My worms are drowning

[Case290]

Do worms drown

 

[Clive]

Only if land is underwater for a long period I think

 

[Spencer]

Yes they do.. just look at a field that’s had a crazy amount of slurry applied to it and you’ll see the seagulls helping themselves as the worms come up to breath..

 

[Sprayer 1]

Been for a walk across my sodden ground and there are lots of worms dead on the top.

 

[startinghandle]

This is only the start of global warming

 

[yellow belly]

The worms come to the top when it gets too wet
If there is enough cover the crows pigeons and seagulls take less
Imho the more longer notill the more resilient the worms as the soil has more worm Channels to get the water down
On heavy drained land with regular moledraining the worm channel Join the surface to the moles which link to the drains
2018 summers dry improved this immensely worms were more than 2 m down
On cultivated land the deep worms in a dry year survive better as they are below cultivation depth

 

[richard hammond]

The worms come to the top when it gets too wet
If there is enough cover the crows pigeons and seagulls take less
Imho the more longer notill the more resilient the worms as the soil has more worm Channels to get the water down
On heavy drained land with regular moledraining the worm channel Join the surface to the moles which link to the drains
2018 summers dry improved this immensely worms were more than 2 m down
On cultivated land the deep worms in a dry year survive better as they are below cultivation depth

As you imply worms like a over crop to help against predators , don't worry they will look after them selves they have been about for a few years !!

 

[Chae1]

As you imply worms like a over crop to help against predators , don't worry they will look after them selves they have been about for a few years !!

You would think ploughing would have made them a endangered species.

Surprised they aren't extinct.

 

[richard hammond]

You would think ploughing would have made them a endangered species.

Surprised they aren't extinct.

no the seagulls do not get all of them! like I have said previously, they adapt very quickly, we are not the boss they are !!, nature ill always beat man, there you go that's a statement for you argumentative type, !!

 

[Brisel]

Cultivation just reduces their numbers. The seagulls don't pick them all out from behind the plough. Some are deeper than the plough, some are ok being turned over. The anecic worms make nice deep burrows that let the water down through the profile. Unless it is totally waterlogged.

Sorry - my screenshot missed out the compost worms at the top.

 

[Bogweevil]

According to Plum (2005)* it is like plant roots - low oxygen requirement in cold seasons so can tolerate water-logging, but warmer soils, more respiration and vulnerable to water-logging [Soil still quite warm hereabouts in the south].

Summer floods deplete worm numbers and can wipe them out, winter floods not so much.

Re-colonisation after flooding from higher spots, hedges and so on is reported to be quite rapid and restore soil structure after flooding. [Sounds like a beetle bank or two on a ridge thrown up across land prone to lying wet might be a good idea?].

*https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-in-flooded-grassland-A-literature-review.pdf

 

[yellow belly]

On cultivated land there are a lot less deep worm casts than on no tilled land half a metre between casts
After several years of notill there are many more 0.1m or less apart
When it is wet they come to the surface and the crows and seagulls pick them off

When we used a lot of fym pig and poultry manure 30 years ago there were also high numbers when we ploughed up in the autumn the following year there were many more than on cultivated land with no manure
Imho manure does mitigate ploughing in terms of worm numbers


In water logged conditions I have seen a lot of dead worms on the surface but they soon get eaten by birds

The deep worms take 13 months to reach maturity and can live for 10 years
It takes several years for number to build up if they have enough plant residue to live on
Imho straw burning reduced numbers considerably and then continuous cultivation prevented numbers rebuilding

 

[Case290]

100m rain last week

 

[Case290]

100m lol 100mm

 

[Bogweevil]

You can buy worms but as worms seem to have got by though thousands of years of flooding the cost seems unjustifiable, particularly as you need 24,000 per acre apparently:

 

[Case290]

Storm damage ?? That will be quite a claim ... I expect there be a clause not including worms..

 

[Bogweevil]

On the plus side slugs (except the marsh slug which is not a pest species) can drown too.

 

[farmerm]

On the plus side slugs (except the marsh slug which is not a pest species) can drown too.

Must have drowned some of mine today!

 

[deleted user 837354]

Used to see drowned worms floating around in flood water on the meadow from time to time. Nothing anyone can do.

 

[farmerm]

Used to see drowned worms floating around in flood water on the meadow from time to time. Nothing anyone can do.

give them the kiss of life