These creatures can be easily cultivated and are a good food source for medium to large fish. Young earthworms can be fed directly, while larger ones might need to be cut to size.
Unless you have an abundance of earthworms in your back yard or garden here is how to go about:
A wooden box is best suited, the larger the box the more worms can be raised. A 1 x 1 foot box with an 8 inch height makes a nice size for starters. Make sure you also have a lid handy. Both, the lid and the bottom of the box should be perforated with little holes, the bottom for drainage and the lid for oxygen. To keep the worms from fleeing the scene, the holes have to be covered with widow screening. The screen is best attached on the inside and fixed with staples.
The box has to be above ground to allow drainage, this can be achieved by using bricks/ stones or wood blocks. Placing a pan
underneath the box will catch the runoff if placed indoors.
A well-suited medium is potting soil (easy on the peat moss). The medium has to be damp, not wet. The worms will die in dry soil, so if placed outside in the summer, look for a cool shaded area and make sure the soil doesn’t dry out. As food source, corn meal, applied as a thin layer every 3-4 days is sufficient. Alternatively, shredded food waste can be sprinkled on to the surface. Every once in a while, the surface of the soil should be lightly loosened.
All worms like the dark, so does the earthworm. Cultures can be purchased at bait and tackle shops, the smaller the worms the better it is to start a culture. First harvest can be expected in about a month and can theoretically last for years. The culture doubles itself in about 120 days, which makes it a constant food source.
Earthworms are most active at temperatures between 40 and 80 degrees, everything above or below are not tolerated and might result in the loss of the culture.
The medium has to be replaced every 2-3 month; it can be used for gardening or or as potting soil for plants. The soil is rich in minerals, nitrogen, carbon and water and is in a form that can easily be taken up by the roots of the plants. This process is also known as vermicomposting.
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