Worms

[Two_Sheds]

I would guess that someone like TS who uses green mulches could have more in her soil

More earthworms, yes I do. But not the red brandlings, which you rarely find in the soil. Y'day my neighbour commented on how dry the soil was (he repeatedly digs it to keep it looking bare & fluffy).

My own soil is still very damp, underneath the living mulches, and under the newspaper that I've laid down to kill off large patches of winter weeds

[marchogaeth]

More earthworms, yes I do. But not the red brandlings, which you rarely find in the soil. Y'day my neighbour commented on how dry the soil was (he repeatedly digs it to keep it looking bare & fluffy).

So perhaps your earthworm are moving it all before it becomes interesting to the brandlings or maybe it's not hot enough or maybe they don't like the light. I'd never really thought about it before Bill threaded and was thinking out loud. Oh for a PhD thesis!

[KittyColdNose]

I found a dozen or so worms in the bottom of the water butt a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday was the first chance I had of emptying it so I could get the dead worms out and give it a clean. To my utter amazement they all crawled off when I turned the butt upside down to get the rest of the water and worms out Now, either they can live happily in water or my garden is now occupied by zombie worms.

[Richard Eldritch]

Brandlings will live in soil as long as there is organic matters to eat. As you've added MPC and dalek compost they'll stay in the bed in numbers utill the food runs out. Just keeping topping up with garden compost and they'll stay around. Earth worms also like a bit of organic matter and the two species should coexists. I have all types of worms in my beds.

[sandspider]

My compost bin has a large army of brandlings in it, and also, an ants nest.

Whenever I put the compost into pots, the brandlings come to the surface of the pot (or out of the drainage holes) when the pots get hot, and I feel guilty. So I sometimes collect them up and put them back in the compost bin, or unleash them into the garden. Despite the fact that there are literally thousands more of them living in the compost bin. Ah well!

[eospete]

I found ants in my plastic covered raised bed. Will they attack the worm population and if so was is the best way to get rid please?
P

[Bill HH]

I had a complete ants nest in my composter, they made no difference to the worm population that I could tell. But what they did do was make amazing compost.

[eospete]

I remember my dad explained the difference in worms very clearly.
Brandlings catch perch and earthworms catch chub. Everything had a fishing slant, bless him.
P

[sandspider]

I found ants in my plastic covered raised bed. Will they attack the worm population and if so was is the best way to get rid please?
P

The ants and the worms in my compost bin seem to get on fine...!

[Bill HH]

Brandling bravado.

The gun at the end of my hose blocked the other day, It is fed from a water butt, the butt takes rain off the gutter from my roof which is three stories high the butt has a well fitted lid and tight pipe connections. So when I dismantled said gun there was a brandling worm in it.Its a new gun and a new butt. Did he really climb up three stories?

[TrialAndError]

"So when I dismantled said gun there was a brandling worm in it.Its a new gun and a new butt. Did he really climb up three stories?"

For the sake of my sanity Bill, please stop asking questions like that.

I've just spent two minutes wondering how they got into the gun! This thread is driving me nuts! I'm off to bed in a few minutes and I have this mid-bendingly awful thought that I will be dreaming about worms getting into places they really shouldn't.

[AllInContainers]

Sounds like some birdie dropped his dinner Anyone who's ever walked away from the chippy and had their fish fall off the tray/paper and hit the pavement knows how truly awful that is.