Christina Curell has spent literally C of hour research through soil samples on the lookout for worm . “ I sit down on a pail for two weeks one summer to count louse , ” she recalls . “ I was up there from sunup to sundown … . I hauled my water , hauled my soil , and I found two worms in an entire week . ”
Justtwoworms ? “ This was a research game and the territory that I was in was not contributory to worm , ” she explains . Curell works as the Cover Crop and Soil Health Educator forMichigan State University Extension .
When they ’re at work in your garden , louse can boost the soil ’s prolificacy , structure , and its ability to hold moisture . Of course , there are several variables that affect whether your soil is chock full or nearly innocent of worm .
“ It all depends on where you ’re at , the temperature , the clip of year , the soil type — the variables are huge , ” Curell tell . “ So , what I commonly enjoin people is to just go and look for worms . ”
Read more : Make worm compost from kitchen scraps !
Who’s Who
Just what should you be looking for exactly when you do worm counts ? “ There are lots of species of louse , and we lean to collocate them together , ” Curell says . Put just , there are a few basic groups of louse — epigeic , endogeic and anecic .
wrick over the damp mulch or folio litter in a perennial bed and you may come across some surface - dwelling worms . These modest worms are in the “ epigeic ” chemical group . They remain up top , chewing through molder leave and other debris .
crimson worms fall into this category . “ The red-faced worms are the unity that we really like , ” Curell says . “ They ’re the workhorses . They ’re kind of small and they ’re aboriginal . ”
Some kind of epigeic worms also exist in cooler compost big money and vermicomposting bin . These dirt ball are experts at break down the organic matter found above ground .
When you dig down into the top bed of your land , you might expose some soil - domicile or “ endogeic ” worms . These are normally larger and paler than the epigeic worm . ( In fact , some are so pale that you’re able to see any soil they ’ve recently feed . ) They make a series of horizontal tunnels as they move through the soil ’s top layers .
This , in routine , can help to better soil structure .
eventually , when you dig down far still , you reach the kingdom of the “ anecic ” worm . These are large , rich - diving wiggler . go as nature ’s tillers , they pull fallen leaves and other surface junk down with them into their erect tunnel . ( They ’ll even shred expend cornstalk to take back with them as they return to the cool , moist surroundings they favor . )
Getting Started
When taking a worm count , Curell usually digs an 18 - by-18 - in country in relatively moist soil . “ We require to go to a twosome of depths when we do this , ” she says . “ Just go down 3 to 6 inches and bet the worms … Then go down the next 6 inches and count . Then go a little bit deep . ”
She continue , “ insect are really good about moving , so , if you do n’t [ weigh within ] those piffling increments , they ’ll be gone . ” Put the dirt you absent in a large bucket or wheelbarrow as you go . Count the insect you see in each stratum , total your number , and then replace the worms and dirt .
read your results along with the temperature , date and billet on the exact location of your count . consummate additional dirt ball counts in the same post annually to gauge soil health and improvement . “ check that that you ’re in reality test at the same time of yr and that [ soil ] moisture and temperature are consistent , ” Curell recommend .
Read more : Air and water are vital to bemire health .
Your Results
So , what if you detect very few worms — or no worms at all ? “ [ adopt a worm count ] is a fun agency of checking for soil health , but it ’s not the conclusion all and be all of grime health , ” she says . “ Especially depending on your soil case — if you ’ve got drier soil … you ’re not going to notice them . They do n’t survive in droughty soils . ”
“ Or if you have really , really heavy grunge — like heavy stiff — they’re not going to be there either , ” she continues . “ They ca n’t live in that , because they need air and , also , they need to move . So , it all just depends on your dirt eccentric . ”
What if your soil is neither droughty nor clay - enceinte and you recollect you should be seeing high worm count ? Add manure and plant more cover crops .
“ One of the things about worms is that they need nutrient , ” Curell says . “ [ Worms are ] eating all of those bacteria and fungi that live around the plant root . . . . So , the more plants that we can get into the system , the more worms we ’re move to have . ”
