Earthworms in my Earthtainer - How Did They Get There?

Irv Wiseguy · April 16, 2011

I have one Earthtainer on a concrete pad in my back yard. This morning I was refreshing the mix for the new growing season and when I was digging out last year's fertilizer I found a bunch of earthworms in there. I'm curious how they got there. I don't think they'd crawl out of the ground, across the concrete, up the side of the container and go in through a hole in the plastic cover! I carefully dug them out and put them in the in-ground part of my garden.

Last year I didn't have any problem with Hornworms and one day saw a blue jay fly out of the garden with a green limp worm in its mouth (thank you birdies!). I wonder if one flew onto the Earthtainer with an earthworm in its mouth and exchanged it for a hornworm.

Has anybody else seen earthworms in their containers?

Thanks

Irv

rnewste · April 16, 2011

Irv,

In the early EarthTainer days when I used only Miracle-Gro Potting Mix (no bark nor Perlite), I occasionally would find an earthworm or two. Since I have been using the 3:2:1 Combo Mix, I haven't seen any.

I have mixed thoughts about this. While having worms in the EarthTainer Mix might be viewed as a good thing, I am thinking it may indicate the Mix is too compacted if they survive in it. In any event Irv, I would think about adding some more microbark / Perlite into your Mix for next Season.

Raybo

Tom C zone 4/5 · April 16, 2011

Theres only a few routes to getting a worm into your container. 1. They crawled there. 2/3. Eggs in some part of your soil, or placed on top of your soil had worm eggs in it.

They didn't hurt anything. Why worry?

I do discard worms from bonsai'd trees when I find them, but I doubt if they hurt my trees.

By the time you make a container uninhabitable by worms, you won't have any tomatoes either.

sprtsguy76 · April 16, 2011

Tom thats a very good point. I usually find worms in some of my swc's at the end of the year. I got it! Stick a few worms in every swc and check to see if they are alive at the end of the year as an indicator. If they are alive and well then the plant above the soil should be good too, lol. If they are dead then you know you did something wrong, lol!

Damon

Tom C zone 4/5 · April 16, 2011

No, what I'm saying is: 'if it aint broke, don't fix it'.

rnewste · April 16, 2011

Guys,

My concern is that what may be good for the earthworm - - may NOT be good for root aeration in a SWC for the actual tomato plant. Earthworms in a SWC to me, are an indicator of compacted Grow Media. In ground - Great! But I question the conditions that encourage there presence in an EarthTainer.

Raybo

Irv Wiseguy · April 17, 2011

Thanks for all your replies. After some more digging I discovered the weight of the potting mix caused the edges of the aeration bench to sink below the overflow holes, so I think I'm going to scrap this guy (it was a version 1) and build a version 3 Earthtainer this week.

We had a nasty storm come through here a few weeks ago and most of my yard got flooded (something I've only seen once before in 20 years here). Maybe the worms crawled into the container to get out of the water!

Do you think it's OK to use the worm mix in the new Earthtainer (it's 3 years old) or should I start fresh and sprinkle this stuff around the fruit trees in the yard?

Thanks,

Irv

b54red · April 17, 2011

Worms can live in containers and it has little to do with how loose the mix is. They need food and moisture and a ph that is not too acidic and as long as the container doesn't get too dry or too hot they will live and multiply in the container. I always sprinkle a little cottonseed meal on the top of my containers every few weeks to feed them and at the end of the year I usually have a container with a lot of worms in it unless I let it dry out completely.

rnewste · April 17, 2011

Irv,

If your Mix is 3 years old, I would use it elsewhere in the yard, and start with new 3:2:1 for the Combo Mix.

Raybo

WackyWormWrangle · May 26, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

Worms can live in containers and it has little to do with how loose the mix is. They need food and moisture and a ph that is not too acidic and as long as the container doesn't get too dry or too hot they will live and multiply in the container. I always sprinkle a little cottonseed meal on the top of my containers every few weeks to feed them and at the end of the year I usually have a container with a lot of worms in it unless I let it dry out completely.

I second this opinion, I've been adding red worms to SIPs for 15 years. I do change out my media every three years and feed it all to the big worm bin. There are always more worms than when I planted.

Wacky

dice · May 28, 2011

I find them between the edge of the hot tub and the hot tub cover.
They had to travel 4' straight up to get there, probably on a cold,
rainy night.

Stepheninky · May 28, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

Worms can live in containers and it has little to do with how loose the mix is. They need food and moisture and a ph that is not too acidic and as long as the container doesn't get too dry or too hot they will live and multiply in the container. I always sprinkle a little cottonseed meal on the top of my containers every few weeks to feed them and at the end of the year I usually have a container with a lot of worms in it unless I let it dry out completely.

I too agree, my leaf mulch pile is super lose and is full of worms (I mean like a shovel full having 20 + worms (they call them green worms here, they look like a night crawler but have a green tint to them) , Since it has been so cloudy it is also home to over 12 types of mushrooms that I have no clue what are.

