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Cultivation of Earthworms | FN0047 |
Fisheries Victoria, Melbourne
Updated: March 2007
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The common earthworm is probably the most popular and successful natural live bait for fishing in inland waters. While worms can be purchased from many bait suppliers, growing your own can not only adds one more facet to personal recreational fishing activity, it can also ensure a constant as-needed supply of valuable bait.
A small worm farm may be established in a variety of containers, including large tubs, steel drums cut lengthwise or even disused concrete wash troughs. Worms can be directly farmed in a part of the garden, but reliability of stock is not as certain as a supply cultivated in a container.
A compost heap can also be used where the worms will have the added bonus of assisting conversion of waste product to rich garden fertiliser or soil.
Adequate drainage is important when using containers for worm farming. If metal containers are used the bottom and sides should be well perforated with small holes which will allow excess water to drain away, but the holes should not be so large as to allow worms to crawl through. One way of preventing worms escaping through drainage holes is to cover the outlets with scrap patches of screen wire.
Minimum recommended depth is 50 centimetres. The containers should be located in a relatively cool, shaded area where the temperature normally would not exceed 20°C.
Each container should be filled with loose, non-sandy soil into which has been mixed one cup of animal lard and 3 cups of corn meal for every 30 litres of soil (1 cubic foot).
An alternative food is 3 cups of homogenized dog food.
Sprinkle the containers with water until the soil is moist but not drowned out.
Put about 50 adult worms per square foot of surface area onto the soil. They will almost immediately burrow into the container.
Check the containers once a week for moisture, more frequently in warmer weather, but do not over-water. If the soil becomes too dry, the worms will move toward the bottom of the container; if it is too wet, the worms will be on the surface.
The surface of the container should be covered with two or three thickness of hessian to retain moisture.
Every three weeks to a month remove the top 7 to 10 centimetres of soil and mix in half a cup of the food mixture you used in the beginning. Dump the remaining soil out of the container and put the soil, to which has been added the food, in the bottom of the container.
Feeding at the rate of 500 grams of food per 28 litres of soil (1 cubic foot) is usually adequate. Put back into the container the rest of the soil.
When going through this feeding routine be sure to observe the condition of the bottom soil. If it is muddy or mouldy you are either over-watering or over-feeding, and you must adjust your watering or feeding accordingly – a reduction of one-third is usually sufficient.
If you follow this routine, your "farm" should produce a new crop of worms in 6 to 8 weeks which will be large enough for bait in about 12 weeks. Fifty litres of soil can produce up to 1 000 adult worms plus a new upcoming colony of baby worms.
If mice or rats raid the worm bed, it can be covered with a screen. Ants also eat worms. If your worm farm container is on legs, stand these in cans of oil. If your worm farm sits directly on the ground, dust the surface around the container with pyrethrum. Mites (greyish-white animals the size of the head of a pin) are often troublesome. These may be controlled by very lightly dusting the top of the soil with sulphur.
Earthworms will live longer on the hook and will take more fish if well "scoured". This toughening process is accomplished by placing the worms in earthenware containers or wooden boxes containing damp moss, for one or two days before they are to be used.
Acknowledgement
This Information Note was originally developed by Charles Barnham PSM, and the previous version was published in February 1998.
The advice provided in this publication is intended as a source of information only. Always read the label before using any of the products mentioned. The State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
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