Methods and Techniques for Raising Earthworms Under Forest Canopy

The air under tree shade is better, suitable for earthworm survival and reproduction, and each mu of forest land can produce about 1 ton of fresh earthworms per year. The relevant methods are introduced as follows:

1. Every two rows of trees, lay one earthworm bed between the rows. The length of the worm bed depends on the length of the tree row, and the width should preferably be about 40 cm from the trees. The ground between the two rows of trees where no worm bed is laid is used for storing, fermenting, transporting, or spreading earthworm feed, and for temporarily storing and removing earthworm castings.

2. Dig pits about 0.5 m wide and about 1 m deep between the trees, and shape the excavated soil into a turtle-back form as an earthworm bed, so that when it rains, the earthworm bed can drain rainwater into the soil pits between the trees, so that the earthworm bed is not flooded and the fertile water from the earthworm castings can be concentrated for the trees to absorb and use. Its fertilizer effect is equivalent to applying about 10 tons of livestock and poultry manure per mu of forest land each year, or 2 tons of crop straw or 150 kg of ternary compound fertilizer (calculated based on feeding earthworms with cow dung as bait).

3. When collecting earthworm castings, first transfer the castings into the soil pits for temporary storage. During temporary storage, they can provide fertilizer for the trees. Earthworm castings are a neutral biological fertilizer, and even contact with tree roots will not burn the trees. After the earthworm castings have been stored for 1 month, all the egg capsules in them have hatched into young earthworms. The young earthworms can follow the smell of cow dung residue and crawl back to the earthworm bed to live. After that, the earthworm castings can be dug out of the soil pits and bagged or loaded onto vehicles for transport away. The soil pits can be used to store earthworm castings again.