Subject: SHOULD I BUY WORMS?������

From: [email-masked] (Jim Mcnelly)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 00:34:00 +0600

PS> Mary Spencer ([email-masked]) wrote: 

: Well, should I buy worms?
PS> I've seen some in my soil, but for what they do : it seems that more
PS> would help out. DO I naturally have as many worms as : my organic
PS> matter can carry, or would buying more help?

Peg Seremjian replies:

PS> The soil I had experience with was a heavy clay soil with almost no
PS> earthworms. I amended it with *lots* of organic matter (8-10" tilled
PS> in in the fall, plus organic mulch all season) and the earthworms
PS> came in droves. I have no idea how they know its there, but there
PS> were 50-100 every spadeful compared to almost none where I had made
PS> no efforts toward soil improvement.

PS> If Jim McNelly reads this, perhaps he'll add more, particularly on
PS> the number of worms your soil can support. I got my wormbox after
PS> reading his posts on vermicomposting on Prodigy a few years back. He
PS> knows his worms, thats for sure! :)

You betcha! It makes little sense to buy garden worms to add to 
topsoil. The worm carrying capacity of a soil is directly proportional 
to the available feed, plus moisture and temperature. If you feed the 
soil, the worms will come.

Earthworms do not make a poor soil good; they only make a good soil 
better. The number of worms per acre in 7% organic matter soil such as 
prairies or deciduous forest is about 900 lbs. At approximately 300 
adult lumbricus terrestris (nightcrawlers) to the pound, that is around 
270,000 worms. At approximately 44,000 square feet to the acre, that is 
a minimum of six worms per square foot.

If your soil is depleted, the number of worms drops proportionally. 
Poor soils can have as few as one worm per four square feet. If you use 
vermicides such as certain pesticides, you may have killed most of the 
worms off. Adding organic matter such as compost and mulch will 
immediately trigger the worms amazing reproductive skills and build up 
the population within a year or two. I have seen super composted soils 
with as many as 25 worms per square foot. It may not be a sustainable 
population, but it is fun while it lasts!

Mr Compost~~~

Jim~ McNelly
[email-masked]

 * RM 1.3 02460 * Sure, when... OINK FLAP OINK FLAP... Well I'll be damned!

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From: [email-masked] (Pearce)
Date: 15 Mar 1995 16:07:43 -0500

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (John Tusciuk) writes:
>It's because when the soil is that wet, the worms can't get enough
>oxygen.  They "breathe" through their skin, so they need to remain
>moist, but there isn't enough oxygen dissolved in the rainwater for
>them to survive.  So they come to the surface.  If not for your
>driveway, they would be on another patch of dirt and when the water
>drained they would simply go back down into the ground.  Concrete sort
>of keeps that from happening, though.
>

Interesting idea - I just thought they wanted to go for a swim
in the rain - Seems as though some haven't learnt how to yet.

This discovery was further strengthened by finding worms in my
above ground pool which was covered for the winter. I guess
the fence and cover I erected to protect living things from
drowning in the pool doesn't work for worms.............:-)

Mike Pearce.

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From: [email-masked] (Mark Borchers)
Date: 20 Mar 1995 21:39:56 GMT

Bill McConnell ([email-masked]) wrote:
: If you like, come to my house during a rain.  For
: unknown (to me) reasons, worms get a hankering to
: travel on rainy days.  I've got 1 per square foot
: sliming along on my sidewalk and driveway right now!
: Two days from now they'll be shrivelled and dried
: up.  Any ideas why they do it?

: Bill McConnell.

They crawl to the surface to avoid drowning.

--
Mark Borchers
OARnet, Columbus, Ohio
[email-masked]