Being all this gets confusing for many allow me to try and explain in plain English. The earth under our feet is teaming with life, the “richer” the soil, the more beneficial life usually contained within. To give you an idea, in one cup of soil there can be literally billions of live microorganisms contained therein. However, poorer quality soils can also be teaming with life, just not the ones we want or our plants.

Each microbe has a purpose in life which becomes an entangled web by which one benefit another by giving a free ride to another to greener pastures… protects your plants from harmful microbes… or which finds another a delicious treat…

When dealing with soil and worm castings there are two categories of microbes we need be concerned with, aerobic, the good guys and anaerobic, the bad guys. Now some of you know I have written about worm castings as well touched on aerobic versus anaerobic before, however now I am going to explain in more detail as well as back it up by other renowned experts.

The reason this was so important to bring back up and to elaborate on is the fact each year around this time through the fall I have folks contact me stating they have either generated worm castings themselves or moreover purchased worm castings in the past and neither the worm castings nor worm tea showed any benefits. So I figured here was a good time to show why some worm castings are so beneficial while others do not produce results.

First, the definition of aerobic: requires oxygen to survive.

To further this:

“…anaerobic conditions foster pathogenic bacteria and worse, kill off beneficial aerobic bacteria… Some anaerobic bacteria produce alcohols that are toxic to plant life and to other bacteria. These anaerobic bacteria can be avoided when gardening by controlling the conditions that allow them to multiply; poor soil texture, lack of pore space, standing water and compacted soil.” Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web By Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, Forward by Elaine Ingham

Anyone not familiar with the authors who are highly respected adding to the fact that Elaine Ingham is one of the leading authorities on soil and well respected when it comes to earthworms, now you know!

Now being the above statement has to do with soil management the same principles apply to worm castings. After all, worm castings help create not only beneficial soil underground to approximately 6 inches in depth but also are one of the main components to generating the top soil which resides on the surface to a depth of approximately 1/8 of an inch.

For instance, “standing water and compacted soil” is one reason Organic Worm Farm has refused to offer worm farms with the spigot on the bottom. Once you overload your worm bin with water you are in essence compacting your worm bedding material and generating standing water, which in this case is leachate, full of anaerobic microbes which come out of the spigot. The manufacturers and those promoting these types of worm farms state it is worm tea, which could not be further from the truth.

Worm tea on the other hand is a delicate process by which you aerate good “aerobic” worm castings in a mixture of non-chlorinated water along with some other additives over a period of 24 to 48 hours at 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, hence exploding the beneficial aerobic microbe count exponentially.

To picture another with readymade worm farms offering a spigot you are creating swamp mud which is anaerobic and a known disease causing environment in humans and animals. Step in it and your shoe gets stuck due to the vacuum created since the air cannot penetrate which would allow you to pull your shoe out freely. If your shoe sank in sand at the beach, you could easily pull your shoe back out since it is surrounded by free flowing air. However go towards the water’s edge and get your shoe stuck in the sand and once again it becomes difficult to pull out.

Worm castings when generated and stored correctly retain millions of aerobic microbes. In order for one to generate the best quality worm castings temperature comes into play since certain microbes you want to survive in the worm bin are active at ranges from 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  A reasonable temperature range to raise worms and produce premium worm castings is 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Think about his for a moment. During the main growing seasons throughout a majority of the world the ambient temperature ranges from 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and is when microbes are most active in your garden areas.

Here on our worm farm we maintain a controlled environment throughout the year maintaining a constant temperature of 78 degree.

A worm bin with bedding material which is not packed down should maintain a 30% moisture level at all times throughout the bed. If the same bedding material were packed the reading on a soil moisture meter would read approximately 70%. It is similar to soaking some paper in a bucket of water. Pick it up gently and squeeze and some water will run off. Allow it to lay in the palm of your hand then and it appears to be drier than if you were to squeeze firmly releasing additional water.

Issues also arrive when storing vermicast. When they are generated at 78 degrees Fahrenheit then stored outside during the winter at 20 degrees, many of the beneficial microbes are killed off since they cannot survive at these temperatures. Vermicast needs to be kept aerated, moistened at 30% moisture and stored in the ideal temperature range they were created in order to maintain maximum benefits.

Another issue of worm castings being stored outside is the fact that airborne contaminants come into play, i.e. unwanted seeds which will flourish in your garden.

When you go to buy worm castings and they are sold in sealed plastic bags or containers, no oxygen can penetrate. This renders the worm castings either useless or harmful allowing malicious anaerobic microbes to take over.

For example let’s assume you go to a local county fair and one of your kids wins a goldfish, which by the way is aerobic. You take your prize home in a sealed plastic bag half filled with water and the other half filled with air, place it on a shelf and forget about it. The goldfish will be fine for several days, however by the end of the week it will be belly up and you will have some explaining to do to the kids!

This is why Organic Worm Farm offers worm castings which have been stored correctly and shipped in breathable bags.

Another issue with buying worm castings is the fact that many are produced from waste such as vegetable scraps which include seeds. Being the worm bins cannot be heated as ordinary compost bin without frying the worms, these seeds can sprout within and around your potted plants, vegetable and flower gardens… This is why we have worked and tried to perfect the 14 Day Worm Castings process where one does not use vegetable scraps, manure or any other items which could end up contaminating the worm castings, hence eliminating sprouting of unwanted seeds around your prized possession.

Bruce

Here is how I got started on my organic fertilizer adventure.

Being my garden area was lacking in Nitrogen and other nutrients apparently from previous years of growing and harvesting hay I needed to find a natural way to boost the levels.

