It’s a fact that’s well-established: worms are great for your soil. They help aerate the soil, bring organic matter, and help fertilize the soil. As a result, there’s much more air and moisture in soil that has worms, than soil that doesn’t.
Now, we’re green thumbs on this blog and we assume you are too, so hopefully you’re not too squeamish when it comes to worms, because today’s post is going to be all about them.
Although, yes, you can put fishing worms in your garden, you might need to consider some different scenarios to make sure they’re right for you.
But rather than focusing on your typical earthworm, we started to wonder whether or not you can use fishing worms in your garden, and today we’re going to answer that question and more!
So, can you put fishing worms in your garden? Yes! It doesn’t really matter which type of worm you use to fertilize the soil and help aerate it, so long as there are worms in the soil, you can improve its quality.
Of course, earthworms are best known for this because they’re generally much bigger than fishing worms so will create larger tunnels for water and air, but any worm in your soil is a good thing – even fishing worms.
In order to help you understand fishing worms a little more and how they can help in your garden, we’ll spend the rest of today’s post considering all the benefits and drawbacks of using fishing worms in your garden. Ready to find out more? Then let’s begin!
What Are Fishing Worms?
Fishing worms are, well, worms you use for fishing. The most common fishing worms you’ll find are the Dendrobaena worm, followed closely by the Lob worm. Both of these worms are readily available from fishing or pet stores to be used as live bait for fishing.
Because they’re so readily available, more and more people are questioning whether they can be used in other areas – like gardening. This would be a far more convenient method for getting richer, more fertilized soil than waiting for earthworms to show up, since you can’t buy earthworms in a store like you can with fishing worms.
Are Fishing Worms Good For Gardening?
But just because they’re convenient doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be right for gardening, so a number of different people have tried it out. And thankfully, the results are promising.
You see, the reason worms in general are so good for your garden is what they do for the soil. The burrow and tunnels they create as they move through the soil help aerate it, welcoming more moisture and air into the deeper parts of the soil that might not be able to soak up as much moisture and air as the topsoil.
Since the deeper parts of the soil are where the roots of most garden plants, fruits, and veggies are anchored, the more air and moisture you can get there, the better it is for the plant.
Besides the tunnels, worms also help by fertilizing the soil with the organic matter they produce. Worms, like any living creature, need to expel waste, but worms also have a diet that’s exclusively organic matter, so their waste is some of the most valuable on earth to us gardeners.
The fertilizer makes the soil more nutritious for plants, which will make them grow better. And fishing worms will bring all of those benefits too, just like earthworms do.
Are Fishing Worms Better Than Earthworms For Your Garden?
Although they do the same job, earthworms are probably still better for the job than fishing worms are – simply because of the size difference. Generally speaking, earthworms are larger, so they’ll create larger tunnels in the soil, which means more moisture and more air for the roots of the plants growing near them.
But fishing worms have one major advantage over earthworms – you can buy them. And because you can buy them, you can add them to the soil and guarantee that they’re doing the job you bought them for, rather than hoping earthworms will show up and do it for you naturally.
So, no, fishing worms aren’t necessarily better than earthworms for your garden, but they’re certainly more convenient.
Are Fishing Worms The Same As Red Wigglers?
To the untrained eye (including ours), most worms look the same, so being able to tell apart fishing worms like Lob worms or Dendrobaena worms from worms like red wigglers is quite difficult. However, there are some key differences, and it’s mostly in the way they’re used.
First off, no fishing worms and red wigglers aren’t the same thing. Fishing worms are used for fishing, and red wigglers are used for composting. Interestingly, red wigglers are some of the best worms in the world to help create natural compost because of how much waste they produce and the quality of the organic matter they consume.
But they don’t actually like to live in soil and burrow and create tunnels in the same way most other worms like to – meaning they’re great at creating compost because of the rotting organic matter they consume, but terrible at aerating soil since they spend very little time in it, instead choosing to just skim the surface.
Both fishing worms and red wigglers help gardens in different ways. Fishing worms can aerate and fertilize soil, and red wigglers can create nutrient and mineral rich compost to help with growing. But no, they aren’t the same – they’re different worms with different skill sets that help gardeners like us!
Can Fishing Worms Live Together With Nightcrawlers?
What Is A Nightcrawler?
Believe it or not, nightcrawlers are just earthworms, but larger. They’re from exactly the same family and they get their name because they won’t usually leave the soil until night, when temperatures are cool enough for them to explore.
But Can They Live With Fishing Worms?
There’s no reason why earthworms, nightcrawlers, and fishing worms can’t all live together in the soil. In fact, the more worms there are, the better it is for your soil because of how much more aerated, fertilized, and moist it will be.
So long as your soil is of the right conditions, nightcrawlers will stay there quite happily, with fellow smaller earthworms and fishing worms alike.
Are Fishing Worms Good For Composting?
When we discussed red wigglers earlier, we said that both red wigglers and fishing worms can help your gardens, but in different ways. Red wigglers are good for composting, and fishing worms are great for aerating soil.
And although it’s true that red wigglers will do a better job, Dendrobaena worms (the most popular type of fishing worm) are also pretty good for composting.
So, if you’re looking to raise a worm that can do everything for you:
- Act as fishing bait
- Help aerate soil
- Be used for composting
Then Dendrobaena fishing worms are probably the best option for you. They do everything just well enough to make them one of the most versatile and useful worms around!
Final Thoughts
There you have it folks, fishing worms are not just for fishing! You can use them in your soil or compost, too, and your garden will benefit from them because of how much more rich and aerated your soil will be. So, whether you’re squeamish or not, raising fishing worms for your garden is a great idea to make sure your soil is as beneficial as it can be!
https://sustainability.stackexchange.com/questions/6198/can-you-use-worm-bait-for-a-garden
