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Recently, a lot of information about the benefits of earthworms. But it's in the garden. And for indoor flowers? Many believe that they should be destroyed in a pot. Is it so?
Opinions about earthworms are extremely opposite. Some praise their virtues and even breed them at home, others see them as an unpleasant creature, like a gluttonous caterpillar.
On the Internet, you can find many stories that give examples of how earthworms "bite a poor flower in a pot" (hereinafter - quotes from various forums). However, such statements are highly questionable. And first of all, in the education of their authors.
Here is a quote from which one story begins: "Usually, earthworms are considered as useful insects ...".
What follows is a description of a poor flower that "faded before our eyes." After it was taken out of the pot, it turned out that there was an earthworm (and not even one!). Apparently, "these worms gobbled up all the roots, only miserable bits remained from them."
What earthworms look like, of course, we know. Let's try to figure out if they can harm plants.
Let's start with the fact that earthworms are not insects (as they were called on the forum). The offensive word "worms" is also not about them. The earthworms we see in the garden are terrestrial invertebrates. Here's how it looks according to scientific classification: Kingdom - Animals; Type - Annelids; Class - Belt worms; Subclass - Small-bristle worms; Order - Haplotaxida; Suborder - Earthworms; Family - Lumbricidae.
Large eyeless worms 10-30 cm long belong to this family. The genera and species of this family differ in the shape of the head lobe (the so-called upper lip), by the position of the belt and by the number of rings.
In Russia, there are several dozen species from the genera Lumbricus, Dendrobaena and Allolobophora.
Representatives of this family are the best helpers for increasing soil fertility, and in combination - a popular bait for fishing.
The accusations that the earthworm "bite" the poor flower are completely groundless. The earthworm does not have gnawing organs, unlike, for example, the wireworm. Therefore, healthy plant roots are too tough for him.
The earthworm feeds on semi-decayed organic matter, including roots, but already rotten and softened. So in a pot, he could well "gobble up" the roots of a flower if they rotted. But with such roots, the flower itself would die, without the "help" of the worm.
If he ate the rotten roots, he was more likely to be beneficial, as he eliminated most of the infected tissue. This can be compared to the amputation of a leg affected by gangrene. Doctors donate part of the body to prevent its death as a whole.
So, the worm does not eat healthy roots in a pot. What happened to the plant that began to wither?
There may be several reasons for the disease. Most likely, the flower was simply flooded. Stagnation of moisture in a pot is harmful to any plants. The top layer of soil may look dry, but the bottom soil remains moist.
Moisture stagnation occurs when the plant is watered frequently and abundantly, when there are no drainage holes or the holes are too small and clogged with earth. Sooner or later, this leads to root rot.
Also, the roots begin to rot from hypothermia of an earthen coma on the windowsill or from a high dose of fertilizers. Another reason is diseases, the pathogens of which penetrate from the soil into the root system.
But in all these cases, the owner of the flower is "to blame", because he did not fulfill the requirements of the plant or inattentively followed him and missed the onset of the disease. It is clear that we do not like to blame ourselves. It is much more convenient to blame everything on the earthworm, especially when he was "at the scene of the crime."
KILL OR LEAVE THE EARTHWORM?
Earthworms (as well as their eggs) get into the flower pot with garden soil or compost, which is added to the soil mixture. These inhabitants usually do not exist in store soil, since the soil is steamed.
A sure sign that there are earthworms in a pot with a houseplant is small black pellets on the surface of the earth. If the activity of earthworms in the soil is considered useful, then they have no place in a flower pot. This is due to the fact that in a pot, the worms are forced to live in a small amount of soil. In search of food, they make many moves and actually "spin" in one place. Thus, they interfere with the growth of thin suction roots that nourish the plant. It takes on an oppressed appearance and slowly develops.
