Worms & Miracle Grow

Does anyone know if one or more applications of miracle grow will kill worms?
My Garden sitter thought she was helping me.
Thanks
A.

I'd be interested in knowing any non-intuitive things that kill worms. I get made fun of by the neighborhood kids because I'll rescue worms from the sidewalk while I'm taking my step-daughter to school. You know, it rains they get chased out of the dirt, but then they end up on concrete and dry out. So, I pick them up and put them back in the grass. I've noticed that a few of the other kids have started doing so too.

lol thats great...very "jain"
I really believe we garden the earth first and the plants second. Worms are an important part of
earth culture.
do you have rains and worms in summer?
A.

I live in Olympia, WA. We can have rain any day of the year. The worm collecting is mainly during the school year though. Spring was the hardest, we had so many tiny worms that I just had to leave them or we wouldn't have made it to school on time.

My mother was not organic until she moved in with me and she used to use miracle grow in her gardens in NC. They never had a shortage of worms. My stepfather was a non-organic farmer who liberally applied all manner of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers without any protection and who ate all of his produce without rinsing it. He died of complications after surgery for a brain tumor and colon cancer. Of course there is no way to specifically tie these facts together, but.... Anyway, I am guessing the worms if anything will probably help process out the chemicals from the Miracle grow. Compost is always good for that, too.

Thanks mudpiegirl
dontcha love them? processing chemicals! wow.
thanks
Anne

Laura, I have rescued worms too but not always because I wonder if we should leave some of them for the birds? I figure that's how they spot worms is when they're wiggling around out in the open. Thinking of all those hungry baby birds......hard to know when to interfere in nature and when to let it go. We did get a broom and chase a black snake off the bluebird house pole. He was climbing up it, sprialing really, and we knew there were babies in there. Just could not watch that happen!

I think the birds find them just fine in the grass. I see so many that dried up on the cement and don't get eaten. I don't interfere with nature unless someone interfered first. Concrete isn't part of Mother nature's plan.

That's true Laura. Another example: since praying mantis are 'non selective' in their appetites, I tried moving one to the under-attack squash plants FROM the beneficial insect-attracting fennel. But NO. He/she keeps coming back to the fennel. I guess it's good hunting or the 'food' is better than what's eating the squash. So my interference there was rejected! :)

Earthworms come out of the ground when it rains because they will drown if they don't.

Wonder Gro, for instance, contains ammonium phosphate and a few different synthetic substances that can be harmful to soil, plants, and worms