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| Every year I have this curiosity. I dig a small trench, plant a nice straight row of seeds. When they sprout, I end up with a couple stragglers coming out of the ground in a place where I KNOW I didn't drop a seed. Especially bean seeds. They're so big, there's just no way one fell in that spot two inches from where I planted. Nothing's getting eaten, mind you. Just "moved". I'm wondering if it's earthworms. I do have good numbers of them in my beds. Mind you, I'm not complaining about anything here. Just wondering if other gardeners have experienced their seeds getting moved. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Could be, or could be anything! A bird or cat walking on the soil, for example. |
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| I'd say the seedling emerged at an angle. Earthworms won't move the seeds around. |
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| Jumping bean seeds? :) It is one of the great mysteries of gardening and only the garden gnomes know for sure. Dave |
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| An old farmer friend of mine said that every time he planted garlic, the following day he would find some pushed up from the ground and laying on the surface. He was convinced that it was the earthworms doing it. I was never so quite so sure that was it. I think that as others say above, it's just something that happens, be it soil moisture fluctuation, some pressure in the soil, critters or worms. Quite possibly, it's done on purpose just to mess with the uber-detailed gardeners. :) -Mark |
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| I agree with all of the above answers. As for the garlic, Some of the garlic have long outer skins extending above the tip of the seed. At times these long skins protrud above the soil after planting, birds mice and other critters will grab those and pull the seed out of the ground. In my case it's the chickens. Dave |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 14 at 0:50
| Also, some times you either plant a little too shallow, or water to forcefully and the seeds will drift. Nancy |
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- Posted by sweetquietplace 6 WNC Mtn. (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 14 at 7:04
| I swear I have seen this phenomenon three times: In my early morning garden walk-a-round, I am stunned to see two or three inch pieces of tender green plants being dragged down a pencil-sized hole in the ground. If the greenery gets stuck, it's jerked several times until it goes down. This happens very quickly...and I go get another cup of coffee. |
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| Earthworms one hundred percent move seeds. It's a well known phenomenon amongst observant farmers and gardeners and some of us can get sort of aggravated. I scold earthworms every single year at planting time, lol. Worms are capable of moving a lot of things around.....often grabbing items in their mouths and pulling them into a tunnel. Worm activity happens at night...unless you are observant about the details, you'll never realize what's going on under your nose. Darwin wasn't, by any means, the first to observe worms at work, but he may have been the first to study and document their behaviors. You have all probably seen earthworm middens but didn't know what they were. Lots of video on the web of worms excavating and pulling small items around. I remember seeing a Youtube video of a worm collecting seeds! So, yes! I KNOW that earthworms mess with seeds.
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| Rhizo, I had to do a search for the video you mentioned because it just sounded so wild. So here's a link. So yes, some worms move seeds! Who knew? Also some of the comments are pretty funny under that video... |
Here is a link that might be useful: Worm collects seeds VIDEO
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- Posted by donnabaskets 7b-8 MS (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 14 at 17:35
| Best laugh I've had in awhile. (Admittedly, it doesn't take much.) I am happy to report that evidently, the educational and intelligence level of Garden Web posters is vastly superior to You Tube watchers.... On another note, I remember the very first real gardening book I read. It was called How to Have a Beautiful Flower Garden in One Hour a Week. In the book's basic information on prepping soil and such, the author said that you could lay soil amendments over the top of the soil and that over time, earthworms would drag it down deeply into the soil. (I have used this technique ever sense, and however it works, it does work.) I shared that bit of info in conversation with a group of gardeners not long thereafter, and one of the (experienced) men told me I was crazy. Taught me to keep my radical ideas to myself! :) |
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| This year, a rain lily bulb that I had planted at least 2" below the surface, in a pot, showed up on the surface. I don't think worms were there and it wasn't dug up like a squirrel might do. By the time I detected what it was, it had dried out, so it's possible that being a bad bulb, it somehow was moved up to near the surface, where it continued to decompose and become dry or empty-looking. |
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| Sunnibel, that's a great video....hadn't seen that one. The part I liked best was when it grabbed that little twig and pulled it in! Darn it, I can't see the comments. Gardenper...your story doesn't sound like the work of earthworms. :-) I'll recommend a book, too, Donna. The Earth Moved (On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms) by Amy Stewart. It's a great read and not nearly as um....boring......as it sounds. P.S. Worms don't do this for fun. They drag seeds, leaves, twigs, etc. Into their tunnels to eat once the items begin to decompose a little.
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This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Mon, May 12, 14 at 11:11
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| Haha, I love hearing all the different thoughts and theories. What I do think everyone agrees on is that it is possible that seeds can somehow relocate themselves after planting, be it from water, worms, or earthly spirits. |
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