Worms on grrenhouse roof ??

Kayleigh · #1 (**permalink**) 09-02-2007, 11:54 PM

When it rains I get worms on the roof of my greenhouse. I was in there when a worm fell from the roof just missing me, landing on the floor next to me. I also get big balls of them in the water barrels. They don't drown. I don't know how they get into the barrels as the only way in is from the guttering from the greenhouse. How do they get on the greenhouse roof?? I have a worm phobia I hate worms, I refuse to collect any ripe fruit when it.s been raining. My family take the michael as I am a gardner. does anyone know how worms get on the roof.

davewalker · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2007, 01:08 AM

Hi Kayleigh, lets see if we can get to the bottom of this.
What do the worms look like?
How big are they?
What colour are they?
Are they there all the time?

davew

aeshna5 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2007, 08:08 AM

Kayleigh, I'm wondering whether there are rotting leaves in the guttering of your greenhouse? When you describe balls of them it reminds me of the so-called Tiger Worms, Eisenia foetida, that are ubiquitous in compost heaps + bins + when I was managing some glasshouses I found these annelids in the decomposing leaf matter trapped in the gutter (don't ask me how they get up there!).

Given your phobia you won't want to know this , but if it is these small reddish worms, they are commercially available for home composting. For me they have always arrived without any need to import them.

Monkster · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2007, 12:20 PM

I have a mystery concerning little red worms too.
I have two plastic recycling boxes in my yard, one I use and one I don't.
Now, whilst sorting out my yard to start making it into a 'wildlife haven' (so to speak) I looked in the one I haven't used for years and was bemused to find a mound of what looked like earth. This surprised me because I know for a fact there was only an old Argos book and couple of newspapers in there ! (I have a good memory

)
Anyway, on further investigation, when I brushed away some 'earth' there was a little red worm....in fact there were quite a few.
My question is how did they actually get there .... I don't have a garden and neither do my neighbours and I don't look out on to green fields, just back streets and more houses.
Do they evolve from something in the air?.....Or can they spot a good hidey hole from miles away? ....I don't think they could have been dropped in as the box has a lid on....hmmmm.
It's funny how I was trying to encourage wildllife into my yard and yet it was there all the time.....Nature always finds a way it seems

Sorry I can't shed any light on your problem Kayleigh....worms must live mysterious lives

Kayleigh · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2007, 04:17 PM

Hi, I think they are tiger worms. They are red with stripes. I could make a fortune if I could handle them and sell them on Ebay. We have two compost bins next to the greenhouse that are full of the little blithers. We have stockings over the end of the down pipe into the barrel so god knows how they get in there. There maybe leaves in the guttering but not on roof. I think they follow me, as I found one crawling half way up the back door. Thank for trying to solve this problem at least they are good for the garden.

nightshade · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-2007, 04:35 PM

I think the worm eggs can get blown about I found them in
moss on my chimney-pot when I got up to replace it.
During wet rainy days they climb my up and over garage door
right to the top!
The compost heap is usually 50% 50% worms,compost
the moss around my water outfall(theres posh) is full
of something like bloodworms but a little larger,huge lob-
worms slide around under the bird feeders but I had never
really thought about them until this thread

Kayleigh · #7 (**permalink**) 24-02-2007, 06:51 PM

Another worm fell from the roof hit my shoulder and landed next to my foot. I screamed in histerics

while my husband looked slightly amused.

Why did it not land on him... I swear I will never go in there again when the sky looks the slightest bit dark.

wyevilla · #8 (**permalink**) 24-02-2007, 08:19 PM

I have found worms like these on green-house rooves and also in guttering on a 3-storey building.

I have observed them climbing up the sides of a compost heap and up the corners of greenhouse window fittings. They seem to be able to use a small film of condensation to travel and a group of 2 or 3 will push upwards together.

There must be an advantage for this climbing behaviour...