cut worm problem

jardinlady · August 8, 2006

Hello, Yesterday while I was cleaning my backyard, I decided to finnaly take my cucumber plant out. My cucumber plant was planted on an EB and was practically dead and not producing anymore. While taking the roots out I found the biggest worm in my life, that thing was huge and it was in the roots. I placed the roots in a garbage bag with disgust hoping that the worm would die.
My question I guess is, I have a couple of suckers from my cherokee purple and prudens purple I was hoping to grow in this EB. I have heard in the past is that you can reuse the soil for a couple of years. Can I plant tomatoes in the same soil even though there might be worms there? And if so should I treat the soil with anything before planting?

Thanks

Suze · August 8, 2006

Are you sure it was a cutworm?

http://images.google.com/images?q=cu...=Search+Images

For whatever it is worth, I've learned the hard way not to reuse potting mix. Too many diseases in the south -- just my experience.

landarc · August 8, 2006

same question as Suze. Also, I do not reuse soil in planters or containers. Never had any luck with doing that. Unless I am broke, in which case, I try to mix in some fresh soil into the old soil at a 50-50 ratio.

jardinlady · August 8, 2006

It definetely looked like one.
O.K so if I don't use the soil and decide to buy new soil what do you usually do with the old soil? Do you throw it away or place it on your lawn.....etc
Thanks for your imput.
:wink:

Mantis · August 9, 2006

Not up with the nasties you have there, but on the lawn is a goer down here. Not to many bugs beat buffalo grass.

Polar_Lace · August 9, 2006

Hi jardinlady,

I still use my EB's alot; as I have 20 of them.

What I do is tip the box on the side where the drain-hole is & let the box stay that way for 24 hours to drain as much water as possible.

Then I boil water in my big spagetti pot & pour it through the soil. Watch that you don't stand in front of the drain-hole; as you could get burned! I do this twice to each EB to reuse the soil each year. It seems to kill alot of weeds in them & alot of bad things I found out. Although it does take time to do all 20; but my veggies & plants are worth it. I thought of this idea after read things from these here links:

Hot Water To Control Weeds

hot water & plant disease

landarc · August 9, 2006

I just thow the soil into the corner of the garden, mix in some organic material and fertilizer, and let it sit. Over a year or two, the pile grows and the stuff in the bottom becomes usable elsewhere in the garden. Strangely, I have never had a property get higher or lower over time, the soil just seems to stay about the same.

August 8, 2006	#1
jardinlady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Mobile AL Posts: 74	cut worm problem Hello, Yesterday while I was cleaning my backyard, I decided to finnaly take my cucumber plant out. My cucumber plant was planted on an EB and was practically dead and not producing anymore. While taking the roots out I found the biggest worm in my life, that thing was huge and it was in the roots. I placed the roots in a garbage bag with disgust hoping that the worm would die. My question I guess is, I have a couple of suckers from my cherokee purple and prudens purple I was hoping to grow in this EB. I have heard in the past is that you can reuse the soil for a couple of years. Can I plant tomatoes in the same soil even though there might be worms there? And if so should I treat the soil with anything before planting? Thanks

August 8, 2006	#3
landarc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Left Coasty Posts: 964	same question as Suze. Also, I do not reuse soil in planters or containers. Never had any luck with doing that. Unless I am broke, in which case, I try to mix in some fresh soil into the old soil at a 50-50 ratio. __________________ Lets see...$10 for Worth and $5 for Fusion, man. Tomatoes are expensive! Bob

August 9, 2006	#6
Polar_Lace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Z8b, Texas Posts: 657	Hi jardinlady, I still use my EB's alot; as I have 20 of them. What I do is tip the box on the side where the drain-hole is & let the box stay that way for 24 hours to drain as much water as possible. Then I boil water in my big spagetti pot & pour it through the soil. Watch that you don't stand in front of the drain-hole; as you could get burned! I do this twice to each EB to reuse the soil each year. It seems to kill alot of weeds in them & alot of bad things I found out. Although it does take time to do all 20; but my veggies & plants are worth it. I thought of this idea after read things from these here links: Hot Water To Control Weeds hot water & plant disease __________________ It's not how many seeds you sow. Nor how many plants you transplant. It's about how many of them can survive your treatment of them.

August 9, 2006	#7
landarc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Left Coasty Posts: 964	I just thow the soil into the corner of the garden, mix in some organic material and fertilizer, and let it sit. Over a year or two, the pile grows and the stuff in the bottom becomes usable elsewhere in the garden. Strangely, I have never had a property get higher or lower over time, the soil just seems to stay about the same. __________________ Lets see...$10 for Worth and $5 for Fusion, man. Tomatoes are expensive! Bob

August 8, 2006	#2
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	Are you sure it was a cutworm? http://images.google.com/images?q=cu...=Search+Images For whatever it is worth, I've learned the hard way not to reuse potting mix. Too many diseases in the south -- just my experience.

August 9, 2006	#5
Mantis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Oz Posts: 1,241	Not up with the nasties you have there, but on the lawn is a goer down here. Not to many bugs beat buffalo grass.