This video was sent by a fellow gardener wondering if this might be an example of the jumping worm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA first sign of jumping worms can be an unusual texture of the soil, which looks like coffee grounds. This is the worm castings (poop). You would also likely note an absence of bits of decaying matter - bits of grass or other decaying matter that you typically see in your garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are digging, pulling weeds or harvesting root vegetables and see a worm that is more active than the normal earthworm, you can suspect it is likely a jumping worm. I have developed the habit of picking up any worm and having a look at it before deciding it is benign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jumping worms are often present in numbers in an area. Pick the worm(s) up by hand or with your trowel and place in a container. Relax, take your time and have a good look. These worms are not poisonous nor can they hurt you so there is no need to be nervous about handling them. They are pretty good climbers so don't leave them in an open container as they can escape pretty quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When disturbed by a touch, a jumping worm will thrash around. This is the most identifying feature of jumping worms. A regular earthworm may move but with a slower, sedate movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Examine the worm closely. On a jumping worm, the clitellum (band of tissue near the head which contains reproductive organs) closely encircles the entire body. In an ordinary earthworm, it is raised and is only on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preventing Jumping Worm Infestation<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe best way to deal with jumping worms is to prevent infestation in the first place. <\/h2>\n\n\n\nPlant Roots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Jumping worms often arrive on plant roots. Purchase bare root plants and grow your own vegetable and flower seedlings if possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can wash potted plant roots in three changes of water but because the eggs are minute, it can be difficult to be sure you have eliminated all of them. Also, the eggs may still be present in the wash water, so your wash water could spread them wherever you dump it. Heat is the only known way to kill the eggs (100 degrees +) for several hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buying worms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Don't buy worms advertised as jumping worms, crazy worms, snake worms, Alabama jumpers for any purpose. When buying worms, ask! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarize Your Soil Amendments <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Watch carefully for jumping worms and the coffee grounds texture in any material You are considering for addition to your soil. They love compost, manure, leaf litter and mulch because of the high volume of organic matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarize bags of potting soil by leaving them in full bright sunlight for 3 days. Temperatures above 100 degrees will kill the worms and eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarize compost by laying down a tarp. Place material 4 - 6 inches deep on the tarp. Pull in the edges and add another tarp, tucking the top tarp under the bottom one. Leave for 3 days in full sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarizing in the garden can be helpful in killing eggs, but the worms likely just leave the area if they find it too hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What to do if you find Jumping Worms in your soil<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThere are some things you can do.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If possible, take photos and video and also photos of the soil where you found them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Destroy the worms in one of the following ways:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Place in a tightly sealed plastic bag and either leave it in the sun or place it in the freezer. Then discard the entire bag in the trash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drop them into alcohol, vinegar or water mixed with a squirt of dishsoap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It won't completely solve the problem, but can help to control the population in that any you kill will not reproduce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarize the area where you found them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarizing probably won't kill adult worms as they will probably just move on to a cooler area. But it will kill eggs. The adults will die over winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarizing is likely most effective in the spring because the adults will be dead and the eggs unhatched. But solarizing the area can help at any time to reduce the number of eggs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To solarize the area, cover the area with clear plastic and leave it there in the heat of the sun for 3 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Report suspected jumping worms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Upload photos of jumping worms you find to inaturalist.org to help track the invasive species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How to identify jumping worms, prevent them and what to do if you've discovered them in your garden What are jumping Worms?? Note: The above was determined to be an ordinary earthworm - sedate and almost sleepy when I lifted it from the soil in my blueberry patch. Jumping worms have been in the US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13,6,16,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2904"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2958,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904\/revisions\/2958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesteadingwithjoyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}