Inorganic fertilizer and earthworms

16 years ago

I have heard that adding inorganic fertilizer to soil has negetative effects on earthworms. Based on my experience I question this.

I am not an "organic gardener". I do slow compost and add lots of organic material to my garden every year. I do not use pesticides, but do use inorganic fertilizers.

I have a sweet corn patch that is 15x15 ft. that I have added 10 lbs of 20-10-10 every spring for the last 4 years. The fertilizer is fast release from the local farmers Co-op. If you calculate the application rate for an area this size you will realize that it is an extremely high rate.

My sweet corn does great every year, large robust plants, huge ears of corn. My soil is full of earthworms (most of them non-native of course). I have not noticed a decline in the worms in 4 years of adding inorganic fertilizer at these rates. Isn't the salt flush from the fertilizer supposed to repel the worms? I do not see it. Can anybody provide me some scientific data on this topic?

I am going to post this on the organic gardening forum also.

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Comments (6)

Kimmsr
16 years ago
See my explanation on the "Organic Gardening" forum.
renais
16 years ago
I garden with mostly organic methods, but do use some fertilizers that would be labeled non-organic. I also find that the worms are not adversely impacted by my fertilizer applications. In fact, since my large worm bin has a very large amount of browns, I periodically add some urea pellets (46-0-0) to the bin. The urea addition is a trick I learned from commercial worm producers who use it to increase worm sizes and population densities. The worms thrive with this kind of treatment, and it really helps to decompose the piles of browns. In my opinion, gardening with organic materials incorporated into the soil does not have to be separated from the use of some other fertilizers. In my case, for the various crops I produce, I feel that I would not get the excellent crops I do without the extra fertilizer additions, or without a lot of extra work or cost to add all the materials in a pure organic fashion. I believe that if I put to much fertilizer in for the worms, it will also be too much for the plants, and they will show the adverse results. I call my produce naturally produced, since it is based on organic methods, but not to the letter what organic means now legally. People like the taste, and quality.
Renais
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Lekholoane from Lesotho Southern Africa thanks for this informative topic. Information never goes stale as this issue was discussed 16 years ago but the facts are still relevant today. Your non-chemical treatment methods are humane and I found that very comforting than to use chemicals. My personal experience is earthworms are good in gardens but wreak havoc in pots. The growing medium tries out to a very hard cake which cements and impedes the plant roots becomes hydrophobic, contributing to high cost and wasted water.
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If your soil is healthy, meaning an extremely active microherd, then they are breaking down most of the salts into more friendly organic waste products. The amount of the salts used, is the biggest determining factor, that and the amount of humus and organic matter available to the microherd. Don't get me wrong - salts are not healthy for the living soil, that much is proven, but in soil that is very rich in organic materials, with a vigorous microherd (present in some areas no matter what is being added to the soil), microbes and earthworms will still flourish. The earthworms will avoid the areas that are "weak" in microbes and gather in the areas that are rich in them. I base all of this off personal experience and opposite yard gardens that were fed differently for three years, but still enriched with the same amounts of compost, and organic materials. Good luck TiMo
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All types of worms can survive outside given the right conditions and enough compost, including red wigglers. If you give them enough decomposing material, as the OP did, they can survive. Here is a quote from an expert worm guy...hehehe Redworms (red wigglers; Eisenia fetida) are an epegeic species of earthworm found throughout North America and are certainly cold hardy to zone 6. AFAIK the eggs in their coccoons can sustain much lower temps than the adults. In the wild, adults control their temp by moving up, down, or horizontally in the soil to get away from harmful temps that become either too hot or too cold for them. Thus, they only need artificially controlled temp when colonized in a bin (because of that confinement). I have a commercial worm compost bin, yet I've never purchased redworms for it. Instead I harvested the original colonizers of my bin from naturally wild redworms found in my own backyard. There was a fully shaded corner of the property under a canopy of towering old locust trees. In early July I simply began dumping fruit and vegetable wastes from the kitchen there, keeping out any gardening/landscape wastes. I did not disturb the pile until late October, when I found dozens of redworms near the bottom. Most plants require some acidity in the soil, and wild redworms are adapted to acidic compost. Therefore colonizing your composter with wild redworms from your locale is far more advantageous for gardening than the use of commercially raised redworms that have become adapted to pH neutralized compost beds that are cultured for optimum production of redworms (not compost). If your yard has no deep shade with litter from old growth trees, then it may not have any wild redworms regardless of which climate zone you live in. In that case, if there is a woodland near your neighborhood, then late next spring start a temporary compost pile of kitchen wastes at a secluded spot there for a few months. That should be sufficicient to amass a starter supply of wild redworms for your home composter.
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oakridge2
Original Author
16 years ago
Renais, your experience seems similiar to what I have seen. If urea addition is a trick to increase worm sizes and densities than why is it said to "repel" earthworms?

I am not questioning the benifits of adding lots of organic matter to the soil, just the supposed negetive effects of inorganic fertilizers. I would love to see some scientific data on this.
Kimmsr
16 years ago
This is one study and as is stated in this report synthetic fertilizers "used in moderation" appear to do no harm to the earthworms. However, if there is a sufficient level of organic matter in the soil there probably is no reason to use synthetic fertilizers. If you have adequate levels of organic matter in your soil using synthetic fertilizers may simply be a waste of your money.

Here is a link that might be useful: earthworms and synthetic fertilizers
oakridge2
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the link Kimmsr. It did state that adding inorganic fertilizers in moderate amounts does not appear to have negative effects on earthworms.

I would not call the paper a "study" though. It is more of a colpilation of information. It makes statements that "research has found" but has no literature cited section. Several times statements are made followed by a question mark??? Fore example: Fertilization with manure is better for maintaining good populations of earthworms. ????

I guess I am looking for some real scientific information on this, maybe a soil science forum would be a good place to try.
Kimmsr
16 years ago
You probably will not find good research, especially of it does show the synthetic fertilizers were killing off the soil micro organisms since most of the research funding comes from the companies that manufacture that stuff. However in soils with very low levels of organic matter you will not find many earthworms indicating low levels of other soil micro organisms. We also know that getting sufficient levels of organic matter into the soil will increase the population of both earthworms and soil micro organisms and that most often good, reliable soil tests will tell you that those synthetic fertilizers are not necessary.

Inorganic fertilizer and earthworms

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Inorganic fertilizer and earthworms

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