etc or there are purpose built worm units which are neat, tidy and can be kept indoors if you wish. Worms have three main enemies to consider when it comes to housing them. Sunlight - this can be reduced by covering the worm bed with hessian, carpet, rags or best of all, a lid. Temperature - 17 to 24 degrees C is their preferred temperature range (in the bedding, not air temp.) Provided there is sufficient volume of moist bedding material and air circulation, this range is not difficult to retain. Drainage - if water builds up in the container it will force out oxygen and in turn force the worms to come to the surface where they are vulnerable to both sunlight and temperature extremes.

Some form of shade or covering (such as under a tree, on a patio, in the garage or shade house) will help to overcome these enemies.

BENEFITS FROM USING LIQUID CASTINGS

Having had more than an interest in worms and their benefits for many years I offer the following explanation for the water holding ability of Worm Wee.

Worm Wee or liquid castings is high in beneficial bacteria which when released into the soil immediately start to work liberating the nutrients bound up in it.
This will help strengthen the plants and healthy plants are more drought tolerant. Liq casts can also contain good levels of trace elements which may be lacking in some soils.
Maybe this allows the chemical changes to take place in the soil enabling it to retain moisture Secondly, worms excrete large amounts of mucous through their skin to aid predominantly in the transfer of oxygen into their bloodstream but it also lines the walls of the burrows. This mucus is then dissolved as water passes through the burrows and comes out in the liq casts. As you are aware I'm sure, mucus is a sticky substance and water retentive.
This is most likely the reason that once water repellant soil now takes up water as the soil particles cling to the mucous and the mucous retains the moisture.

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