Worms in garden after salt water flood

10 years ago

I know my topic is not about vermicomposting, but this forum is where the worm experts are.

My tiny garden in Freeport New York was under 6 feet of salt water for a day during Hurricane Sandy. The carnage was severe. Before Sandy my garden was home to innumerable worms, slugs, snails and creepy crawlies of every sort but I have seen not a single one this year.

Are there stages of a worms life cycle that can survive salt water and grow up to repopulate my garden, or will they have to migrate from areas that were not flooded? That could take years

Should I buy worms to seed the area?

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Comments (4)

vermiman
10 years ago
Some egg capsules may survive and repopulate your garden area. How long will salt stay in that soil.
iamwhatiam52
Original Author
10 years ago
I don't know how long the salt stays in but it must wash out little by little each time it rains.

Last year we had a shorter salt water soaking from hurricane Irene, but it rained heavily for a week or two after. Worms and slugs were not wiped out like this time but were clearly diminished.
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petrock1963
10 years ago
Just get to mulching as a start. I suspect it will bounce back. Hopefully without the slugs.
iamwhatiam52
Original Author
6 years ago
OVERDUE UPDATE:

Only saw a few worms in my compost pile the next year, a few more the next.

Third year both worms and slugs back to normal. Oh, and snails too.