Hey Everyone, and thanks for reading. First time grower and first posting. I have been reading up on how to get rid of insects. I have the little flying gnats. I have been using insect killer for fruits & vegetables spray since i first noticed them when they were in vegetation. The plants are now flowering and should be good to go soon. I just put sand onto the soil to hopefully suffocate the gnats...hopefully this works. My question is...while taking off about an inch of the top soil to put the sand down...I noticed I have a earthworm. I never have seen a worm before in my pots and was extremely surprised. Is this a bad thing? Wouldn't a earthworm be good for the soil and plant? The leaves on this plant are curling under but the buds are still growing just fine. I just want to make the best environment possible...thanks for the feedback!
Gnats. If these are indeed fungus gnats, you've got the right idea. Fungus gnats potentially need to be dealt with on three different levels -- eggs, which can be suffocated with a layer of sand (good call on that one), larvae, for which put some potato slices on the soil, the larvae are drawn to it, then in 4-5 days throw away the potato slices, and flying adults, for which neem oil, tobacco juice, or just sticky fly traps will work. Worm. If indeed a garden-variety earthworm, yes this is good for your soil. Earthworms aerate the soil and keep it from compacting. Don't expect much benefit from worm castings, though -- it would take a bucket of worms to produce enough castings to make a difference.
The earthworm really freaked me out, I'm not gonna lie. But it's nice to know that it is good...how do they just appear like that?!?! I put the sand on top...I should get some of the sticky fly trap stuff to kill the adults. I just get tired of them flying around... Maybe my plant leaves will recover...the other ones are fine... Thanks for the fast comments!