Earthworm farms/ earthworm farming.
There are lots of types of worms for lots of types of jobs. When your planning to use the worms for composting your vegetable scraps etc its probably best to choose “composting worms”. These specific breeds of worms are chosen for composting because of there ferocious appetites and there enjoyment for staying in the top layers of soil. Composting worms occupy a different ecological niche, living near the surface where there are high concentrations of organic matter, such as on pastures or in leaf mould, or under compost piles.
Now, if your talking about “earthworm farming” then that’s a different kettle of tea all together. Earthworm farming differs from composting worm farming in the following ways:
- Earthworms and composting worms like a different kind of diet.
- Due to the incapacity of the compost-raised worm to absorb sustenance from a soil wich is lacking humus (decayed animal matter), any transfer of it to an ordinary soil will prove lethal. Likewise, any endeavour to relocate an earth worm to a compost pile will result in fatalities.
- Anatomically, the compost worm, is almost one-third in size smaller than an earth worm. But being of the same family, its clitellum, head band, and segments are indistinguishable, except that they are more accentuated.
- In habits, earthworms burrows deeper into the soil in search of sustenance, whereas, the compost worm generally doesn’t burrow deeper the 8 – 12 inches. This is because the compost worm is a feeder on decaying organic matter, which is seldom found deeper than 12 inches it, so, it remains within that depth.
So , if your deciding to create a “composting worm farm” than maybe you should choose to purchase composting worms instead of earthworms. Red wigglers are generally sold in most hardware stores and are easy to raise and look after.
For more information on how easy it is to create a worm farm check out my new book “Worm Farming for Beginners”
It has everything you need to know about starting your own composting worm farm!
Happy Worm farming!
Earthworm Castings.
Worm castings are recognised throughout the world as the richest natural, chemical free plant food known to man. (WonderwormUk.com, 2008)
Castings are odourless, non toxic, and are suitable to use on all plants, including delicate seedlings.
Earthworms don’t digest the organic matter that they “eat”. They are actually digesting the micro-organisms that are feeding on the organic waste matter. When they excrete the castings, there are now up to eight times as many beneficial micro-organisms as there were previously. If there were disease pathogens present on the organic matter digested by the worms, it is killed off by active micro-flora and intestinal secretions in the worms digestive system. In addition, the vermin-compost contains many additional minerals (compared to that of regular soil) that aid in plant growth, and are rich in humic and fulvic acids which balance pH of the soil.
Castings contain:
– A neutral pH of 7 no matter what the diet of the worm. – (“If you are looking for worms, you are in the right place”– http://members.tripod.com/-wormigrow/)
– Beneficial bacteria, plant growth hormones, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, selenium, organic carbon.
– 5 times the available nitrogen, 7 times the available potash, and 11/2 times the available calcium than found in good top soil.
– Humic acid: which is a beneficial fungal activator.
– Fulvic acid: which is a beneficial bacteria activator.
– Auxins: which is an organic substance characterised by its ability to promote growth, particularly in roots. It is an active ingredient in rooting compounds.
– Not a single trace of E.coli, salmonella or other pathogens as they are destroyed due to the competition from the active micro flora and intestinal secretions. Most of our human pathogens are anaerobic and cannot survive in the aerobic environment created by worms.
– A “slow release” quality. After digestion, the undigested material-moves through the alimentary canal of the worm, a thin layer of oil is deposited on the castings. This layer erodes over a period of 2 months. So although the plant nutrients immediatelyavailable, they are slowly released to last longer.
– (“If you are looking for worms, you are in the right place” http://members.tripod.com/-wormigrow/)
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By adding worm castings to your existing garden soil you will be actively helping plant growth by:
– Increasing the organic matter (humus) content. This will make your soil less likely to become compacted.
– Increasing the water retaining qualities. Castings can retain up to 9 times their weight in water.
To find out more on how worm castings improve your soil simply purchase:
“Worm Farming for Beginners”
Earthworms.
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, once defined worms as: “The intestines of the soil”, which isn’t far off the mark. Basically an earthworm is a large digestive, muscular tube that tunnels it’s way through the soil, consuming at one end and depositing at the other.
There are approximately around 2 700 species (different kinds) of earthworms around the globe. One of the smallest earthworms is approximately 1 centimetre long and one of the largest can be 2 metres long.
The Giant Gippsland Earthworm is one of the worms largest earthworms. Unfortunately it is listed as a “vulnerable” species with International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It has an average length of up to 80cm and a width of 2cm. This may not sound too extraordinary, but when this worm is relaxed it can double its size! This means the Giant Gippsland Earthworm can reach the size of nearly 2 metres in length!
Earthworms are found right around the globe including: Australia, the Sahara Desert, Iceland and Mongolia are among only a few countries that have their own individual native species. Although several species live in differing horizons (layers) in the surface layers of soil, others can be found in decomposing logs, in the trees – the upper angle between the branch and the trunk, even sometimes up to 9 m above ground or along the damp soil surrounding rivers and ponds.
Earthworms are not suitable for composting though. Please refrain from digging them out of your garden and putting them into the worm farm!
Earthworms are similar to composting worms in regards to anatomy. For example:
Each worm consists of:
– A mouth, but no teeth.
– A throat, but no ears or eyes.
– A capillary system located under the worm’s skin, which acts as the worm’s lungs.
– Setae, which are small spines that are projected from the body wall by muscles and act as anchors. These also play a role in reproduction.
– A heavy-duty digestive system, in which enormous quantities of beneficial organisms are incubated and deposited into the soil with the castings.
– Up to 5 pairs of hearts, but no backbone.
– A body consisting of 200-400 muscular rings.
– Kidney type organs called nephridia.
– A brain. (Experiments have shown the removal of the brain causes only slight locomotive change. Both worms with a brain, and those without, perform at essentially the same rates. – Miriam F. Bennett)
For more information about worm anatomy and much, much more simply purchase “Worm Farming for Beginners”