Hiya, I'm new to gardening and I got some topsoil from a friend for my new veg beds to keep costs down. I collected it today and was weeding it, after we'd put it all in - I've done a section of about 6' by 1' and found six of these things, they are about an inch long. I have no idea what they are and wanted to know if they were a danger to my seedlings/veg and if so how to get rid of them
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My wife reckons it is a beetle larva (possibly a ground beetle). Mainly because it appears to have well developed jaws, distinctive dark skeletal plates on each segment, and the two appendages (cerci) at the tail end. See this picture.
http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/bulletin/pho...etle_larva.jpg
It's a goodie btw.Last edited by Capsid; 24-04-2009, 03:41 PM.
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Thanks for the advice it definelty was a wire worm, I found out after some extensive google-ing. Since I only put it in this morning I've just finished removing the soil from the beds as there were loads of them, and from what I found out they are a menace to get rid of, once you have them. I'm going to warn my friend too as all the soil came from a neighbour of his who had dug up his lawn.
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I don't know how much soil you have obtained from the ex lawn, but if you can spread it out, possibly on some plastic sheet and let the birds feast on the wire worms. I'm gradually increasing my veg plot by digging up my lawn and the wire worms arn't too troublesome. After a few years of cultivation, they give up and go away .I you'st to have a handle on the world .. but it BROKE!!
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Reply to Heated mat for Tom's and chilliesby raryI use a mix of six scoops of compost three scoops of sand/grit and two scoops of perlite,the quantity is unimportant as long as the ratio is the same, if for seeds I use this mix, if I am potting on I add some blood, fish and bone, along with a small quantity of chicken manure pellets
though...1 PhotoToday, 12:28 PM
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