Topic: worms

[paranoid mandroid]

i have only recently moved in and started using my garden. i moved in last year too late to use the gardens properly. but i have been preparing and planting trees hedges etc. the problem is that i have only ever encountered one worm whilst digging in the garden. (it was about 2 1/2 inches long and fat and grey - like nothing i had ever seen before)

my family have lived only a few yards from the house i now live in for 3 generations (including me) and as far back as anyone can remember it has never been used for a garden just a field (it's half an acre and land is cheap in northern ireland) for horses and ponies about 20 years ago. (i dont remember i'm only 24)

does this mean that there are very few worms on the land because i have yet to see them.

should i buy in worms and if i do how much will they multiply?

any help greatly appreciated.

[aquilegia]

When I first dug my garden, I found very few worms in it, but now (nearly three years later) they are popping up all over the place. When I eventually did find some, I usually put them in the compost bin. Now when I turn or use my compost I find hundreds of the little fellas in it. My soil is heavy clay, so I'm not sure if that's put them off. Now after a few years of digging in compost and manure and adding mulches, there are many more of them.

[paranoid mandroid]

my soil is quite sandy, hopefully as i do more and have all my veggies in and fruit bushes planted they will come in their droves. im seriously considering buying some though, just to kick start things.

[Doris_Pinks]

Get lots of compost dug in paranoid, and manure and leaf mould and anything else you can get your hands on! They will arrive as you cultivate!

[gavin]

Hmmm - only one worm, and like nothing you've seen before?   Don't want to sound alarmist - but just a thought (on something about which I know nothing!!!) - could you have New Zealand flatworms?  http://flatworm.csl.gov.uk/index.htm, http://flatworm.csl.gov.uk/background1.htm, and http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/flatworm.htm?

It lives on earthworms and will greatly reduce their population, sometimes to below detectable levels.

By adding lots of organic matter the population of earthworms can be improved

Worth asking around locally?  All best - Gavin

[paranoid mandroid]

thankfully its definitely not that - i dont like the look of that monster!

[Palustris]

I think you may well have answered your own question.
"my soil is quite sandy " Our second garden was almost pure sand and in 12 years we rarely found worms anywhere in it despite adding a ton of manure every year. Sandy soil is lacking in the humus which worms rely on for their food. As the advice given, add as much organic material as you can lay your hands on. The worms will move in eventually. You will also need to check the .pH of your soil as sandy soil tends to have the lime washed out of it.
The addition of humus will also improve the moisture holding capability of your soil and its ability to hold on to plant nutrients.
Have fun digging in all that "muck!"

[Moggle]

I''m far from an expert, but I think I read recently that even if you were to buy worms, because your soil does not have the conditions for worms to already be there, they would probably end up moving on any way.

[cleo]

And remember there are worms and worms-brandlings(the little folk)like to move up and are found in the compost heap,earth worms(the big people)do the `work`in the soil.

To get earthworms you do need soil with a decent amount of humus, to collect them go out to a park or any grassy area one evening after some rain-they will be `up`


Stephan