Knowing them worms

Post date: May 5, 2020 11:45:30 PM

Uma Sashikanth

Knowing them Worms

If you have organic matter like wood chips, dry leaves and compost in your garden, you will see earth worms. Sometimes the sugars in the plant roots are adequate to bring them in.

The one that you want in your soils is the big fat one that tunnels and digs. It aerates your soil and constantly makes it better. It is just there doing its work. Sometimes flashing a beautiful blue color, some of these systematically carry leaf litter from the top to inside your soils and crushes them for you. You must love them. When you harvest potatoes, you will be astonished at how many fat ones will be teeming there for the sugars. And how beautifully crumbly they would have made the soil.

The other worms work for you the red wriggler. Not naturally found but bred from horse manure. These are bought or bred for producing Vermicompost. Very frail and tiny, these guys do not know to furrow or tunnel. They are not aerators of the soil. They will however voraciously eat your kitchen wastes and organic matter and produce great plant ready nutritious Vermicompost. It is black gold for your garden.

Red wrigglers won’t survive in soil. They may live in the top five cms, but will be hunted by birds as prey. You can get them with horse manure or buy them and set up a Vermicompost bin.

The worm you must pick out and offer as prey are the Amynthas or the jumping worms. They look like the red wrigglers, but they have a distinct flat band on their backs. And then they jump and move rapidly like a snake. Twisting themselves in loops they dance about if you disturb the soil. These are the invasive worms that cause quite some damage to soil. Pick and dunk them in water or feed them to birds.

When you set up a composter, make sure you don’t breed the jumping jacks!

Pictures below. Hopefully you won’t be grossed out.

The tunneling hero and humble tiny red wriggler.

On the top is the invasive jumping worm with its distinct band. Below are the cute red wrigglers.