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maddyfox

Cant Figure out - Going crazy

maddyfox
10 years ago

I have a raised bed with basil, thyme, peppers, parsley, cilantro and tomatoes. The other day I overwatered and was shocked to discover hundreds upon thousands of tiny white specks squirming around everywhere. All of my plants are fine except the taragon. I pulled the taragon up and put it in a bowl of water just to examine the root ball. The next day I was horrified to discover inch long opaque white worms everywhere in the root ball. I have pretty thick skin and can stomach a lot but I am kind of really really grossed out. I spent the past 4 hours on the internet trying to figure out what this is or how this happened but can figure it out. Im literally driving myself mad.

Comments (13)

  • jean001a
    10 years ago

    pictures, please.

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    And here are the bugs on the top...

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here are the worm like things-swimming around

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Top of the Taragon

  • jean001a
    10 years ago

    How are you growing them? They're far too wet for container-grown plants. But doesn't look like hydroponics either.

    This post was edited by jean001a on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 11:23

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I'm growing everything in a healthy bed but my tarragon died so that's why I pulled it up and just put it in a bowl of water to examine. That's when I found all the worms.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    10 years ago

    Maddy, have you considered that they might be baby earth worms? I'll send you a picture to compare. When you arrive at the link, scroll down to see the image with tiny babies in the soil.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Click to compare

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The only reason why I feel like they are not baby earthworms is because of the MASSIVE infestation of these white buggy things. I am just guessing the white worms and these weird tiny white specks go hand in hand? Im at a loss as to what these are.....

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    I'm growing everything in a healthy bed

    ==>>> i guess i would start with this presumption ... what is in that soil in the pic directly above???? it almost looks like partially decomposed grass clippings .... how did you develop this soil????

    i suspect you have a water management problem... perhaps a drainage problem ...

    and i also wondered if they were plain old worms ...

    can we have a pic of the whole bed.. and a pic of the soil ...

    for the size of the root mass.. there isnt much on top .. and that is confusing me ...

    ken

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here is a picture of the whole bed. I live in Los Angeles and there is a man that sells soil by the bag,rich with organic matter, and thats what I bought.(I have a lot of friends that have bought stuff from him and their gardens thrive.) Everything seems to be doing ok except for the taragon. I ripped the taragon out and thats when I discovered the infestation of white bugs posted above and then the white worms. The 2 things could be separate. But man.....after watering the ammount of these white larvae-y things that come to the surface makes my stomach squirm.

  • calliope
    10 years ago

    The white specks are hard to define on a monitor, but often when you pull a rootball out of the soil, you hit on an ant colony and their tiny larvae and pupae are white specks.

  • calliope
    10 years ago

    the tiny 'worms' are the larvae. Did you see any ants?

  • maddyfox
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No ants in site and def. not ant larvae. Still cant figure out.....