Earthworms in X-Large Potted Plant.. Yes or No

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I had a potting soil bag on the ground.. Some earth worms decided to call it home. Is it safe to use this soil for a x-large potted plant.. About a 45 gallon pot.. I know earthworms live in the earth with same plants. But is it ok for them to be in a potted plant..

Please help me out. I want to know if I have to pick them all out. Then freeze the dirt to kill any I missed..

 

[boggybranch]

Maybe this info will help......

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_earthworms_do_in_the_winter

 

[HunkieDorie23]

A 45 gallon pot is a big, big pot. I am assuming this is a established plant. I don't think that earthworms are going to bother a plant that big. If it had worms in the soil I would shred newspaper and work into the mix to give them something to eat.

 

[patandchickens]

They won't hurt the plant, but neither are they likely to survive for long in there.

Pat

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

Thank you to those who have replied.. The plant in question is a fruit tree. I dont own my own land yet. But got a good deal on the trees.. So they are being transplanted into big pots.. I just wasnt sure if I could use the dirt that the earthworms decided to live in.. I didnt know if I had to throw that bag of potting soil out or if I could use it..

I will wait for a few more replies before I actually transplant them.. Just in case.. Im affraid the earthworms will decide to start eatting the roots of the plant.. ???? I dont know much about earthworms...

 

[ducks4you]

I agree with the rest--no harm, no foul with the worms. You could put a little compost in the bottom of the pot, and they may stay longer for "lunch."
BTW, , Sunny the Hippie Chick!

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I agree with the rest--no harm, no foul with the worms. You could put a little compost in the bottom of the pot, and they may stay longer for "lunch."
BTW, , Sunny the Hippie Chick!

Thank you for the welcome.. I signed up last year. I dont post much.. But I do lurk and learn... LOL

 

[HEChicken]

I'd let them stay but so that they will have something to eat, every so often, add some compostable material to the pot - banana peels, apple cores, citrus peels etc. If you don't like the appearance of them laying on the surface of the pot, you can bury them just below the surface. The worms will eat them and leave worm castings which are nutritious to the plant.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I dont know if it is good or bad. I always find earthworms in my potted plants. They must come up from the bottom through the hole in the pot. I always start with a compost mix and I never use any garden soil. Who knew! I always find it a relief that the worms are there. To me it is a sign that maybe I am doing something right. :/

 

[ducks4you]

I thought of this thread yesterday when I FINALLY transplanted my blackberry bushes and found a big, fat earthworm! I had taken them out of the pots that they came in ONE YEAR AGO, and transplanted them into pots that my cherry trees came in. They lived at the bottom of the stairs in full sun all last year--I had put a plastic garbage bag in the pots ahead of time, so they wouldn't dry out. I ran out of nice weather, so in October they went downstairs on my old computer table, where they lived and GREW, reaching 3 feet up to the north facing basement window--even flowered for me!! Just YESTERDAY, they went into the ground, and there he was--big old fat healthy earthworm, who had been living in one of the pots for a year!!! WHO knew!!!