With all due respect to earthworms, it is better to remove them from the pot. They do not respond to a polite request to leave, they will have to be kicked out. To do this, use this method. The pot is placed in a container and water is poured to the ground level. Soon the worms will run out of air and crawl to the surface. There they can be collected and transferred to the garden or city front garden. However, this method does not guarantee that no earthworm eggs remain in the ground.
It is better to transplant a flower into a new soil, while choosing uninvited guests. Earthworm eggs are also easy to choose. They are round, yellow or brown and quite large (2 to 4 mm). More precisely, these are cocoons in which there are from 2 to 20 eggs.
When transplanting a flower, sometimes they find many small red worms in a pot at once,
which bear little resemblance to useful helpers. They immediately try to destroy these "worms". But this is how a young earthworm looks like, which hatched from eggs (on the first day, the cubs are only 1 mm long). Together with the earth, they also need to be released into the beds.
In addition to removing worms, transplanting indoor flowers is also recommended because it allows you to carefully examine the plant for root rot.
Diseased roots are easily distinguished by color: black or dark brown. Sometimes the roots become translucent and soft to the touch.
The affected areas of the roots should be cut with sharp scissors and sprinkled with crushed coal (or a tablet activated carbon). After transplanting, water moderately, and cover the aerial part with a jar or bag.
To treat the disease, you need to water the plant with some kind of fungicide, for example, phytosporin.
If the roots were healthy and you just removed the earthworms, then the plant will soon recover.
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When I took dead land many years ago for building a house in the city and for growing vegetables in the village, I did not meet a single earthworm in this land. All subsequent years I regularly contributed, and now in the city in my soil I find four types of earthworms, and in a field that has not known a plow for many years and to which I bring 200 bags every year, there are six types of earthworms.
When we dig with a pitchfork, the grandchildren play a game of who will find more potatoes and who will find more worms. Now they find up to 20 tubers per hole and thirty earthworms of different colors.
Beginners should buy biohumus
If a beginner asks me what to spend money on in order to quickly get a crop on the killed land, I will say: “Buy ready-made from a reliable manufacturer and apply it to the soil, into the holes before planting.”
- Only biohumus quickly heals soils, and manure on poor soils intensifies diseases in the early years.
- Only biohumus will properly feed the plants, and manure will increase the nutritional imbalance and cause the inhibition of soil fungi.
- Only biohumus and vermicoff quickly increase soil fertility, form soil biodiversity and increase the percentage of soil humus, improve its structure, and various just temporarily boost plant growth.
As many worms as rotting organic matter
An earthworm does not eat a living plant. It does not damage (like) a living root and (like) a living leaf. The leaf should fall and rot, and the spine should grow old and rot. And when it is prepared by fungi and bacteria, the worm begins to eat. How many types of decaying organic matter, so many types of soil worms.
In Australia, worms weigh a kilogram, aquarists breed small enchitraes on a rotting bun, and microscopic ones eat small roots.
Their difference is only in size and taste preferences, but the essence is the same: bacteria and fungi begin to process the organic matter that enters the soil and into the soil, then it is swallowed by worms. Worms, like the stomach of a cow, create conditions for good work for microorganisms, because in the cavity of the worm, organic matter is crushed, turned over, saturated with oxygen, moisture, amino acids and sugars from the secrets of the worm, and therefore is processed a thousand times faster.
The worm is a miniature compost heap
We loosen the compost (we give oxygen), moisten it, monitor the composition, temperature, we give 1 part of nitrogen for 25 parts of carbon. The same goes for a worm: it takes the sweetest leaf, drags it into a burrow where it is warm and humid, chews it, covers it with mucus, absorbs available substances for building its body (and these substances are given to it by symbiotic fungi and bacteria) and releases ballast in the form of coprolites.
We need this ballast from the worm - coprolites. After all, over millions of years of evolution of worms and plants, the latter have learned to give the worms litter in the form of root secretions and foliage, and they - to supply plants with coprolites, a storehouse of thousands of mineral and mineral necessary for the plant. organic matter in an accessible form.
