{"id":19366,"date":"2022-04-27T13:42:19","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T17:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=19366"},"modified":"2022-04-27T13:42:19","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T17:42:19","slug":"absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Is the absence of earthworms in or at the bottom of a two year old compost pile with a bottom made up of a tangle of small tree branches a concern?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<p><em>Frank S. Wertheim, Extension Educator \u2013 Agriculture\/Horticulture<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"gmail_default\">If the compost is old, which it likely would be at the bottom of the pile, then it is fully decomposed and there is no longer fresh organic matter there to attract worms. If the compost looks rich and black, it likely is high quality and fully decomposed, and I would not worry about the lack of earthworms.<\/div>\n<div class=\"gmail_default\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Is the absence of earthworms in or at the bottom of a two year old compost pile with a bottom made up of a tangle of small tree branches a concern? Answer: Frank S. Wertheim, Extension Educator \u2013 Agriculture\/Horticulture If the compost is old, which it likely would be at the bottom of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-soil"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: Is the absence of earthworms in or at the bottom of a two year old compost pile with a bottom made up of a tangle of small tree branches a concern? Answer: Frank S. Wertheim, Extension Educator \u2013 Agriculture\/Horticulture If the compost is old, which it likely would be at the bottom of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-27T17:42:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"twood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"headline\":\"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-27T17:42:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\"},\"wordCount\":108,\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\",\"Soils and Composting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\",\"name\":\"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-27T17:42:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\",\"name\":\"twood\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"twood\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Question: Is the absence of earthworms in or at the bottom of a two year old compost pile with a bottom made up of a tangle of small tree branches a concern? Answer: Frank S. Wertheim, Extension Educator \u2013 Agriculture\/Horticulture If the compost is old, which it likely would be at the bottom of the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","article_published_time":"2022-04-27T17:42:19+00:00","author":"twood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"twood"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/"},"author":{"name":"twood","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"headline":"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning?","datePublished":"2022-04-27T17:42:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/"},"wordCount":108,"articleSection":["Ask the Expert","Soils and Composting"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/","name":"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-27T17:42:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/04\/27\/absence-of-earthworms-in-compost-pile\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is the absence of earthworms in a compost pile concerning?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/","name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518","name":"twood","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"twood"},"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":199,"label":"Ask the Expert"},{"value":207,"label":"Soils and Composting"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"twood","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":199,"name":"Ask the Expert","slug":"ask","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":199,"taxonomy":"category","description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","parent":0,"count":652,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":199,"category_count":652,"category_description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","cat_name":"Ask the Expert","category_nicename":"ask","category_parent":0},{"term_id":207,"name":"Soils and Composting","slug":"soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":207,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":79,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":207,"category_count":79,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Soils and Composting","category_nicename":"soil","category_parent":199}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19367,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366\/revisions\/19367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}