You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. We just planted stuff in our backyard and frontyard in planter boxes of various sizes. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to put earthworms in these boxes, or if it would harm the plants or worms in any way. I don't want to kill anything. I know that the worms need to be kept cool, and I'm not sure how hot the insides of the plant boxes get. Here are the specs:
Box 1: 6'l x 6'w x 3'd, we planted a Bloodgood Japanese Maple in there that is about 3 years old we just bought from a nursery, along with some annuals, ivy, etc. Morning sun, shade by noon.
Box 2: 6'l x1 1/2'w x 1 1/2'd, this has 2 tomato plants, a cucumber, a pepper, an eggplant, a vine, and a couple of flowers.
Box 3: approx 4'l x 1 1/2'w x 8'd, this is an herb box that has a bunch of herbs and a couple of ivies in it.
Everything has been planted within the last couple of weeks so everything's still kind of new to the soil, etc. I'm wondering if buying worms and dumping them in the containers would be beneficial, harmful, or benign. If it matters I live in Brooklyn, NY, zone 7. Any info is greatly appreciated!!!
It won't harm the plants but I don't think they'll be as beneficial in the planters as they are in the garden. And I have a feeling the worms will be happier in the garden.
Well we already have plenty of worms in the garden, I see them come up when it rains. I was just wondering if it would help our tree and plants grow in the boxes - we don't seem to have luck with plants so I'm trying to think of ways to increase our luck! Haha.
Just so you know, we do have a soaker hose which waters down the boxes 2 times a day. So I don't know if it will ever get that dry.
Container culture and garden culture are different, even assuming the worms would be happy enough in the container that they'd stick around and live (which I'm not convinced of!), they are not going to be beneficial in the container the way they would be in the ground I think getting yourself a nice well draining potting mix and watering and fertilizing properly will get you a lot farther.
Why not just give it a try? I respect the views of fellow posters, but why not experiment? I love creatures, but the loss of a few worms won't hurt things too much. I will share with you my experience - birds just love worms in my containers. I'm an old transplanted Hoosier who loves central Alabama, and my love for gardening allows me to do gardening stuff without trying to be the most efficient. I sometimes am not successful, but I just keep trying. I have a large container gardening effort, and I have put a few worms in the containers. I do know the birds certainly love them, and just maybe the worms leave a few casings around the plants. I just think how wonderful it is that people in large cities have a great love for gardening. I wish you well.
"Just so you know, we do have a soaker hose which waters down the boxes 2 times a day. So I don't know if it will ever get that dry"
It needs to be wet all of the way to the bottom and leak out 10% more water to water properly. Then you just keep checking( for as long as it takes) until at least the top two inches are dried out before you water again. If it smells yucky, it may be rotting. Poke your finger here and there in each box to test for dry/wetness.
It sounds like you have my favorite "Next Project" going at your house. DH and I are supposed to build planters this winter/next spring and you have planted what I have thought about planting.
Good Luck
Nan
Last year I had nightcrawlers in my hanging basket, that has a cocoa liner. I don't know how they got there, but when I watered it the worms would start hanging out the bottom of the liner. Big, juicy ones too. The basket was hanging from the top of my arbor, so I always checked before I walked under it. Don't want any worms in my hair. Don't know if it made any difference or not as far as the plants are concerned and the poor guys probably froze to death in the winter.
As far as I can tell if your pots are out side at all you will have worms in your pots. I don't know how they get there. I had a Ficus in the pot pictured. Between kid and neglect I managed to kill it this winter. It was outside for maybe two months a year. When I replanted it there were several worms in the soil. It had been inside for almost a year.
Pastime..."..but when I watered it the worms would start hanging out the bottom of the liner. Big, juicy ones too." Slimy, yet satifying? (I couldn't help it.)
I don't think it will do any harm to put the worms in the boxes-it isn't that different from the vermicomposting method, and the roots of the plants will benefit from it too. The only thing that might happen is that you may 'grow' too many worms, and they may begin to consider your plants' roots food too.
The fun is in the experimenting!
I made my own box after doing a lot of reading on the subject. But really all you need is a container of any size, a small amount of dirt to start them, and just start adding the food. I got the worms from my sister's garden, and they multiplied wonderfully. What you have to be concerned about is the temps-they will survive in very cold temps, but can't freeze, and if they get too hot they die. I learned the hard way there-After 4 month of adding to my bed, increasing the number of worms from about 50 to at least 300, I changed out the bedding and put in a mixture of dried leaves and grass and some piggy poo. I came back to check on them in two days and discovered I had unintentionally created a very successful (which means HOT) compost pile. My poor worms had died trying to escape from the scorching heat. I have only a handful left, so I am starting over, sadder but wiser. That is why I suggest beginning small with dirt, and just adding some food each day, so they can keep up. Here are some pics.
I picture of my now-gone wormies. You can see the sand, the straw that help keep the soil damp and cool, and a LOT of worm castings, which are worth more than gold to me in this barren soil I work with.
That's my deal. I have no money and bad soil, but lots of worms and kitchen scraps. It might take me awhile to find the worms, but I know they're out there. The raccoon comes in and collects the worms at night, and after rains I saved dozens walking my step-daughter to school. I could just collect them and give them a new home rather than making sure they got off the cement and back in the grass before they dried out.
I don't have enough room to do a compost pile, how small do you think you could go? My whole yard is about 39'x39' and most of it's grass, and I rent so I can't get rid of the grass. Is it something that could be off on the side of the porch?
You could start with something like a margarine container-any kind of container with a lid- begin by collecting worms like you said (lucky you-you get rain??!! I haven't seen the stuff in months!) and keeping them in the container with the handful of damp soil to start, and add in you food scraps from the house, some dead leaves, whatever. Try to chop up the food, and maybe soak it before you put in in with the worms. What I have learned is that they like everything kinda soggy, but not too soggy-thats why they have to come up to the surface after a soaking rain. You will learn as you go what they eat, what they tend to ignore. They won't eat bread, for some reason, but they love egg shells, although they seem to live in them and lay their eggs there, not eat them.
Keep the container in the kitchen if that doesn't gross you out, or out on the porch. Remember that they can't sit in the sunshine, or near direct heat. Put holes in the lid for air, and turn over the mess inside every week or so because they need the air mixture in their 'dirt'. As they multiply you can be ready with something bigger, and you will also be able to take their finished product and put it in your garden. It is all fun to learn, just expect to make a few mistakes and don't get bummed out-keep learning!
If your porch is above ground on posts that might be a great place for a larger container one day.
Julia
No it's a cement slab, it gets morning sun, but misses the afternoon heat. I should be able to come up with something. I'll see if my DH will let me keep it in the kitchen.
I have to say do it because I raise redworms and have them in all my containers and they do great and you will never need to fertilize your plants because the worms do it for you
