no worms
Hi I have an allotment in a walled garden in Kilmarnock Scotland. These allotments have been up and running for a year, thats to say we are in our 2nd year now. My question is... why would there be no worms. no one has seen a worm since we started.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Well, dunno if you have native earthworms or not. Around the world, most of the earthworms are actually invasive species. Here in North America, the spread of lumbricid earthworms like nightcrawlers has actually been very destructive for some forest eco-systems. Those systems are based on the foundation of duff, layers and layers of leaves accumulating on the forest floor. Earthworms devour this, disrupting the whole system.
wiki says this:
A recent threat to earthworm populations in the UK is the New Zealand flatworm (Arthurdendyus triangulatus), which feeds upon earthworms but has no local natural predator itself. Sightings of the New Zealand flatworm have been mainly localised, but it has spread extensively since its introduction in 1960 through contaminated soil and plant pots. Any sightings of the flatworm should be reported to the Scottish Crop Research Institute, which is monitoring its spread. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworms ... ve_species
So you could investigate whether you have the NZ flatworm.
Have you tried building compost piles on the ground? IME (which might be very different than yours thousands of miles away) when I build a compost pile with kitchen scraps and fall leaves, etc, sitting on the ground, it fills itself up with masses of earthworms. But of course, if there are literally zero earthworms in your area, that couldn't happen. But it would be a good test to see if there are actually some earthworms that you just aren't seeing.
wiki says this:
A recent threat to earthworm populations in the UK is the New Zealand flatworm (Arthurdendyus triangulatus), which feeds upon earthworms but has no local natural predator itself. Sightings of the New Zealand flatworm have been mainly localised, but it has spread extensively since its introduction in 1960 through contaminated soil and plant pots. Any sightings of the flatworm should be reported to the Scottish Crop Research Institute, which is monitoring its spread. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworms ... ve_species
So you could investigate whether you have the NZ flatworm.
Have you tried building compost piles on the ground? IME (which might be very different than yours thousands of miles away) when I build a compost pile with kitchen scraps and fall leaves, etc, sitting on the ground, it fills itself up with masses of earthworms. But of course, if there are literally zero earthworms in your area, that couldn't happen. But it would be a good test to see if there are actually some earthworms that you just aren't seeing.
Scotland is an island, so-o-o I suppose its possible there are no earth worms indigenous. Still I will cling to the end of the wager that if you collect yard waste as mulch, egg cases if any exist will be brung to your garden.
Discarded autumnal leaves, grass clippings are the preffered nests for worms to lay their eggs in.
Or failing everything else ask a local fisherman, where he digs his worms.
Discarded autumnal leaves, grass clippings are the preffered nests for worms to lay their eggs in.
Or failing everything else ask a local fisherman, where he digs his worms.