Today, I have started an experiment of growing garden earthworms in
containers, and cultivating them for the production of wormcasts. I
have a compost mound which has fermented well enough to allow garden
worms to enter it. One digging with the shovel can take as many as 4
or 5 worms at a time. In some places, the concentration is even
higher. I have a perforated container, which I filled with one layer
of gravel, one layer of dry leaves and covered with the same soil
which contained the earthworms. After I filled the container, I have
added a few more earthworms which were exposed by the digging action.
The earthworms were very active when I picked them up, the soil was
humid enough and so were my hands. I expected the worms to burrow in
the container as I put them inside. However, they turned less active
and even stood still. I checked and made sure they were not 'parts' of
earthworms which were cut while digging. Even after sprinkling more
water into the picked-up soil, and leaving the container for a few
hours, they remained in their place. They responded slightly when I
touched them, then stopped again.
I have tried this type of culture before, but it didn't work either. I
would like to know if the worms underneath the surface are doing well,
but digging for them will upset their serene existance, and if
anything happened to them, digging in the container would make it even
worse.