POLL: Do you use worms in your indoor grow potting soil?

Indoor Growing
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Do you use worms in your indoor grow potting soil?

  • Yes
  • No
  • I would like to start

0 voters

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I read good things about them. A lot of people I see have their own worm farms set up. Once I learn more. I’m going to grab some worms from my local bait shop and toss them in with my plants.

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That’s the only approach to organics in my case :grin:, as I have them freely available in my compost pile and after reading some organic gurus threads thought they would come handy … :sunglasses:

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It sounds like a great way to continuously supply aeration and worm castings!
I wonder how well they stay alive if you’re feeding, flushing, etc?
Or are they mostly used in no-till with fully organic input?

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No till organic is where they are best used. I am now even growing cover crops in my Solo cups, but no worms in those.

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Supposedly they do good in pots. The scientists say that they do NOT eat the roots. They only eat the bacteria living on decomposing organic matter. So if they do eat the roots it means that the roots were already dead and decomposing.
What I have read is you should use regular earth worms and not the red wigglers. The ONLY reason for this is that if / when there gets to be to many in the confined space the red wigglers will crawl out of the pot looking for a new home. The earth worms stay put.
I haven’t done it yet but have been doing research. I or someone else should do a experiment and put some in one pot and see if they do any good.
On the other hand I’ve read that people say skip the worms and just mix in worm casting in the soil. (I already do this)

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It’s better to use both types of worms, red wigglers operate in the top 3-4 inches and night crawlers operate lower down. I have about 30-40 per 10 gal pot, they self regulate breeding to the amount of available food, I have never seen them try and leave a pot.

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30-40 in a 10g pot?
That’s a lotta worms!
I’ve gotta try them. Soon.

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You don’t want to use normal earthworms. They won’t survive in containers, even in notill beds. If you are looking for worms that stay deeper in the soil, I would recommend European night crawlers. You can also use both Euros and red wigglers. Africans are going to take warmer temps.

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I have a buttload of worms in my front garden (outside, in SW Michigan).
So you think these won’t work?
Genuine question. I’m not being a smart-ass.
I was thinking of digging some up before the ground freezes solid…

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If they are red wigglers they will work. I started 4 worms per pot after 6 months, anywhere I put a finger in the soil I touch a worm. My pots have at least 2 inches of ewc on the top of the pots, they make so much I have to remove some every time I put a new plant in the pot.

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Wow. It sounds like they’re very productive.
I’ll have to research to find out what kind of worms I have out there.
I could just stick a few in some pots and see if they’re still in there after a while…
:snake:

Maybe I can find a label on the worm: "Red Wiggler - made in China"

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They will eat their weight in food ever day if it’s available.

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I just looked and my Walmart has the Red Wigglers in stock. $3.58 for 30ct.

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Any inorganic salt based fert will make them leave immediately!

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You could probably do both species however the majority of worms in my pots are reds… worms of any species don’t like light if they were unhappy they move out under the cover of darkness ! Lol

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Walmart shows several flavors of red worms, Natural, Garlic, Green, Chartreuse, …
Reminds me of Klingon Gaagh(sp?).

Not in stock in my area. Maybe I’ll try digging some up and see what happens…
Worst case? They’ll die right away… :cry:

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I guess I will have to pass on worms then. I use Dyna-Gro and it is considered synthetic. I also use hydrogen peroxide to kill the fungus gnats. And I guess the hydrogen peroxide harms worms also.

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Ya know… what if you used some fox farm ocean forest soil, worms, and just some light top-dressing… as an experiment. It’s possible the worms and natural bacteria in the soil can provide all you need?
I think I’ll try that… I ordered some GeoFlora recently that I can use for a light top-dressing… hmmm…

Try bti from Microbe-Lift for the gnats… it got rid of mine.

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I do use worm casing in the soil for my moms but no live critters wife would freak

I get enough critters from the pro mix i by I think the garden shop leaves it out side

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