Talkback: New Zealand flatworms - Page 2 - Talkback

blairs

29/04/2012 at 10:55

Out of interest, is the places where people are finding flat worms, sandy soil? I have heavy clay (though getting well loamed with time) and no flat worms. Have loads of earthworms and no sign (yet) of NZ Flatworms.

gardening Rev

10/05/2012 at 16:43

I think I may have NZ flat worms in my garden. I found 3 largish worms with pointed heads and a pail fleshy grey colour. the underside seemeed to have edges which could be a bit like tracks to move along. in more than 40 years of gardening i have never seen anything like it.
Diffinately NOT earth worms or slow worms or anthything alse I know.
I killed them I am afraid and now i wonder if i have killed somethig i should not have.
If I find any more should I send the to soemone?
I live in the South of England

round.head

19/05/2012 at 23:04

I'm more than a little concerned that i may have found these little critters under my potted gooseberry bush. As i live in Devon you can understand my surprise when i read that it is more usually found in the northern counties. To that end i would like to know what to do about them. I don't want to kill them in case I'm mistaken in it's identification.

Tom McDade

03/10/2012 at 15:09

Having noted a spectacular reduction in earth worms, although not tiger worms, in my vegetable garden I have begun a 'vendetta' on the flatworms and over the last 7 days have trapped and destroyed a total of 31 of them by laying black plastic sheeting on cleared areas of the vegetable plot.
I should mention that a report completed in 2000 by the departments involved in this type of work suggested that earthworm numbers did not appear to reduce when flatworms were found, however, from my experience and others commenting on this problem this would not appear to be the case - check'flatworms' on the web to access this report.
T.McD. 3.10.12

Verdun

03/10/2012 at 20:38

I do share concerns expressed earlier about importing pests and diseases with our plants. Does the use of multipurpose composts encourage the breeding of vine weevils? I think they do. As far as I can I check new plants, their pots, etc. for "stowaways." I think we do need to be more vigilant. I'm not aware of any flatworms yet but......

toshi

04/10/2012 at 22:54

http://s3.gardenersworld.com/uploads/images/original/12286.jpg?width=350

If they look like this then destroy them, and save the good old English earth worm.

stoory

26/10/2012 at 21:58

just found my first flatworm in Perth Scotland and they do decimate earthworms as my colleague in Wolfhill will confirm. The bedding thrown on the ground from his rabbit hutch used to disappear over time but since the discovery of flatworms now just lies there and accumulates.

The earthworms are no longer there in numbers to remove the bedding as they did before.

I've never heard flatworms mentioned on Gardeners World even when all that plant swapping fairs are going on. How can we stop them spreading if they are never mentioned.

Joiner1

20/01/2013 at 19:06

I'm beginning to see more earthworms, but only after 3 years of killing flatworms stopped count the first year at 300, the more flat plastic sheet type traps I lay the more I catch, still catching plenty

Ade3

07/04/2013 at 13:21

I have just found my first NZF in my garden in Totnes Devon. It was in some of last years multipurpose compost which kept in a small dust bin with a lid in the green house. I gave the compost a watering a day before i was going to use it then while sorting in a tray I found the flat. Which makes me think it came in in the bag of compost and we all could be moving them around in the compost we buy.

Marc

16/05/2013 at 08:42

I just found my first flatworm in East Sussex, at least I'm sure that's what it must be (have been, as it's squashed now) It was stuck to the underside of black polythene covering a layer of manure on a bed. It appeared to be attached to the polythene by a sucker like mouth. Made me think of a leach, although not sure if I've ever seen one of those? I have a feeling that it might've come in with the manure...

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