Jumping worms eating bamboo roots?
Moderator: needmore
Jumping worms eating bamboo roots?
Does anyone know if the invasive "jumping worms" can damage bamboo roots? I found out from my neighbor that they are common in my neighborhood. Some of my largest, healthiest moso culms are just dying for seemingly no reason.
Re: Jumping worms eating bamboo roots?
It seems like their biggest harm is to the soil itself -- they eat organic litter at or near the soil surface. So I'd be surprised if they were the cause for isolated culms dying, but who knows. Plants are weird.
Alan.
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!
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Re: Jumping worms eating bamboo roots?
I think they are not harming your bamboo. They are usually wigglin' on top or very near under leaf litter and mulch. There are no roots there. However, like Alan already stated, they do harm to top-soil which becomes more prone to erosion and they can damage grass and other small shallow-rooted plants. Their droppings are quite nutrient rich and they promote growth of weeds which can't be the reason of Moso damage either.
Usually Moso just takes a bit of time to establish. When it does, there should be no more damage.
Usually Moso just takes a bit of time to establish. When it does, there should be no more damage.
Re: Jumping worms eating bamboo roots?
Ok, that's good to know that it's probably not the worms. Maybe it's because we had such wet weather. A lot of the rhizomes turned black and died. I've been trying not to mulch it as much since I think that acted like a sponge.