can worms survive in outdoor pots?

[munkey]

I was wondering if night crawlers or worms in my outdoor potted plants can survive the hot summer? I live in the north east.

 

[PVCR]

If it gets hot or dry they'd go out the drainage holes and look for cooler moister ground.

 

[munkey]

My pots have a drainage hole but its covered and only water can get through. I will keep the soil moist most the time but as long as they don't die in the pot from being hot I should be ok. The summers here are usually around 80s on a hot day.

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

I had some flower pots with MMJ buried in the garden up to the top and the worms crawled in the drainage holes and found a good home. The plants on the patio get very warm so I cover the flower pot part with many thicknesses of newspaper and have to cover the soil with several inches of grass clippings.

 

[Ninja Mechanics]

They will crawl out as soon as there is insufficient moisture. Mulch heavily, keep them watered and you should be okay.

A nice trick for growing outdoors in containers is to line the inside of the pot with bubble wrap. That will help insulate the soil and roots from getting to toasty.

Happy growin!

 

[munkey]

I had some flower pots with MMJ buried in the garden up to the top and the worms crawled in the drainage holes and found a good home. The plants on the patio get very warm so I cover the flower pot part with many thicknesses of newspaper and have to cover the soil with several inches of grass clippings.

Good point about the patio. I live in an upstairs apartment, and my pot is sitting on the balcony patio. I'm using a ceramic pot thats around 2 gallons. I will try and cover it with something and see if that works.

They will crawl out as soon as there is insufficient moisture. Mulch heavily, keep them watered and you should be okay.

A nice trick for growing outdoors in containers is to line the inside of the pot with bubble wrap. That will help insulate the soil and roots from getting to toasty.

Happy growin!

Thanks I will make sure to keep mulch on top. Does that also help my soil to dry out evenly? My problem now is that my soil dries on top but not at the bottom.

 

[stoned-trout]

night crawlers wont live long in a container... they haul ass... I have had redworms in both indoor and outdoor pots tho

 

[Ninja Mechanics]

Yes, using mulch on top of your soil will help the soil dry out more evenly. Although, evenly drying soil to me, is not crucial. If there is water in the base of the pot but not the top, the roots will grow downward in search of the water.

Mulch will help conserve moisture and allow the roots to thrive in the upper levels of the container.

If you want your soil to dry more evenly, try mixing in a bit of aeration material into the base of the pot when you are transplanting. I commonly cut the bottom 1/3 of the soil mix with some perlite. Nothing specific, just an extra handful or so.