What do creeps and plow worms eat
We see only large earthworms - crawling out. Or in manure - red dung worms. All of us were fond of fishing in childhood and we think that these are the main worms. But for the soil there are no main and secondary, there are millions of forms of life and commonwealth.- There are worms living in the forest floor, they do not build holes;
- there are burrow worms: at night he grabbed a leaf and carried it into a mink;
- there are arable worms, they live deep in the black earth soil, they are not even afraid of a plow.
And what do such plowed worms eat? After all, there are no leaves in the depths. Everything is simple. From above, the cow gave manure, which is eaten by dung worms and excreted by coprolites. The grass died, the foliage fell, it is eaten by litter worms and gives coprolites. Deposits of coprolites not only of large worms, but also of small enchitreans and nematodes - this is the black earth.
It is unprofitable for a cow to absorb all the substances from the grass, it will have enough available sugars and proteins. Therefore, the remains of organic matter after the cow are eaten by dung beetles. In the same way, coprolites of dung beetles eat arable worms. They eat the soil, eat it, process it further, deeper and release their coprolites. If the minerals in the soil humus are difficult to reach for the roots, then after the work of plowed fields, the plants receive excellent fresh biohumus. Humus disappears, and the crop grows - the carbon cycle in nature does not stop.
How people are friends with worms
This is the wisdom of evolution: in the steppe regions, the humus layer in the soil reaches two meters, and in broad-leaved forests, the layer of litter in the form of foliage and grass also breaks records for organic matter reserves. Each of these zones has its own worms, its own processors of organic matter.A person can move this organic matter to a place convenient for himself in order to grow cultivated plants, and there it is processed by new eaters, new worms, if they are not disturbed and poisoned.
I have always been amazed by the fact that Terra Pretta was created on the shores of the Amazon. On poor clay, with constant tropical showers, organic matter did not accumulate in the soil. But for years, the Indians have brought to the beds, table scraps and palm leaves. And in this organic matter, a giant worm appeared, which grinded coal, and palm fiber, and nitrogenous organic matter of toilets, formed coprolites that were not washed away by rain. A self-healing soil community has formed. The percentage of stable humus in such soils is still breaking records.
My Californians are running wild
When I started, on the advice of my neighbors, to make manure under, there were no worms, and I purchased Californian worms - 40 years ago they began to come into fashion. Of course, they did not take root in the beds, but they became wild and still live in the old barn, where the sheep lived for a long time. It is worth leaning sacks of manure near the barn in the spring, as by autumn they are teeming with red dung worms, and in the sack there is ready-made loose biohumus.I don't care if they're Californian hybrids or if they're local red earthworms. He got accustomed, works - and well done. "Mice" catches. But I stopped making manure for digging, and the soil with various organic matter from above.
If I take the bags out into the garden or put them in the thickets, creeps of different colors and sizes start up in them, but there are no dung worms. I take these sacks out into the field, scatter them under potatoes and vegetables or in the garden under trees, but I understand: in every soil, not those worms that I want to breed will take root, but those that themselves want to breed in new conditions and new food. I just give them freedom of choice. And here I can add the worms I need to the compost heap:
- If I need high nitrogen compost, I add more to the pile, and food waste, sometimes compound feed, and pour out a bag of red dung worms.
- If I need high carbon organic for the garden, I add hay, straw, bedding from animals to the compost heap and pour out a bag with soil-litter and burrow worms. In both cases, compost is obtained faster and of better quality.
Worms coprolites - ideal compost
Compost with worms is better than worm-free recycled compost. Worms create soil aggregates in the form of lumps. They are water-resistant, consist of a carcass of plant fibers connected by a bridge of lime and glued together with mucus. It is an ideal long-term fertilizer.
But if the worm processes organics in place, closer to the roots of the plant, then the effect is tripled: fresh coprolites for the plant are better than those created in a heap. Microorganisms from the cavity of the worm and enzymes still continue to work in them, active ones continue to form. They include not only organic fibers, but also crushed clay and silt particles. This is no longer compost, but black earth.