Will be digging some in the AM for fishing bait LOL

Anyways I have always been taught worms and mushrooms are great signs of soil fertility.

Wonder if there is a way to combine an Earthtainer and a worm farm kinda like aquaponics but wormponics LOL

t-ham · May 28, 2011

Stepheninky

Around here the greens are rarer except sometimes out in the woods. Most leaf piles around here are full of what I guess most people call red Wigglers/wrigglers. Super fast little buggers who whip around so hard when you try to pick one up they snap themselves in half(defense mechanism like a lizard giving up his tail?). Because they're so fragile they're poor fishbait, almost impossible to get on a hook. Since any football, soccer, or baseball field around here can get you 100 nightcrawlers in an hour if you bring a red-lens flashlight and a quick friend, I'm willing to let the wrigglers work on the leaf piles. And you are right, 20+ a shovel-full.

Tom

April 16, 2011	#1
Irv Wiseguy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posts: 281	Earthworms in my Earthtainer - How Did They Get There? I have one Earthtainer on a concrete pad in my back yard. This morning I was refreshing the mix for the new growing season and when I was digging out last year's fertilizer I found a bunch of earthworms in there. I'm curious how they got there. I don't think they'd crawl out of the ground, across the concrete, up the side of the container and go in through a hole in the plastic cover! I carefully dug them out and put them in the in-ground part of my garden. Last year I didn't have any problem with Hornworms and one day saw a blue jay fly out of the garden with a green limp worm in its mouth (thank you birdies!). I wonder if one flew onto the Earthtainer with an earthworm in its mouth and exchanged it for a hornworm. Has anybody else seen earthworms in their containers? Thanks Irv

April 16, 2011	#3
Tom C zone 4/5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 253	Theres only a few routes to getting a worm into your container. 1. They crawled there. 2/3. Eggs in some part of your soil, or placed on top of your soil had worm eggs in it. They didn't hurt anything. Why worry? I do discard worms from bonsai'd trees when I find them, but I doubt if they hurt my trees. By the time you make a container uninhabitable by worms, you won't have any tomatoes either. __________________ Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains.

April 16, 2011	#5
Tom C zone 4/5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 253	No, what I'm saying is: 'if it aint broke, don't fix it'. __________________ Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains.

May 28, 2011	#11
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I find them between the edge of the hot tub and the hot tub cover. They had to travel 4' straight up to get there, probably on a cold, rainy night. __________________ -- alias

May 28, 2011	#13
t-ham Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: rockland county, ny, usa Posts: 36	Stepheninky Around here the greens are rarer except sometimes out in the woods. Most leaf piles around here are full of what I guess most people call red Wigglers/wrigglers. Super fast little buggers who whip around so hard when you try to pick one up they snap themselves in half(defense mechanism like a lizard giving up his tail?). Because they're so fragile they're poor fishbait, almost impossible to get on a hook. Since any football, soccer, or baseball field around here can get you 100 nightcrawlers in an hour if you bring a red-lens flashlight and a quick friend, I'm willing to let the wrigglers work on the leaf piles. And you are right, 20+ a shovel-full. Tom __________________ An analog man trapped in a digital world.

April 16, 2011	#2
rnewste Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Campbell, CA Posts: 4,064	Irv, In the early EarthTainer days when I used only Miracle-Gro Potting Mix (no bark nor Perlite), I occasionally would find an earthworm or two. Since I have been using the 3:2:1 Combo Mix, I haven't seen any. I have mixed thoughts about this. While having worms in the EarthTainer Mix might be viewed as a good thing, I am thinking it may indicate the Mix is too compacted if they survive in it. In any event Irv, I would think about adding some more microbark / Perlite into your Mix for next Season. Raybo

April 16, 2011	#4
sprtsguy76 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Santa Clara CA Posts: 1,125	Tom thats a very good point. I usually find worms in some of my swc's at the end of the year. I got it! Stick a few worms in every swc and check to see if they are alive at the end of the year as an indicator. If they are alive and well then the plant above the soil should be good too, lol. If they are dead then you know you did something wrong, lol! Damon

April 17, 2011	#7
Irv Wiseguy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posts: 281	Thanks for all your replies. After some more digging I discovered the weight of the potting mix caused the edges of the aeration bench to sink below the overflow holes, so I think I'm going to scrap this guy (it was a version 1) and build a version 3 Earthtainer this week. We had a nasty storm come through here a few weeks ago and most of my yard got flooded (something I've only seen once before in 20 years here). Maybe the worms crawled into the container to get out of the water! Do you think it's OK to use the worm mix in the new Earthtainer (it's 3 years old) or should I start fresh and sprinkle this stuff around the fruit trees in the yard? Thanks, Irv

April 17, 2011	#8
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Worms can live in containers and it has little to do with how loose the mix is. They need food and moisture and a ph that is not too acidic and as long as the container doesn't get too dry or too hot they will live and multiply in the container. I always sprinkle a little cottonseed meal on the top of my containers every few weeks to feed them and at the end of the year I usually have a container with a lot of worms in it unless I let it dry out completely.