Earthworms — Dearest friends of Plants
Earthworms are the soil engineers that help plants to thrive.
The importance of earthworms was not known to the farmers in the earlier days. Farmers used to eliminate these worms thinking that they would harm the crops. Thanks to the agricultural researchers who made the knowledge available and said that these worms were not spoiling the crops but helping them flourish.
Often times the soil of the plant pot hardens when not watered occasionally. This can jam the roots of the plants and thus roots get spoiled. If we are using red soil for gardening, occasionally we need to water the plant to avoid soil hardening. The roots of the plant do not have the strength to push forward and take care of themselves. Here comes the role of earthworms expecting nothing but a little space in the soil. These worms drill holes inside the soil thus making the plant push the roots deep into the soil with a good amount of air circulation.
The stronger and healthier the roots are, the stronger and healthier the plant will be.
In our garden also, there are at least two earthworms in every pot apart from the natural manure and natural fertilizer. When you buy any plant from the nursery, there are most likely earthworms already present in the pot. You may not know until when you re-pot them.
This picture I captured while repotting one plant. It is always a better choice to maintain bigger pots in order to benefit the plant.
- Bigger pots are spacious enough, more soil and extra nutrients can be put together.
- In a way, they also benefit the earthworms so as to find their main food — organic matter present in the soil. If earthworms are benefitted the plants are also benefitted.
Try to re-pot the plant on timely basis. If neglected, the worms that are present can find limitation in the organic matter. Therefore, they be helpless to feed on tiny roots. The growth of plant will be halted.
Earthworms not only provide space for roots, but they also create a well-nourished black type of soil called humus. They create this by feeding on organic matter, natural compost, etc. The humus contains nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium which are the key ingredients for the plants to thrive. If the soil does not contain rich organic matter, one can add dry chopped leaves, animal manure, semi-decomposed compost, etc. Earthworms can easily feed on these materials and enrich the plant.
I am Mohammed Sameeruddin, will be sharing my gardening experience through this publication.
