Worming 101

[nono_fr]

There is an alien worms invasion in North america !

the scientific news speak about earthworms . I tanslate to you : https://www.techno-science.net/actualite/menace-vers-N22182.html

The threat of worms

Not all invasive species are visible to the naked eye. In many parts of North America, there are now more invasive species than native species... earthworms.

In a sense, these invaders have benefited from the ice age. Large areas of the northern parts of the continent lost most of their earthworms during the last ice age and still had not recovered them a few centuries ago when humans arrived from Europe. Since then, the situation has changed: of the 308 species recorded in North America, a quarter originate elsewhere. In Canada, three quarters are from elsewhere.

And considering that earthworm species in general cover large areas of the world, it is not surprising that a recent study, pre-published on 29 June, estimated that 'foreign' worms are present in 97% of the regions analysed.

One might think that, among the so-called "invasive" species, earthworms are only a minor nuisance since one of their functions is to enrich the soil, which in turn can be useful for agriculture. The downside, however, revealed earlier this year by another study, is that in Alberta forests, the biodiversity of insects and spiders decreases as the worms arrive. Other studies, also focused on forests in the US and especially Canada, have shown a decline in recent years in certain types of plants and possibly in sugar maples. And things will not get any better with warming, which will offer some of these species warmer territories even further north.

If getting rid of them is out of the question, at least we can slow down their progress: the authors of the 29 June study point out that it is human activities that facilitate the migration of earthworms, between the soil trapped in our boots and that transported by our tyres. A little clean-up would greatly limit the ambitions of these little creatures, whose rate of movement is estimated at 10 metres per year.

and this one https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.27.497722v1

Global worming: massive invasion of North America by earthworms revealed​

Human activities cause major ecological changes by reshuffling the spatial distribution of species. The extent to which this process affects belowground biota is a critical issue because soil organisms play a key role in ecosystem functioning and maintenance. However, the magnitude of the reshuffling of soil species remains unknown so far because of the lack of a historic baseline. Here, we begin to fill this gap with the largest spatiotemporal database of native and alien earthworms in North America. Our results reveal that the entire continent is being invaded by non-native earthworms through a variety of pathways. We show that these aliens bring novel ecological functions in most regions and thus represent a major threat to native ecosystems. Our findings demonstrate that earthworms, and most likely other soil organisms, represent a major but overlooked pool of invasive species with strong ecological impact. They need to be better integrated in control and mitigation strategies.

 

[Growdo Baggins]

Hello ( again ) !

With worm compost, I make aerated tea and I want to share a link with a lot of tips : http://microbeorganics.com/

content :
What Is Compost Tea
More On Compost Tea (2013)
Organic Growing from a Microbial Perspective
Living Soil
Root Exudates
So You Wanna Build A Compost Tea Brewer
Microbe Identification

I heard this guy on kis organics podcast, he was great. I've been looking over his website for the past hour learning about compost tea brewers. It was very helpful thank you for posting it. I saved the link I'll be hitting this up a lot.

 

[St. Phatty]

Do worms like Loud Music ?

 

[Growdo Baggins]

Do worms like Loud Music ?

Pithia superculous also known as the "loud music worm" enjoys music. But only The Misfits and only the material written by Glenn Danzig.

 

[islandpreservation]

I always have crazy ants infiltrate my worm bin. They kill worms eventually. Anyone have problems with ants and solutions?

 

[islandpreservation]

I always have crazy ants infiltrate my worm bin. They kill worms eventually. Anyone have problems with ants and solutions?

FYII have found grass clippings from the lawn to be the number one thing that gets the bin movin and worms happy.

 

[Growdo Baggins]

I always have crazy ants infiltrate my worm bin. They kill worms eventually. Anyone have problems with ants and solutions?

I'd be very angry at those ants. I watched my bin for a good long while to be sure that the mites in there weren't hurting my worms. I get fiercely protective of those guys. A few weeks ago, like a fucking idiot, I dumped a bowl of fermented strawberries and apples, that had accumulated a bunch of liquid at the bottom, directly into my bin. It didn't occur to me until I went back 10 minutes later, to worms hundreds of dead worms, that I dumped a bowl of alcohol into my my bin of life. I lost sleep that night. In fact i didn't stop thinking about it until the alcohol smell went away and the worms stopped trying to escape. It took about 2 days.

There was a bio-agent that I was reading about for getting rid of ants from compost piles, but I'm not sure how well it would work for a worm bin. It basically did something to the eggs which would hopefully cause the ants to relocate to protect them. If there nesting in there it would assume it would work. But if those fuckers are going in just to eat the worms, I'd fuck them up with something. Have you tried encircling your bin with something. Maybe diatomaceous earth or some such. I've never used it before, but it's supposed to work on insects with exoskeletons. I think.

 

[heirloomganja]

Any one using coffee grinds as raw material for the worms?

 

[islandpreservation]

I have made amazing bins in felt pots with aged horse manure and grass clippings. Only problem here is keeping the crazy ants out, any suggestions on that?

 

[heirloomganja]

I have made amazing bins in felt pots with aged horse manure and grass clippings. Only problem here is keeping the crazy ants out, any suggestions on that?

They don't like Marigold flowers, so sow some of it and put the plants around the bins.

 

[Azeotrope]

I have a no paper/cardboard rule for my bins. I try to feed them an extremely diverse set of inputs and always strive to have plenty of rabbit, sheep, alpaca, or llama manure available for them as well.