Worms loosen the soil
Worms make holes up to 1-2 meters. Not every root will make its own way to such a depth, but it goes through the tunnels calmly, because with rain, humus-rich soil from the upper layers is brought into these tunnels, and there are a lot of coprolites in them, and the air goes to great depths.
Coprolites of worms saturate the soil with humic acids, and these are the centers of soil-forming processes. It is in humates that there are active centers, minerals, cations and anions, rare, but very active microelements, cling to them. So, humates, getting into the soil, turn into very active catalysts that accelerate soil formation hundreds of times. Therefore, we see how plants come to life, watered with extracts from biohumus. And if fresh biohumus is introduced into the soil, then it will work for a long time. Both micro-organisms and enzymes will continue to convert organic matter into humus, feed plant roots, and improve soil structure.
Humus is soft and fibrous
dung worms, processing food waste and nitrogenous grass, give soft humus. This is a very accessible food for the roots, they consume it almost completely and leave little long-lasting humus.BUT soil litter worms provide fibrous humus, its plants consume slowly, but it improves soil fertility in the long term.
But we must remember that if there is little organic matter in the soil, then the worms will not help, they themselves will feed on the remains of organic matter and quickly die. It may be difficult, but without understanding these mechanisms, it is impossible to correctly revive the dead soils.
Worms harbor beneficial fungi and bacteria
The worm lives in heaps of rotting organic matter, it is organic matter itself, and thousands of putrefactive bacteria and fungi must rot and eat it. Who helps him survive? And . Semi-fungi, semi-bacteria live in its cavity - actinomycetes. Thanks to actinomycetes that produce antibiotic substances, earthworms do not get sick, and fresh coprolites or extracts from them treat soil from bacterial infections.Not only beneficial fungi live in the cavity of the worm, which fight harmful bacteria, there are also beneficial bacteria - pseudomonas, which protect the worm and soil by producing natural, suppressing putrefactive fungi. Fungi and bacteria fight each other, worms use it, we should use it too.
I am a doctor and use penicillin isolated from mold to treat streptococcal infection and nystatin isolated from streptomycetes, for the treatment of fungal infections.
Vermicompost stored for a long time, perfectly nourishes plants and structures the soil, but does not have an antibiotic property, therefore only worms working near the plant are root doctors.
In the cavity of the worms there are thousands of species of microorganisms, the most important role is played by nitrogen fixers. The worm, having isolated the coprolites, has already saturated them with nitrogen salts, but the nitrogen fixers continue to work, taking nitrogen from the air and converting it into salts available to plants.
The gardener can use this knowledge: use less that kills all living things, and use worms and their products to protect plants from.
How to attract beneficial worms to your site?
Yes, just like a smart gardener attracts beneficial bacteria and beneficial fungi to the site.He does not listen to the advice of the “guru” - they say, it is necessary to plant a rare fungus like a veselka under apple trees using “sawdust technology”, but simply annually brings more leaves and dry grass to the garden, and mushrooms will definitely grow. Mushrooms do not grow where we planted them, but where they themselves want.
A smart gardener mulches his beds with manure, compost, wood chips, digs less and brings in mineral water. Does not seek to buy and use more EM drugs. And the right bacteria will definitely form their own ecosystem and enter into symbiosis with the roots of plants. There will be a stable supply of organic matter, and beneficial bacteria will protect the roots from rot.
So are worms! There will be a stable mulching of the garden with organic matter (the more diverse, the better), and after fungi and bacteria, new eaters of this organic matter will appear - worms of all types and sizes. They will fill all the food niches, bring useful actinomycetes and pseudomonads in their intestines and restore the fertility of your soils.
Your grandchildren will begin to find ten earthworms in each potato hole - it means that you are a reasonable gardener.
