Worms

[bobm]

We have seen many posts for benefits of worms as well as how to make them happy , healthy and reproduce. So, I was wondering what makes worms unhappy, unhealthy and not reproduce so that we DO NOT inadvertently cause their demise?

 

[Alasgun]

Worms are an integral part of the soil food web, dont poison they’re environment with chemicals such as roundup or chemical fertilizers.

it’s pretty simple.

 

[meadow]

It helps too, in my opinion, to avoid walking on water-saturated soil. It compresses the substructure and removes airspace. I'm sure the worms would rebuild it, so it's probably not that big of a deal... but still.

 

[flowerbug]

We have seen many posts for benefits of worms as well as how to make them happy , healthy and reproduce. So, I was wondering what makes worms unhappy, unhealthy and not reproduce so that we DO NOT inadvertently cause their demise?

they do not like to be cooked and they do not like to be frozen, but they've adapted to ways of getting around those things in some places. they can hibernate, dig deep enough, lay cocoons, etc.

some places do not have worms natively any longer, don't reintroduce them by accident (or intentionally).

chemicals and lack of organic matter will affect them.

often when transplanting adult worms you will be killing them off unless the soils are very similar chemically - however their cocoons and the youngest worms may be able to survive such treatment.

 

[bobm]

Worms are an integral part of the soil food web, dont poison they’re environment with chemicals such as roundup or chemical fertilizers.

it’s pretty simple.

Going back a half century, I worked at a major University and I was dating a lady that worked at a large agricultural research farm. They had 11 people with PHDs in chemistry, physics, geology, etc.. They had worked on roundup for 18 years BEFORE it was put on the market . I talked to them during when I went there to take her out on dates, and quite a few social events at their homes. I was invited to harvest jacckrabits, varmints, small game birds ( in hunting season) for them to research study on these animals living on their facilities. I was also invited to visit their research facilities in the mid west to see this research done on the cell level on soils around the world using computers . They showed their results to me after 18 years of this type of research which showed that the roundup was deactivated upon first contact with soils , so it doesn't affect below ground organisms. It was doing the job that it was designed to do. The human health issues was found years later due to carelessness, using improper protective clothing/ equipment , improper times of applications... such as drift due to higher wind times. As for chemical fertilizers... can you help us to understand which ones as well as the harm that they do ?

 

[heirloomgal]

A naturopath I've consulted with occasionally explained to me once about some of the widespead health issues she treats and their relationship to the long term exposure of pesticides in human physiology. According to her, the mechanism by which at least some pesticides operate is a pathological effect on the innards or 'guts' of the insects. (My understanding from this was it is something like the effect of calcium oxalate crystals in rhubarb leaves on chewing insects, having lethal intestinal results.) Over time, humans repeatedly being exposed to a substance creating this effect in insects, creates a pathological effect on the GI tract of humans. Leaky gut syndrome is an example of the fallout she tells me, though there is a multitude of expressions, many of which can be devastating, especially to infants and children. Children in particular are suffering from conditions, often cognitively related though not excusively, at numbers previously unseen. Given the intestinal tract is the seat of human immunity, and the unique relationship between the gut and the brain (as guts precede brains from an evolutionary perspective) I think compromising that particular area of the body has a particularly damaging ripple effect. Quite a bit of research has been done about the enteric nervous system, and the remarkable relationship between our first brain and our second brain, the first being our gut. Then microbiota fits in there too, as well as epigenetic fallout from long term pesticide exposure.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Mulch. Worms love mulch!
And rabbit and chicken manure. If you combine the manure and mulch, oh boy, they go crazy!
When we moved here 6 years ago and started gardening, wr hardly saw a worm that first year. We added leaves, grass clippings and chicken coop bedding over winter to the beds we had dug up. The next spring we had so many worms!

 

[Alasgun]

@bobm, before we get too far along, let me answer your question with a question.
Are you a fertilizer gardner or an organic gardner; or someone interested in going organic?

 

[Dirtmechanic]

We have seen many posts for benefits of worms as well as how to make them happy , healthy and reproduce. So, I was wondering what makes worms unhappy, unhealthy and not reproduce so that we DO NOT inadvertently cause their demise?

Introducing competition like the asian jumping worm. They are all I find here anymore. They will destroy a layer of compost in a month or two. It is amazingly fast.

 

[flowerbug]

the persistence of glyphosate in the environment (in places it was never applied directly) is now well documented so whatever those scientist claimed is patently wrong.

the negative and harmful effects of some other pesticides are also well documented beyond what scientists initially claimed would ever happen with those too.

every herbicide, fungicide, insecticide, anti-biotic, etc. when used long enough will selectively encourage the development of resistance. they should be used very rarely and only in dire circumstances. not slathered on at every opportunity or used as a preventative.

it is well documented that a diverse ecology will function well enough to produce vegetables and fruits and healthy animals (and thus healthy people) - that they may have to get some exercise to accomplish such things may be off-putting to some, but for those who can move and do things it is usually good to get out and do some sort of activities. living in cities that do not have gardens of any kind, well to me that's just a choice and to me a bad one. there's much to be learned by gardening...