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Should I remove the earthworm from my indoor potted plant? (media.kbin.social)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It seems the compost I used was more lively than anticipated. There's an earthworm crawling around in there.
It's a decent 12 inch pot, but it's still effectively a limited environment. So I'm not sure if I should leave him in or take him out.

UPDATE: alright. I'll keep him in, cross my fingers, and hope I've pulled in enough of an ecosystem to both sustain him for his expected lifespan, and safely handle the subsequent death and decomposition.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago

Don't! Earth worms are great for the soil and won't harm your plants.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

To better chances of worm survival:

Don't let the pot dry out fully
Don't use artificial fertilizer
Water with filtered water or water that has sat out for at least 24hrs so the chlorine can evaporate

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

If they like it well enough, they could have offspring on their own.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

You can leave it in; it should help the plant out.

But be aware - many earthworms are actually super invasive species! They’re actually very bad for insect populations & such.