Herring is one of the most popular types of fish, especially common in the CIS and Northern Europe. However, what if your appetite was spoiled by small worms found inside a fresh, at first glance, carcass? Are they dangerous to humans and how not to buy a spoiled product? When choosing salted or fresh herring, you should always carefully inspect it for worms: worms in herring are easy to detect by outward signs sick fish. How to determine it and what to do if you still ate infected fish?
Are worms in herring dangerous for humans?
roundworms in herring
Tapeworms in herring
The presence of cestodes, tapeworms or tapeworms in herring is the cause of the development of helminthiasis. They provoke diseases such as diphyllobothriasis, ligulosis. The most common and dangerous subspecies is the wide tapeworm: it is found in marine and freshwater fish species and grows up to 10 meters, affecting the intestines and adjacent organs. A tapeworm in herring can be rare, only in certain geographical points. The defeat of a person occurs when eating raw meat. With proper heat treatment, the larvae die and do not pose a threat.
- External manifestations: if the fish is heavily infected, it may have tumors, small or large growths, black dots on the abdomen or throughout the body. Vivid examples can be seen in the photo.
- Eyes: healthy fish have dense and bulging eyes, pupils are clear, white. In a patient, they are cloudy, dried up, with an admixture of a yellow or brown tint.
- Gills: The color of the gills indicates the health of the fish. Dark, black gills with an unpleasant odor indicate the presence of worms in the fish.
- When pressing on the carcass, a depression may form.
- A bloated belly is a sign of a bad herring.
- The presence on the insides (caviar, milk, intestines) of adults: small transparent spirals, white tadpoles, thin long worms.
- Too soft is a bad sign. The meat should be dense, elastic, if the pulp breaks down, it smells unpleasant - this indicates a spoiled product.
Is it possible to eat herring with worms
There are two reliable methods of destruction, after which the helminths in the herring will not pose a danger. These are freezing and hot heat treatment. At a temperature of 30 degrees and below, it takes three days for the meat to become harmless. Most refrigerators are designed for higher rates - this is 18 degrees below zero. Under such conditions, you need at least a week not to worry about your health.
In case of infection with worms, it is not recommended to try to remove them. folk methods: often it only harms the body, but does not help fight parasites. If you notice signs of acute poisoning, diarrhea and allergies, you should immediately consult a doctor. Protracted helminthiasis is extremely dangerous for the health of the patient, can bring a lot of complications for the rest of his life. Prevention of diseases is also important - you need to monitor the quality of food, cleanliness in the kitchen and personal hygiene.
Are there worms in herring?
Types of worms
Herring can be an intermediate or final host for the following helminths:
You can see what the worms that can get caught in a herring look like in the photo and video below.
Herring is not the only fish that can become a source of infection. Helminths live in pikes, mackerels, crucians, breams and perches.
How to find out if there are worms in a herring?
While eating raw herring, eggs or worm larvae may go unnoticed. Finding worms when butchering fish is also very difficult, as they are not always visible.To check the herring for the presence of helminths, you need to study:
- viscera (especially intestines);
- caviar;
- gills.
During the butchering of the carcass, an unpleasant smell of rot may appear. It most often manifests itself when the internal organs are taken out of the herring. The scales of an infected individual are slippery and sticky, easily removed when cleaned with a knife. When you press the herring, a characteristic dent may form, which will not go away for a long time.
Infected fish has a specific appearance:
- cloudy eyes;
- mucus on scales;
- swollen belly.
The easiest way to detect herring worms, but you need to take into account the factor of their transparency. The worms coil into small coils that can be found in the gills and on the calf.
Worms can also be caught in milk, which is fish sperm and seminal glands. Despite all the benefits of this product, it is strictly forbidden to use it raw and lightly salted.
Are worms in herring dangerous for humans?
Herring is most often only an intermediate host, with the help of which the worm larvae enter the mammal. Already in a person, they begin to develop and increase in size, causing great harm to the body.
In general, such a herring is by no means to be consumed.
