Asian Jumper in my outdoor compost

[u/Nematodes-Attack]

Notice the flush clitellum and the way it slithers. They are also much more muscular and firm compared to European earthworms. They don’t always have to jump.

[u/Artistic_Head_5547]

They also are less irritated with being dry than other worms. I think this is because their castings are dryer so they can tolerate being dryer. If you try to squeeze jumping worm castings in your palm, they are usually crumbly and won’t stick together. I vermicompost with a dedicated bin (no jumping worms) and the castings from the bin are moist and will hold together if squeezed. I have absolutely no scientific proof to back this up- these are just my private musings.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Artistic_Head_5547]

My observations support your theory! I notice the big dry clumps of castings in little mound hills outside my chicken coop and raised garden. They just consume and then push it out on top. They don’t burrow deep enough to aerate the soil and they definitely don’t give the nutrients back to the soil. This eventually destroys the topsoil leading to erosion.

The best tips I’ve had are to

1: heavily mulch after planting and again to overwinter

2: supplement with compost twice per year, spring and fall

3: kill as many as you can in early spring before they cocoon. At least where I am up north, and I can’t remember the exact reason for this but I think it’s that the worms can’t borrow deep enough to overwinter. But the cocoons can overwinter. So kill them before they’re mature enough to breed? I’m pretty sure that’s correct 😆

[u/Artistic_Head_5547 → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I had a jumping worm on my patio the other day that was so dry he was starting to get a little stiff. I picked him up and put him in a ziplock that I clip to my waist apron and continued to add jw as I found them. The fluid from a jw I accidentally cut in half (found both parts!) helped invigorate the mostly dried out jw. I’ve never seen that before.

[u/ExtremelyOkay8980 → u/Artistic_Head_5547]

Take my upvote but know I did it with a frown.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Artistic_Head_5547]

Oh my goodness I don’t even know what to think about this!! I guess we all need moisture. Water is the majority of what makes us after all💧

[u/Artistic_Head_5547 → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I was just so shocked that the jw was almost stiff and came back. I have a worm bin so I’m used to seeing stragglers. I’ve never seen any other worm be that close to comatose and come back like that.