Worms in the potting soil

The task of worms in nature

Any stable ecosystem can only exist if there is a balance of organisms that are mutually beneficial. This includes worms. Your potted plants also need such a system so that they can grow and thrive:

• Worms usually eat debris that is rotting away. This means that you prevent rot from taking hold and digest dead animals and plants into humus. This then serves as food for the plants.
• Since worms constantly crawl through the earth, they loosen the earth and prevent the earth from becoming hard and firm, like concrete.
• Only a few species of worms are parasitic, which means that they harm host plants or animals. Many worms can eat plants if there is a lack of food, only some types always penetrate the plants.
• You are probably also familiar with worms that live in the intestines of mammals and humans. However, these parasitic worms do not live in the ground. You can be sure that the worms that frolic in your potting soil could not live in the intestines of pets or humans.
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Living things that you will find in potting soil

• If the pots were in the garden or if you compost added, you will likely have earthworms in the potting soil. These loosen up the soil, eat rotting material and do not harm the plants. The flesh-colored worms, which are usually several centimeters long, are therefore not a problem.
• Enchytrae can have a body length between 5 and 30 mm. Like earthworms, they are ringworms, but they are hardly pigmented. They are white to yellowish and can also be colorless or transparent. If you see a large amount of these in the potting soil, these worms could become a problem because of Lack of food also eats the enchytrae on fine roots, usually they only use dead ones Parts of plants.
• Nematodes are roundworms, which are also called elk. They differ from the enchytrae through the unsegmenated body. One end is pointed. There are useful nematodes that are even deliberately used to attack pests, but there are also many that only penetrate the roots of the plants. Most of the time you won't see the nematodes in the potting soil. The only sign, as a rule, is poor plant growth.
• If your worms jump happily as soon as you water the plants, it's springtails, not worms. The 5 mm long animals are hexipedes and are more closely related to arthropods such as centipedes, bipedes and millipedes. The above-ground species are rather darkly pigmented, species that live in the ground are slightly colored to white. Springtails can also eat roots if there are no decomposing parts of the plant. Since these also graze fungal cultures, they prevent the potting soil from becoming fungal. Harm and benefit are balanced.
• Dark to black worms are more likely the larvae of the hair mosquito or various arthropods. In exceptional cases, the larvae of the hair gnats eat the roots of the plants. The adult hair mosquitoes do not bite. You can recognize the animals by their very hairy bodies.
• The larvae of the sciarid gnats are also often mistaken for worms. The fungus gnats are about five millimeters tall and black or white. very dark colored. The wings are also black. The larvae are colorless and 5-7 mm long. They have a cylindrical and legless body and a black head capsule. The larvae often appear in masses and, if they are mass infested, also eat roots.

Measures against worms in potting soil

• If you have bought the potting soil fresh and discover worms in it, you should spread the soil out on a baking sheet and heat it to 100 ° C for a few hours. That makes the earth sterile.
• If you spot the worms in the flower pot and the plants show no damage, you should simply do nothing. Most worms are harmless or the species that are not do not live in the plant in the soil. Pour a little less.
• Should the plants care, or if you are repotting anyway, remove the worm infested soil completely. Rinse the soil completely out of the roots. Put the plants in steamed potting soil. You can make the potting soil aseptic yourself as described or you can use the range of steamed potting soil in stores. The steamed soil is more expensive and it says on the package when the soil is steamed.
• Normal insecticides are useless for worms in the potting soil, almost all worms and larvae react to nematicides, but they are not harmless. Special suppositories or tablets that are inserted into the ground help against springtails and sciarid gnats. Due to the large number of products and the not harmless side effects, you should definitely seek advice from specialist retailers. Special nematodes, for example, also help against fungus gnats.