7 Reasons to Love Earthworms—and How to Attract More to Your Garden

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gardener are thrilled to reveal worms when they work the grime in their planting beds because of the critical role these slimy footling friends play in produce robust , healthy dirt that ’s necessary for growing vigorous plants . There are many crawler welfare , but different worm coinage work well in unlike environments .

nightcrawler — with reddish , segment bodies — tunnel into the ground and seem course in moist , open garden beds . crimson wigglers — small louse with purplish - red bodies — do better incompost binsbecause they ca n’t burrow as deep as earthworms . Here are some of the many reasons to welcome red worm to your garden .

iStock-1380448772 earthworm benefits Hands holding worms with soil

Photo: istockphoto.com

1. Humus

The Earth ’s impertinence contains 4 to 12 inches of life story - sustaining humous , the residue of decomposing plant and animal affair that stay on after constitutional matter from beast and plants decays until it contains canonic chemical substance elements . The same operation ferment in garden seam andcompostpiles . Acting as a sponge for moisture , minerals , and food , hommos slowly release N , Lucifer , sulfur , calcium , potassium , magnesium , and other vital ingredient to plant . It also meliorate soil structure , make a at large texture that supports aeration and drain .

Earthworms ( along with bacterium , fungi , and microorganisms ) play a fundamental role in decomposing plant and animal matter to produce this important brown - black material .

2. Worm Castings

study “ gardener ’ gold , ” worm castings are manure — organic worm waste , also call vermicast . Used as a soil amendment , castings bestow atomic number 7 , orthophosphate , and potassium to the soil ; these nutrients are necessary for works ontogeny . They also help air the soil , meliorate its social structure , and make it more absorbent , preventing it from dry out .

louse castings also add beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that help make good for you soil . They can even extract toxins from the filth . In addition , worm cast repel spider mites and aphid . If you’revermicomposting , you’re able to harvest louse castings every 1 to 2 month .

3. Soil Aeration

Another of the earthworm benefit is soilaeration . The worms tunnel into the soil , developing a net of tunnels as they eat organic issue along the way . These tunnels loosen the soil , which allows atmosphere to reach plant roots so they do n’t become waterlogged . They permit rainfall and irrigation water , as well as good bacteria , to well permeate the land and reach the beginning . wiggler will be alive when the dirt is around 70 degree Fahrenheit and moist . uttermost heat , inhuman , or wet will slow bodily process .

4. Hardpan Breakdown

As angleworm burrow through gardensoil , they can break up thin layers of hardpan . Hardpan is a layer of compact , slow soil ( often clay ) impermeable by air , water supply , and plant roots . Its depth ranges from a few inches to a few feet below the level of surface soil , and can be a few inch to a few feet abstruse . Whether this stone - hard soil pass off of course due to its chemical makeup or as a result of pressure level from repeated heavy equipment dealings , it can leave in poor plant maturation .

crawler can burrow as far down as 6 feet , and can keep grime loosened , improving soil ’s aeration , porosity , and permeability , plus break up those thin layer of hardpan .

5. Litter Removal

dew worm are detritivores : they run through decay plant and animate being material — as well as fungus , algae , manure , and even soil that contain organic thing . worm also consume kitchen chip , from fruits and vegetable to shell and coffee earth . This invertebrate ’s persona is to eliminate deadened and disintegrate organic issue , which help oneself control gadfly and disease .

Masters at clean up constituent litter on the ground surface , red worm have bacteria and microbes in their guts that can destroyharmful chemical . Red wigglers live in the aerofoil grunge layer , give on decaying litter . As they breed and hazard to new area , they distribute the nutrients they consume .

6. Soil Fertility Improvement

Earthworms bestow minerals from deeply below the ground subsurface toreplenishsurface layer , which countercheck the effects of leaching and improve the soil ’s fertility . dirt ball castings typically hold three time more calcium , four times more phosphorus , and several times more atomic number 7 and potassium than the surrounding soil .

While their casting control essential nutrients for plant wellness , worms also chelate nutrients to change over minerals to a form that works can expend . Worms increase microbial activity in ground because their digestive process creates an environment suitable for good bacterium and fungi , which break in down organic affair and release nutrients into the soil .

7. Reduced Erosion

By burrow through soil , earthworms mannikin channel that enable plant roots to get deeply , stabilise territory and preclude it from being washed away . These television channel increase water immersion as much as 35 times . Some studies signal that in increase to increasing infiltration rates , earthworms cut runoff in half by loosening the soil to facilitate absorption and water - accommodate potentiality . The soil ’s enhanced drainage fightserosion .

Earthworms repress the indigence for tillage , or cultivating , the dirt — an action that can be destruction and contributes to eroding — by tunneling , which aerates and loosens the land . Their castings contain chemicals that spring congeries in the soil to resist erosion .

How to Attract Earthworms

Now that you know how valuable earthworms are , you ’ll need to know what to do to attract them to your garden and what not to do so they ’ll stick around .

Our Best Advice for Beginner Gardeners

We ’ll help you set up your first garden — whether that ’s a few corporation on your terrace , a raised bottom , or an in - ground plot out back — and select the good plants for your soil and region .

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