CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to cultivate earthworms and what to pay attention to. What food does earthworms eat?

1. The living habits of earthworms:

Earthworms like to grow in dark, moist and soft soil. They like quiet environments without direct sunlight. They are usually nocturnal and hide during the day. They usually come out to forage, move around and mate between 6pm and 11pm. The life span of earthworms is 3-5 years. It takes about 12 months from larvae to adults. If the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, they will hibernate. If the temperature is above 10 degrees Celsius, they can grow and develop. The best temperature is between 20 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius.

2. Facilities for breeding earthworms:

The facilities for raising earthworms should be based on their own conditions. A breeding pool can be built indoors or in a greenhouse. The size of the breeding pool depends on the amount of breeding. If the site area is small, a three-dimensional layered structure can be used. The four sides can be sealed with 4-5 cm plastic strips. The bottom of the pool is treated with cement to prevent escape and group management (adults, middle worms and larvae). Earthworms can also be raised in plastic boxes or plastic basins. The basins and boxes are set up layer by layer for three-dimensional breeding to make full use of the indoor space and increase production.

3. Necessary conditions for breeding soil.

(1) Humidity: In addition to good soil quality, the breeding soil also requires suitable humidity. The moisture content of the breeding soil suitable for earthworms is 15%-20%. When the moisture content exceeds 25%, the breeding soil tends to stick together, making it difficult for earthworms to drill in and crawl out. When the moisture content is less than 10%, the soil is too dry, causing the earthworms to lose too much water in their bodies through evaporation, affecting their growth and reproduction.

Determine the moisture content of the feeding soil; the laboratory uses a high-temperature oven to dry and determine, but it is difficult to carry out in production practice. Therefore, when artificially feeding, a simple detection method is generally used, that is, grab a handful of feeding soil with your hands, grab it into a ball, and let it loose. The moisture content of such feeding soil is about 20%. During the feeding process, pay attention to the changes in the humidity of the feeding soil and try to maintain an appropriate humidity. If the humidity of the feeding soil is too low, you can spray water appropriately to increase the humidity, and feed more green fodder with high water content. When the humidity is too high, you can open the doors and windows of the feeding room to enhance ventilation and water evaporation to reduce humidity. At the same time, feeding less green fodder also has a certain effect on reducing humidity.

(2) Soil quality: The physical and chemical properties of the breeding soil are one of the important conditions. First of all, the breeding soil should be loose, so that earthworms can easily get in and out. It is difficult for earthworms to hide in hard soil. Secondly, the particle size of the breeding soil should be moderate, preferably the size of sesame or rice grains. Particles that are too large or too small are not conducive to earthworms living here. Finally, the breeding soil should be rich in humus, which can provide some nutrients for earthworms. In addition, the pH value of the breeding soil is neutral.

4. Preparation of breeding soil.

Spread the slag in the sun for disinfection, and keep turning and crushing it. After drying, sieve it with a sieve with a mesh size of 2.0 mm to 2.5 mm square, and take the loose fine particles for later use. Spread the sand in the sun for disinfection, and keep turning it. After drying, sieve it with a sieve with a mesh size of 2.0 mm to 2.5 mm square, remove large particles such as stones, and take the loose fine particles for later use. Pile the two types of fine particles treated above, each accounting for 50%, together and mix well. After mixing, add water to adjust the humidity to about 20% and it can be used. The breeding soil treated as above has good physical properties, is loose, has small aggregates, is uniform in size, is light in weight, and is not compacted. It provides good conditions for the growth and reproduction of earthworms.