Would it work

[rary]

As I have problems with flatworms and having found two in some home made compost which I was going to use in my baskets I remembered that I had put some compost into a large tub then covered with soil so too much to search through to see if there was any amungst the compost so was wondering if I soaked the contents of the tub with a solution of vinigar to kill the flatworms, would then watering the tub with clean water followed by a soaking of water with lime desolved in it make it suitable for growing runner beans

[ameno]

It would get rid of the vinegar, but it would also get rid of most of the nutrients in the soil. The vinegar would allow a lot more of them to become water soluble than usually would be, then the water flush would wash them all away.
I'm also dubious as to whether that would be sufficient to kill the flatworms in the first place...

I would either spread the compost thinly on a large sheet and let the birds pick the worms out, or sterilize it bit by bit in the microwave.

[Nicos]

What's in the tub...potatoes?

[Mamzie]

I really wish I hadn't googled Flatworms... shudders

https://inews.co.uk/news/environment...uglife-2551940

[Baldy]

flatworms are a bugger...

[rary]

ameno its a 200 lt. tub so too much to microwave plus there is soil as well so possibly stones in it and birds don't eat flatworms as they are corrosive, Nicos I had filled the tub to plant runner beans and mamzie I do hope you never have them in your garden ad Baldy says they are not pleasant

[Snadger]

ameno its a 200 lt. tub so too much to microwave plus there is soil as well so possibly stones in it and birds don't eat flatworms as they are corrosive, Nicos I had filled the tub to plant runner beans and mamzie I do hope you never have them in your garden ad Baldy says they are not pleasant

From what I can gather, flatworms eat garden worms. I wouldn't want either in a tub and surely the flatworms would die once there food source ran out.
I don't envy you having a flatworm problem as my last plot was depleted of worms because of them.

[rary]

Unfortunately they don't die off Snadger, they a can hybernate for more than a year, till the worm population increase again, but as I have I have thought about this thread I have decided to try the vinigar wash as acid definitely kills them and so I hope it will also kill off any eggs that might be there also. It would be interesting to know if there are any flatworms found on acidic soil areas

[Snadger]

I know that vinegar can be used on weeds and if it kills flatworms it will probably kill earthworms The trouble is that all beneficial life forms within the soil could be killed including fungi and microbes that digest organic matter and make it available to plants.

I would keep the vinegar for your chips alone.