TatiEva
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Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:52 am
Location: Eastern Central Florida

Tiny White Worms in Soil?

Since removing the organic soil from its bag I have seen tiny white worms in the soil. They are verrrry tiny and as thin as a strand of hair. Bad or good? I looked up gnat larvae (as seen in another forum) and it didn't look like that at all.

Vanisle_BC
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Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

Symphylans 1.png
Maybe Symphylans? They're very small although most illustrations are magnified and make them look huge. But they burrow down away from the light, so if your worms are on the surface they're something else.
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Symphylans 2.png

TatiEva
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Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:52 am
Location: Eastern Central Florida

Vanisle_BC wrote:
Symphylans 1.png
Maybe Symphylans? They're very small although most illustrations are magnified and make them look huge. But they burrow down away from the light, so if your worms are on the surface they're something else.
I believe that's exactly what they are! I'm trying to find a way to naturally get rid of them. I think they're preventing some of my seeds from germinating.
Thanks for the response!

Vanisle_BC
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Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:02 pm
Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

Yes, symphylans will kill seedlings before they can even put up a stem. There are a couple of things you can try. I've read that they travel along worm tunnels, so digging up the bed helps to get rid of them. Maybe do that selectively because they're not supposed to travel far. I've also trapped them with slices of potato, rutabaga etc left on the surface. Every morning you can turn them over and see/kill what they've collected. Helps you to see how many there are, and where.

If the ones you have are still confined to the soil in bags or containers maybe you could spread that soil thinly on a sheet of ? hot metal in the sunlight. They hate the light and if the sheet gets hot enough it will do them in. Then again there's always the microwave :)

Initially I thought I was going to have a big infestation - some seeds were failing to emerge and the symphs would be thick on the occasional strawberry where it touched the ground - but I tried a couple of these things and either they worked or I was just overly worried. They haven't been much of a problem after all.

TatiEva
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Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:52 am
Location: Eastern Central Florida

@Vanisle_BC, I will definitely be trying the soil spread out in the sunlight trick, thanks so much for the tips!



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