Can you eat raw herring?
The symptoms of helminthiasis are as follows:
- nausea and vomiting;
- weakness and apathy;
- headache, fever;
- drowsiness;
- an allergic reaction in the form of a rash on the skin (not always).
These signs directly speak about the development of the disease. Therapy will have to go through every person who has eaten infected herring. It is not recommended to make any attempts to remove the worms on your own. At a minimum, the patient will not be able to diagnose himself and choose the right methods of treatment.
Each nation has its own culinary traditions, some refuse to eat foods that are considered ordinary for most of us, and at the same time eat what we would not call food in our wildest fantasies. For example, what does a person brought up in a standard European culture think about whether it is possible to eat earthworms? But the Indians of South America are happy to eat these creatures, which they call "pasture". Residents of some parts of Asia will not refuse such a delicacy.
The benefits of earthworms
According to doctors, there is nothing surprising in this, because the body of earthworms is almost 100% protein. From this point of view, they are not only quite edible, but also very useful for humans.
For example, in the 90s, one of the US scientific institutes, which dealt with the problems of baby food, conducted a very interesting study. It turned out that the worm protein is not only easily absorbed by the child's body, but does not cause allergic reactions at all. In addition, this is the most affordable product in terms of the cost of its production.
Many will be surprised, but Approximately 60% of all US baby food contains worm protein. And children who are not yet prejudiced eat such food with pleasure. So, when an adult twitches at the mere thought of eating a worm, then this is just the result of his stereotyped thinking, nothing more.
Even such recognized “masterpieces” of healthy food as soy protein concentrate or fishmeal are inferior in protein content to powder made from specially processed earthworms. All this allows you to confidently give a positive answer to the question of whether it is possible to eat earthworms.
Main rule
The above does not mean at all that earthworms can be eaten without any preliminary preparation. Proper processing is critical in this matter. Some Boy Scouts believe that simply rinsing the collected worms is enough to wash off all the slime and dirt from them. But is it possible to eat earthworms after such processing?
The fact is that the body of worms is filled with earth, the components of which serve as food for them. Therefore, before use, it is necessary to soak the worms for at least a few hours. However, this method does not provide a complete guarantee of security.
It will be much more efficient to place the worms in a jar with a special filler substance. The essence of this method is that the worms will begin to eat the filler, and it will naturally squeeze the earth out of their insides. The favorite delicacy of earthworms are finely ground acorns or water chestnuts. You can also grind the leaves of sorrel, dandelion, nettle or shepherd's purse. Such a filler is completely harmless to humans, so it will be possible to safely use worms treated in this way.
If we are talking about field conditions in which you do not have the opportunity to prepare flour from acorns and finely chop wild herbs, then you can use another very simple way to clean the worms. To do this, they need to be kept in salt water until they become transparent. Then, they must be thoroughly rinsed in running water and you can start cooking.
Cooking methods
The main question asked by people who first encountered this topic is whether it is possible to eat earthworms raw, or is there a special method for preparing them. In principle, worms are suitable for eating even raw, but it is still better to subject them to at least minimal cooking.
The most elementary way is to boil. In order not to expose the protein to destruction and to preserve as much as possible beneficial features such food, it is recommended to throw the worms already into boiling water and boil no more than 5-7 minutes. This dish is simply called forest pasta. There is another method - before cooking, soak the worms in a container with flour.
Also earthworms are suitable for baking. To do this, they are first thoroughly washed, then dried, wrapped in foil and buried in half-cooled coals.
These are the most simple ways, available to anyone who wants to join previously unknown culinary traditions. There are also more complex recipes. For example, in the countries of Southeast Asia, the menu of expensive restaurants contains very refined dishes, in which the central place is given to earthworms. The most favorite food in such establishments is cutlets, minced meat for which is prepared from coarsely chopped worms with the addition of butter, sour cream, eggs, lemon zest and white pepper. They say that it turns out simply divinely delicious.
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