What kind of soil is best for raising earthworms? Soil choice matters

Many people may think that the earthworm is a creature with no use, and sometimes when it crawls onto the road it is particularly annoying. In fact, the role and value of earthworms are enormous. Many people use earthworms as fishing bait, and earthworms also have certain medicinal value.

What kind of soil is used for raising earthworms  

It depends on how you raise them: ground raising and three-dimensional box raising.  

1. Ground raising: the manure does not need to be fermented. Raising method: take 5 cm of garden soil, cow dung must not exceed 5 cm, 70% cow dung with 30% pig or chicken manure, must not exceed 2 cm. Density per 1 sq m: 1 kg of earthworms  

2. Three-dimensional box raising: no soil is needed, and the manure must be fermented. Methods: 100% cow dung. 50% cow dung with 50% straw. 70% cow dung with 30% pig or chicken manure. Density per 1 sq m, 25 cm: 5 kg of earthworms.

Risks of raising earthworms with cow dung  

1. Environment: Although the prospects for earthworm farming are very broad, succeeding at it is not an easy thing. This is because earthworms have very high environmental requirements. If the temperature is below 5°C or above 32°C, earthworms will enter a dormant state; if the temperature is below 0°C or above 40°C, earthworms cannot survive. In addition, earthworms also eat a relatively large amount.  

2. Technology: Besides feeding regularly and controlling temperature and humidity well, preventing and controlling pests and diseases is also very important in earthworm farming. Leeches, frogs, mole crickets, ants and rats are all their natural enemies. Earthworm farming has relatively high technical requirements. Do not believe certain advertisements and blindly make large-scale investments without carefully learning earthworm farming techniques. You can try it first and accumulate experience.  

3. Market: Before raising earthworms with cow dung, you must first find stable, large-volume sales channels before you can farm on a large scale.  

4. Variety: Although buying earthworm seedlings once can, through their own reproduction, produce many batches, this method easily causes the earthworm variety to degenerate, with phenomena such as slower growth, increased mortality and declining quality.

The living habits of earthworms  

1. Nocturnal animal: Earthworms are nocturnal animals. They hide in soil burrows during the day and come out to move at night. They generally come out to move from about 8 pm to about 4 am the next day in summer and autumn. Feeding and mating are both carried out in dark conditions, and they like a quiet surrounding environment. Earthworms around industrial and mining areas mostly grow poorly or escape. Although earthworms are distributed worldwide, they like relatively high temperatures. Below 8°C they stop growing and developing. The most suitable temperature for reproduction is 22-26°C.  

2. Omnivorous animal: Earthworms are omnivorous animals. Apart from not eating glass, plastic and rubber, they eat everything else, such as humus, animal manure, soil bacteria, fungi and the decomposition products of these substances. Their sense of taste is sensitive; they like sweet foods and sour tastes, and dislike bitter tastes. They like warm, softened, fine feed, and are especially greedy for animal food. Their monthly food intake is equivalent to their own body weight; about half of the food is excreted as feces through the digestive tract. They have the habit of not being willing to live together as mother and offspring generations. Especially under high-density conditions, when the young ones multiply too much, the old ones will run away and move house.  

3. Negative phototaxis: Earthworms have negative phototaxis, especially avoiding strong sunlight, blue light and ultraviolet radiation, but they are not afraid of red light and tend toward weak light. For example, this is why earthworms come out of their burrows on damp, overcast mornings. The toxic effect of sunlight on earthworms is mainly because sunlight contains ultraviolet rays. Earthworms like a quiet environment, which requires not only low noise but also no vibration, so earthworm farms should not be built near bridges, highways or airports.  

4. Poikilothermic animal: Earthworms are poikilothermic animals, and their body temperature changes with changes in the external environmental temperature. Therefore, earthworms' dependence on the environment is generally more pronounced than that of homeothermic animals. Environmental temperature not only affects earthworms' body temperature and activity, but also affects their metabolism, growth and development, and reproduction, and temperature also has a relatively large impact on other living conditions, thereby indirectly affecting earthworms. Therefore, temperature is one of the most important living conditions for earthworms.

The farming value of earthworms  

1. As traditional Chinese medicine: The traditional Chinese medicine earthworm is commonly known as Dilong. It is cold in nature and salty in taste, and has the effects of clearing heat, calming the liver, relieving asthma and dredging collaterals. It mainly treats high fever and mania, convulsions, wind-heat headache, red eyes, hemiplegia, etc. Its extract has a good effect of stopping cough and calming asthma, and its ash mixed with rose oil can treat baldness.  

2. Biological fertilizer: Earthworm castings are a very good biological fertilizer, rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, humus, organic matter and trace elements needed by crops such as magnesium, boron, nickel and manganese. It is a cheap and efficient fertilizer for fruits, flowers, vegetables and nurseries.  

3. Aquatic bait: Earthworms are rich in protein, fat and carbohydrates. Their crude protein content is as high as 72%, and they contain amino acids, vitamins and trace elements needed by the human body. They can not only be used as animal feed and to produce medicines and cosmetics, but can also be eaten by people.

Now in our country, earthworm farming may not be particularly common, perhaps because many people do not particularly understand the uses and value of earthworms, so earthworm farming still has a large untapped market and room for development.