How Do Earthworms Survive the Winter? An Analysis of Earthworm Overwintering Methods

At the mention of earthworms, everyone is surely familiar with them. They are a type of mollusk and can be used for fishing, feeding poultry, and after drying, as medicinal material, among other uses, with high application value. So how do earthworms overwinter?

1. How do earthworms overwinter?

When earthworms overwinter, the soil must be loose and fertile with good aeration, and the temperature should be controlled at 20-27 degrees. If the temperature is very low, a greenhouse can be built and heated with fire to raise the temperature. Alternatively, existing equipment from silkworm rooms or mulberry fields covered with wheat straw can be used for insulation and heating.

2. How are earthworms raised?

1. The container is best a wooden box. I now feel that wooden box culture still gives the best results. Other containers such as flower pots, plastic boxes, and anything else that can be used will also work, but the bottom must have small holes for water to drain out.

2. For the nutrient soil, I currently use rotted, fully decomposed cow dung and coarse cardboard. In rural areas, it is best to use rotted crop straw, weeds, and horse and mule manure that have turned into black soil. If these are hard to find in the city, you can only collect some plant leaves yourself and let them slowly ferment and rot. Note that the nutrient soil must be soft and loose.

3. Earthworm food can truly be said to be of every variety. I currently use coarse cardboard, smearing it with discarded cooking oil, and even the discarded oil from the grease collection box of a kitchen range hood, as well as apple peels, carrot peels, and so on. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sediment from kitchen dishwashing water is quite good. Through observation, the sediment from water used to wash a wok after cooking is even better.