I apologize if this is a duplicate thread, but I live in NW CT where it’s been super wet this summer and I’ve recently found hundreds if not thousands of worm like crawling insects in the soil. Found them at the base of cucumber plants, inside lettuce heads, on underside of grape leaves, in the soil around potted herb and annual plants. I’ve attached photos. They look disgusting and might be responsible for eating holes in leaves of various plants including morning glory, roses, basil, etc. I know I also have minor Japanese beetle and slug issues, but they are quick to find and their quantity is easy to deal with. These worm-like things are pretty pervasive. Hoping someone here can advise a solution. There is a chance these just look gross and don’t harm plants, but I am guessing I’d still like to get rid of them. In case it matters my 8 raised beds are about 5 feet wide and 10-20 feet long, so I’m dealing with a pretty large area. The soil is very organically-rich, my plants grow amazingly well (given my mediocre skill/experience), and there are a lot of regular/helpful worms in the soil. Thanks in advance, DR
Help identifying and treating worm-like pests
- Thread starter Whitebrook Farm ct
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I’m still hoping others can weigh in to be sure, but I just did some more online research and turned up that these are likely millipedes. There are tons of different types but I probably have the ones that thrive in wet gardens and soil, feed on fallen/rotten plant material, and reproduce in a way that would make rabbits blush. Not many options to get rid of them, but diatomaceous earth looks like the most organic. I’ll give it a try while we see if others in this forum have a better idea.
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They are millipedes. In picture #2 it shows an earthworm, a millipede and a slug. On picture # four it appears to be caterpillars but I can't make a positive ID because its out of focus. On picture #5 it is either caterpillar damage or slug damage. Millipeded are normally beneficial but in your case you are extremely over populated with them. Diatomaceous earth will kill them but it has to be dry. Borax also kills them
I've never seen millipedes do that or gather in those numbers. I would definitely put the diatomaceous earth to them.
I've always known millipeds to eat dead organic stuff like rotting wood. Centipedes eat bugs and stuff but those are definitely millipedes.. them eating green plants just opened a vortex to another dimension in the 11th realm that shouldn't exist lol
Thanks to all of you; much appreciated. After reading online that you can learn a lot by seeing what’s in the garden at night, I discovered about a dozen large slugs, a few dozen small fingernail sized white-ish slugs (on basil, celery, cilantro), less than 10 Japanese beetles in my nearby traps (10-20 feet away), and of course thousands of millipedes. I disposed of the slugs, and will apply the DE when things (hopefully) dry up. Just started to drizzle again, grrr! I’ll also look into Borax. Goodnight.
Maybe then the millipeds are just eating leftovers. Phew... Back to Defcon 5
