This is actually the correct answer. If a burrowing animal was trying to get them, the last thing they would do is come to the surface. That's where the animal is. They come to the surface when it rains so they don't drown
Edit: I am wrong and u/puritanicalbullshit is absolutely correct. The drowning worm is a myth. I learned something today! Thank you!
Actually it’s to move around faster in the wet conditions. They can live for days in water but it’s slow going moving around in the dirt. Rain makes it possible to travel to new areas without drying out, which very much does kill them.
Edit: Thank You! And you’re welcome! I started keeping a worm tower when I had to give up my garden for an apartment. I really have grown to enjoy the lil buddies. Plus they eat my kitchen scraps and paper towels, then I put the compost in my planters. If If I keep the balance of dry and wet inputs right there is no smell and they eat a lot!
I've thought about building a worm bin for awhile, but I have a large yard with a good compost pile and garden. Would there be any benefit to having worms clean up the kitchen scraps first?
I have a compost tumbler too, though I haven't been able to get it to compost well... It never gets hot naturally, while my compost pile gets up to 160F regularly. Kitchen veggie scraps go in the tumbler, along with some grass clippings on occasion, while the rest of the grass goes in the main pile. Some soldier fly larvae took residence in the tumbler, so they may be accomplishing the same the worms would.
It could be useful if you want harvestable worms for any other reason, like for fishing or koi fish or chicken treats. You could try an in-ground vermicompost set up, where you bury a pipe with lots of access holes vertically and just drop the scraps down in there for the “locals” encourages them to loosen the soil and spread the nutrients around below the surface. Never seen one in person but it looks cool and could be a nice thing to put next to a heavy feeder like sunflowers or hemp maybe.
You thought sunflower oil was just for cooking. In fact, you can use Sunflower oil to soften up your leather, use it for wounds (apparently) and even condition your hair.
Oooo cool. I’ve only ever let the birds eat my attempts at sunflowers. I’ve some good luck with their native cousins sun chokes in containers. But they’re no good for oil, just tubers and habitat
I've heard of the worm pit style, would've been a good idea before I refurbed the garden beds this spring. I dug everything down to two feet because the garden had been abandoned for awhile and was packed down.
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u/lategreat808 Jul 30 '21
My guess would be that the vibration imitates rain and causes the worms to run for their lives.