I thought at first this was going to be like the short BBC documentary on that special flock of penguins (http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=9dfWzp7rYR4). Interesting article- its a good thing the little beggars don't have teeth. It makes me reconsider some of the tropical bulbs I've lost unexpectedly. Earthworms always get in my pots. Here in the midwest, the invasion of european earthworms is still evident in places (nice summary here: http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/forest/soil.html). Thanks. -Phil > From: davidfenwicksnr@googlemail.com > To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 00:38:09 +0100 > Subject: [pbs] Scientists find Earthworms eat live seeds and plants > > Just read that Earthworms eat live seeds and plants on the BBC website > http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/… > > Quite an interesting read. I've been saying earthworms should be considered > pests for a while so it's nice someone has finally come along and said that > earthworms may not be as beneficial as we think they are. > > The problems I had with worms were With Tulbaghia. I've always been of the > opinion that there are two problems. > > 1/ Compaction of the organic growing media caused by the earthworms when > growing Tulbaghia in pots leading to lack of oxygen to the roots, creating > anaerobic conditions, which cause dieback or rot. > > 2/ Competition for space within the pot, as Tulbaghia are serious rooters, > thus I thought worms may be attacking the root system. > > After seeing this article I now realise that the roots might actually have > been eaten by worms, and worms may have a liking for the genus. This would > also account for losses of plants that were grown in the open ground also. > > I cannot see how this will have an impact on anyone or on how we grow our > plants; but it does give us a better understanding of how things work and > what goes on, and might explain a sudden or unusual plant loss with another > bulbous genera. > > It must be noted that I never used sand in the compost mix for any of my > containerised Tulbaghia; just goes to show that I should have done. Well we > all learn by our mistakes. > > Best Wishes, > Dave > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy/…