Nightcrawlers and any worms can be kept in potting soil.
You just need to make sure to keep the potting soil moist more often than regular soil.
Nightcrawlers Have A Segmented Body, Earthworms Have An Unsegmented Body: Nightcrawlers are segmented, meaning they have different sections to their bodies.
On the other hand, Earthworms do not have a segmented body and instead just one long part with no divisions between each area of the worm's body.
While all worms are sometimes referred to as earthworms, it's usually the night crawlers we're referring to as an earthworm. Redworms are usally called red wigglers, although, they too, are an earthworm technically.
The redworms ingest food scraps and other organic waste at a rapid pace.
You can tell if a worm is pregnant by looking for swelling of the clitellum that is near the worms head.
When that clitellum begins to swell up then it's an indicator that the worm is pregnant with a baby worm.
The clitellum is a thickened glandular and non-segmented section of the body wall near the head in earthworms and leeches, that secretes a viscid sac in which eggs are stored.
It is located near the anterior end of the body, between the fourteenth and seventeenth segments.
When the baby worms emerge from the cocoon, they are barely visible.
They look like tiny, transparent threads.
They may be small, but they go to work eating organic matter right away little eating machines!
As they grow, they darken in color and develop clear segments.
Worms don't poop out of their mouths but instead worms poop out of their anus.
Worms eat both microorganisms and bits of organic material, which can come from food waste, animal manure, aquatic weeds and other sources.
Once ingested, those organic materials get ground up by the worm's gizzard and broken down even more by enzymes and microbes in the worm's gut.
Earthworms are a key player in vermicomposting, a variation of traditional composting where microorganisms and worms break down organic materials into worm-castings or vermicast, a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil amendment.
In other words, earthworms are just as good for your lawn as for your garden.
Worms will eat grass clippings as they eat grass clippings in their natural habitat.
However green grass clippings generate too much heat as they break down.
These high temperatures can kill your worms.
Fertilizers and other chemical compounds might be suitable for soil. However, they are too strong to add to a worm bin.
The difference between red worms and earthworms is the red worm is usually shorter than earthworms and the red worm is a red in color worm while earthworms are any other color.
Red Worms are earthworms as well but just slightly different.
Redworms are usually called red wigglers, although, they too, are an earthworm technically.
The redworms ingest food scraps and other organic waste at a rapid pace.
Worms do have organs as well as tissue and sexual organs.
Worms and earthworms all have long, narrow bodies without legs and they also have tissues, organs, and organ systems.
Worms do have buttholes which are also known as the anus.
The worm is able to poop out of their anus.
Earthworms eat things such as animal manure, decaying roots, decaying leaves and even soil.
Earthworms also eat living organisms such as nematodes, protozoans, rotifers, bacteria, fungi in soil and they will also feed on the decomposing remains of other animals.
Earthworms multiply and reproduce by rubbing up against each other exchanging sperm which allows them to produce cocoons.
These cocoons can contain as many as 3-4 worms each and can hatch anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months depending on conditions.
Worms are born through cocoons.
Worms reproduce by joining their clitella (the swollen area near the head) and exchanging sperm.
Worms are hermaphrodites, having both male and female organs.
After mating, each worm will form an egg in its clitellum. After 7 to 10 days, the egg is released into the castings.
You can tell if a worm is a boy or girl by examining the worm.
Female worms are straight while males are hooked.
Examine the posterior opening.
A male worm has pineal spicules, or spine-like extensions, near its opening.
The worm will also have papillae, or bump-like protrusions, in front and behind this opening.
Earthworms are hermaphrodites, meaning an individual worm has both male and female reproductive organs.
Earthworm mating typically occurs after it has rained and the ground is wet.
Worms also known as an earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida.
They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments.
They occur worldwide where soil, water, and temperature allow.
Worms breathe through their skin, aided by the layer of mucus that they secrete.
If their skin dries out, they die.
Earthworms increase soil aeration, infiltration, structure, nutrient cycling, water movement, and plant growth.
Earthworms are one of the major decomposers of organic matter.
They get their nutrition from microorganisms that live on organic matter and in soil material.
When the rain hits the ground it creates vibrations on the soil surface.
This causes earthworms to come out of their burrows to the surface.
Earthworms find it easier to travel across the surface of the soil when it is wet, as they need a moist environment to survive.
Earthworms are the foundation of a healthy, thriving garden.
Called “nature's plows,” earthworms' tunnels improve soil aeration and drainage, making it easier for plant roots to penetrate the earth.
Earthworms' casts also improve soil structure and nutrient availability—which increases garden productivity!