Worms in my soil
draku_nj_6b
7 years ago
My container with ginger plant is full of the worms shown on the pictures below. The soil is my own compost.
Are these good or bad worms? There is a lot of them and I'm getting bit concerned.
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worms in my soil?
Comments (9)Red wigglers are not native to North America. And the kinds of earthworms who are native here are not recommended for vermicomposting. I guess it would be possible to have red wigglers in your pots if you used worm castings from someone who was growing them. But I know the ones in my pots came from the ground in my yard. There is a GW forum on this subject if you're interested in trying it. Here is a link that might be useful: Quick facts about worm composting...See Morebring on the worms
Comments (12)Here's my experience w/same/similar problem. Last year I had similar soil - but I have a flower bed, not a veggie plot. I did similar stuff & topped it w/lots of mulch (I think mostly pine bark mulch). Also, I had amended the soil w/lots of leaves & N of various forms (coffee grounds, dried blood, compost, etc.) Last fall I asked the same question & got a response similar to "if you build it they will come." They definitely like/need good amount of moisture AND something to eat (leaves, newspaper, cardboard, mulch, etc.). This spring, the top layer (top 2-4") - underneath the newly added spring mulch - looked beautiful but still no worms. So, this spring I got some worms from local bait store. I pushed aside the mulch, dug down about 2" and put them there. They are extremely happy and have multiplied (I think)! Don't know if you can do this amount of mulch on your veggie garden, but mine are very happy - and live about 2" under the mulch. And, I like Sue's suggestions too - sounds perfect for your situation. All the Best, Tree...See MoreWorms In Sandy Soil
Comments (5)I'm in a sandy area of FL and worms do turn up here. A major part of it is they need organic matter and a covering of mulch as well as sufficient moisture to show themselves. I've never actually found a worm in a shovelful of soil here at my place in FL. I have discovered them as I was raking mulch. Here is something that happened to me this past season. The ground under the citrus trees was quite bare sand with some weeds. When I found out that it would be ok to use a thin layer of mulch under the citrus (since the soil is sand) so long as I keep it away from the trunks. I spread a thin layer of mushroom compost (1/2 to and inch), sprinkled some corn meal (well actually cracked corn), then added a thin single layer of wood chips. About a week later I noticed that some of the cracked corn had sprouted so I took a rake to mix things up and uproot the corn seedlings. And Guess what, there were worms feeding in that mulch of wood chips, corn meal, and mushroom compost! (oh, and I know the worms didn't come from the mushroom compost as it is steam sterilized both before and after it gets used for the mushrooms.) Good luck, make em a habitat and they should come....See MoreFound worm-like thingys in my garden soil
Comments (4)It could be a hornworm. The picture - though small - looks like the pupa (stage between caterpillar and moth). That it is below the soil, and about 3" down, also sounds like them. The "hook"-like thing might also be a clue. Though I've never seen this stage personally, I've seen lots of pictures, and the hook loops around at one end. If it is a hornworm, then it would be an intermediate stage of one of the various sphinx moths. You might do a Google image search, and search on "hornworm pupa". That might determine if we are talking about the same thing....See More
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agodraku_nj_6b thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)draku_nj_6b
7 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agodraku_nj_6b thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
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