Invasive worm poses threat to gardens

WDTN Dayton Mon, May 11, 2026 at 9:26 PM UTC

Invasive worm poses threat to gardens

DAYTON, OHIO (WDTN) – Planting season is here, and it is time to get those flowers and plants into the garden. However, the Asian jumping worm has been around the Buckeye State since 2020 and poses a threat to gardens in the state.

Unlike a typical earthworm, these worms eat through the surface layer, destroying organic material.Mike Hogan, Ohio State University Extension Educator of agriculture and natural resources, said, “They make seedling germination very difficult. One of the first signs that maybe they’ve infested a bed you might have or a row in the garden, is that the soil surface almost looks like coffee grounds. Okay. That size of granules doesn’t look like traditional soil, if you will.” Just like their name, they can be identified easily based on their movement.Dr. Don Cipollini, “3 to 5 inches long. A white band in the midsection, and constantly moving.”There is a way to check if you have an infestation in one of your garden beds.Hogan said, “To test for them is to mix up about a half a cup of dried mustard in a gallon of water. Shake it up real well. And pour it over the soil where you suspect they’ve been. For some reason, it drives them right out of the soil. They come to the surface of the soil, and you can look at them and identify them.”Testing for them is easy; removing them is another task.“Try to remove them by hand. That’s probably your best thing to do in a backyard situation. You know, in a more land management situation where things like controlled burns are used to manage forests, understories, or prairies, things like that. Fire can be an effective control.”An interesting fact about the jumping worm is that it can reproduce on its own.

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