I plan on taking four fish tanks (size TBD) and collecting worms for each of the tanks. My initial estimate is ten worms per tank to make it an easy number but may change after calculating the cubic feet of soil space to make sure to have a round number of worms per cubic feet. I will then put fertilizer in three of the tanks with soil that has not been fertilized and in the fourth tank will have just the base soil soil. I will place the ten worms (TBD) into the tanks and record their behavior for a specified amount of time (TBD), recording their behavior, including mortality in a worst case scenario. After gathering my base soil to use in the tanks, I will test to make sure it does not contain any fertilizers. The three tanks that will contain fertilizer will be marked to contain less than the recommend amount, the recommend amount, and more than the recommend amount to cover the three scales of fertilizer use.
My next blog will include the specific details as in the amounts of worms, fertilizers and soil. I will also include the type of worms I will be using and the fertilizer brand I have chosen. After a little research I was planning to use this brand of fertilizer but am not 100% sure yet. It has a 32-0-4 ratio of nitrogen, phosphate and potash respectively and is measured by percentage (ex. Nitrogen has 32%).
Will you be mixing the soil and fertilizer beforehand, or will you add a layer of fertilizer on top of the soil like it would happen in someone's yard? If that is the case, how will you make the fertilizer seep into the soil? Is it possible to get some sort of clear container with holes in the bottom so you can artificially create rain over the soil yet allow any excess water to drain via the holes? Even if you mix the soil and fertilizer beforehand, do worms need moisture on a regular basis?
ReplyDeleteMason--what evidence do you have that fertilizers impact worms? I'd like to see this reference. And is there information out there that indicates how much soil space each worm needs to survive? And when you talk about 'worm behavior'--what does this mean exactly? And finally--how do you plan on testing a soil for fertilizer content?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the proportion of the soil to the fertilizer you will be using, and does it matter for the correct scientific result?
ReplyDeleteThe proportion of the soil to the fertilizer will be the recommend amount of fertilizer per square foot of soil. I will be following the instructions given on the fertilizer to ensure that there is no other factors impacting the worms.
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