How to Get Rid of Wire Worms in a Garden

Wireworms are the larvae of click beetles and they appear as small brown worms that have six legs. The worms are hazardous pests of gardens as they feed on roots, stems and tubers of plants. The worms can also grow longer than 3 cm and continue to shelter themselves in weeds and diseased plants. The wireworm itself can almost be more disastrous to your crops and garden than the click beetle, which is why it's extremely important to eradicate the worms immediately. At the first sign of chewed plants you should look within weed and mulch for the worms and then prepare to get rid of all of them.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber gloves
• Wood plank
• Garbage bag
• Pesticide
• Compost
• Organic fertilizer

Instructions

1. Clear the area around your garden bed of any mulch, weeds and fallen or diseased plants. Wear rubber gloves when removing the weeds or diseased plants. Also, you should make sure that you remove any fruit or vegetables that have fallen from your plants.

2. Lay down a wood plank of any size in your garden bed and leave it there overnight. Check under the board the next morning and you should find many of the wireworms attached.

3. Take the plank of worms to an area of your lawn where you can spray pesticide on the worms to kill them. Once they are dead you can dispose of them in a garbage bag. If you don't want to kill them make sure to remove them from the wood and place them in an area far away from your garden.

4. Add at least a 3-cm layer of compost to the soil of your garden where the wireworms infestation occurred. Add organic fertilizer that contains green manure, which will help to kill any returning wireworms.

5. Continue managing your garden by removing weeds and applying organic fertilizer at the first of each month. Don't spray pesticide on the area to remove or prevent the wireworms as it could severely damage your garden.

References

• Wireworm
• Columbia Basin Wire Worm
• About Wireworms