Do rototillers kill worms?

[tulenutn2o]

You may kill a few, but does it really matter, sounds like more fertilizer if you do or don't. Besides, little guys are pretty fast at escape anyways.

 

[Bison]

NOt to be a smart a%& about worms but what do they do that is so special? I understand that they aerate the ground but what else do they do? Really they have not done anything to me so you guys are really making me feel guilty- I was so happy with new tiller purchase now I am affraid of using it..

AndyG

To many worms is just as bad as not enough worms.
worms eat the dirt and digest the organic matter from it. To many worms deplete the humus and make the soil poor.

Till to your harts desire,don't be sissy,you won't kill them all anyway

 

[milkman]

I'm positive:

Earthworm Regeneration

You can't believe anything that liberal commie site posts, didn't you know that?:laughing::laughing:

 

[sixdogs]

Worms loosen my clay soil and provide pathways for air and moisture to get to thte roots and further break the hardpan. Those who farm clay know the drill.
I am certainly no tree hugger, and would love to cut down a tree one is in---but----I have learned "mankind owes it's existence to six inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains".
So I figure to do the best I can with the topsoil.

 

[Don87]

You can't believe anything that liberal commie site posts, didn't you know that?:laughing::laughing:

Oh geez............I been caught:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[Haywire]

Now I am afraid of using it..

AndyG

You are right. Those worms have families and kids to feed. I, on the other hand, don't have that problem. My worms are all single and trained to stay at the edges of the garden while I am tilling.

Send that tiller to me so you won't orphan any more wormlets. :thumbsup:

 

[tulenutn2o]

Haywire, I have first dibs on that tiller!:laughing: I can't believe worms would even come up in conversation, but we all got to have somethin to do in the winter months.............

 

[easygo]

The experts say that earthworms are good for the soil but they often also get credit for stuff that other organisms do. There are a host of bacteria and other living things that also do much good for the soil. As for the tiller killing worms...
I till deeper in the Spring and shallow in the late Fall (to mix in horse manure). After the Spring tilling (when compost goes in) I hardly see worms during the planting. By the time I'm pulling plants out as the frost comes the worms are back.

 

[Don87]

Haywire, I have first dibs on that tiller!:laughing: I can't believe worms would even come up in conversation, but we all got to have somethin to do in the winter months.............

I once turned a simple garden thread to total crap here on TBN.:thumbsup: When I got into a debate about using fresh manure on gardens:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[patrick_g]

Uh oh....here comes PETE with their protests....

PETE = People for the Ethical Treatment of Engineers?

Pat

 

[Agrantina]

It sounds like some of us are getting cabin fever in these late months of winter... Heck I got the new tiller and tilled WET soil and created an AA class mud hole that I will have to fix this spring just to try the tiller out!! Do worms go into hibernation?? If so I may have spared some lives and a entire worm family... Good HJ of the thread though

And the the Engineer remark-- that SHOULD be a totally differnt thread!!! becuz I agree..:laughing:
AndyG

 

[dillo99]

I sure hope so...

http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/squirm-poster.jpg

 

[Haywire]

And the the Engineer remark-- that SHOULD be a totally differnt thread!!! becuz I agree..:laughing:
AndyG

Yea, different thread. After dealing with the "engineers" at my place of employment, I am of the opinion that they bestow that title to folk not even qualified to spell it.

 

[sixdogs]

Yea, different thread. After dealing with the "engineers" at my place of employment, I am of the opinion that they bestow that title to folk not even qualified to spell it.

Not to hijack my own thread but I'll say when new people first boast that they are an engineer, I usually and politely ask if it's with "the big ones or something like HO or N gauge?" Real ones smile.

Back to worms--I find the more worms I have the better the garden or crop does. And it's a noticeable difference which is why I want to protect them.
So in the dry spells they must head lower for water. Plus they feel vibrations from a six foot tiller heading towards them at a half mile an hour and vamoose.
Sounds good.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

An alternate viewpoint which surprised me:

Among forest ecologists in Canada, the earthworm is listed as an invasive species, blamed for the destruction of the stratified leaf litter in the forest which a number of endangered plant species depend upon for their existence. Regardless of how good they are for corn crops, soil aeration and topsoil-mixing aren't that great for biodiversity.

 

[sixdogs]

An alternate viewpoint which surprised me:

Among forest ecologists in Canada, the earthworm is listed as an invasive species, blamed for the destruction of the stratified leaf litter in the forest which a number of endangered plant species depend upon for their existence. Regardless of how good they are for corn crops, soil aeration and topsoil-mixing aren't that great for biodiversity.

Got any links to that?
I used to live in the woods of Maine and that seems contrary to conventional wisdom.
Also dealt with woods people in the Maritimes and some of Quebec province.

 

[Baby Grand]

Not to hijack my own thread but I'll say when new people first boast that they are an engineer, I usually and politely ask if it's with "the big ones or something like HO or N gauge?" Real ones smile.

Back to worms--I find the more worms I have the better the garden or crop does. And it's a noticeable difference which is why I want to protect them.
So in the dry spells they must head lower for water. Plus they feel vibrations from a six foot tiller heading towards them at a half mile an hour and vamoose.
Sounds good.

Hee-hee!
When I was 5 or 6, Gramps (a retired GE engineer) asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I looked up from the train set I was diddling around with and said "I wanna be an engineer!". He proceded to go all Timoshenko on me, telling me I needed to know all sorts of math and thermodynamics and such. After giving him a vacant look for about a half minute I replied "but I just wanna drive the train". I can still see his look of complete disapointment.
-Jim

 

[RadarTech]

Uh oh....here comes PETE with their protests....

You mean PETA?

 

[Haywire]

You mean PETA?

Guilty... guilty of replying to a post without continuing to read the thread to see what had already been said about the PETE post.

Your sentence: You are from now on to be referred to as the Honorary TBN Tractor and Attachment Engineer.

 

[RadarTech]

Guilty... guilty of replying to a post without continuing to read the thread to see what had already been said about the PETE post.

Your sentence: You are from now on to be referred to as the Honorary TBN Tractor and Attachment Engineer.

Huh?
You crack me up...