Now for those that do not know me, I do have a few rabbits which I raise and knew that rabbit manure is the best manure for gardens, trees, flowers…  The main issue is it makes a great time release fertilizer for plants. However in my situation I was in need of a faster release since a number of my vegetable plants were showing signs of the lack of Nitrogen along with the other nutrients.

I got this thought one day when I was shredding some rabbit manure since I use this process for one of the worms I raise. In short, I feed the rabbits some fresh barley shoots which I grow about six inches tall or so mixed with assorted hay and top of the line rabbit pellets. Since rabbits only process about 25% of the food they ingest, this leaves me a rich food source for this worm which I am testing the growth rate on compared to other foods I feed them.

Now I have heard of others raising worms on manure by placing their cages directly above their worms however I found by placing the manure directly into the few worm bins the worms were going through it at a much slower pace as compared to shredding it up. This is resulting in larger and fatter worms at a much quicker rate currently using this process along with another additive to their diet.

Getting back on track here, I decided to try shredding a little rabbit manure and adding to some worm castings to apply around the plants. My configuration was to add 20% shredded rabbit manure by volume to 80% worm castings to insure I did not burn the roots of the plants.

The results were staggering to say the least. I tested some on my own plants and gave some to a local nursery owner to try on his own personal plants.

The seventeen pepper plants below had not produced a single pepper all season long until the mixture was added. In fact with all the flower blooms I thought there might be too much nitrogen which would result in a bunch of buds and flowers yielding little or no peppers. I was wrong! You have to look for the peppers as they are camouflaged into the plants; however they are loaded with peppers. In fact yesterday two weeks after these photos were taken; I picked 43 peppers from these plants and I have more growing along with new flowers.

With the tomato plant, if you follow the main stem of the plant from the bottom upwards, you can see when the worm castings and rabbit manure were added. The stem more than doubled in thickness, the plants took off and are now flowering.

I received similar results with the Black Beauty Eggplants I have in the garden, marigolds and cantaloupe plants.

The owner of the nursery informed me that after trying all sorts of fertilizers on one of his rose bushes without results, the plant is now flourishing in just four weeks of applying my mixture. His asparagus which had yet to produce anything to date had finally produced 35 shoots within just after a week of applying.

Rather than strip minerals from the soil as regular over the counter fertilizers do the rabbit manure compliments the worm castings as it breaks down helping to revitalize the soil.

So if you are looking for the perfect soil revitalize along with fertilizer, this process will work wonders by giving your plants a quick booster shot! As an added fertilizer source, you can spread some rabbit manure without shredding it, allowing it to continue feeding your plants for the entire season.

Bruce

Below is an easy to make organic matter soil recipe, which is superb for planting which is generally an all around soil recipe. This organic matter recipe will give you an enriched soil that will assist in ensuring your flowers bloom more flowers and larger harvest of vegetables and fruits.

50% Peat Moss

Sphagnum moss or sedge is partially decomposed aiding in making compost. Great to add to your mix as it is free from weeds and disease organisms as well as its ability to aid in air and water retention.  Peat moss is an acidic product which can be reduced via addition of lime.

30% Compost

Consist of decomposed and partially decomposed organic matter.  Compost can consist of many different components from grass clippings, leaves… to vegetable scraps… If making your own compost be sure it is PH neutral. Compost also assists in water retention as well as provides nutrients for microorganisms which release nutrients to you plants. Worm Composting is the fastest way to compost and maintain a neutral PH every time.

10% Coarse Sand

Assists in retaining air and water within the soil mix. Be sure to use builders or contractors grade sand which is coarser than play sand and works better.  Usually this can be found in the mortar section of your local building supply store.

10% Worm Castings

Worm castings, not to be confused with vermicompost which is compost with some worm castings included. Worm castings also help in water retention but also contain millions of microorganisms which act as a soil activator. This will help produce and release important nutrients to your plants. You can locate worm castings online.

¼ Cup Bone Meal per 5 Gallon Mix

Bone Meal a number of good nutrients for your plants and is a slow release so as not to harm your plants or plant root systems. Phosphates which promote root growth by enabling the sugars made within the leaves to be transported to the root system. Calcium which is lost during the fall when plants lose their leaves… help to cement cell walls together. Lack of new shoots and weak stems are signs of calcium deficiency. Bone Meal is also a low in nitrogen content meaning it will not burn your plants, convert potential flowers into leaves, hence ruining your flowering display.

1/8 Cup Agricultural Lime per 5 Gallon Mix

Lime helps to reduce the acid in soil levels. Being the Peat Moss is acidic; the lime will help neutralize your soil mix. In the event you wish to use a more acidic soil for tomatoes, azalea bushes… you can omit the lime to this mixture.

Now that you have all your ingredients, I usually grind up the Lime to a powder like substance. This enables better mixing but is not necessary.

Mix the dry Peat Moss, Coarse Sand, Bone Meal and Lime if utilizing the latter. Be sure to mix well.

Next, add the Worm Castings. Once thoroughly mixed add your Compost and mix thoroughly again.

Using a good organic matter soil will ensure you reap the benefits of your labor next spring!

Bruce Galle

The Worm Expert

Follow Me On Twitter

I have plenty of straw mulch around my squash and zucchini plants as to retain moisture in the ground as the root systems of these plants do draw a lot of moisture.

I began to wonder if I had a root fungus as there was no evident signs top side of a problem. We had quite a bit of rain the other week with heavy down pours as well as slower soaking rains due to afternoon and some morning thunderstorms about every day last week.

As a solution I tried mixing some more worm tea, extra strength earlier this week, about 5 ounces of worm castings to four gallons of water. I then went outside the other evening and sprayed my plants at a rate of four parts water, 1 part worm tea.

Yesterday I noticed my plants were not wilting quite as harshly as they had been earlier this week.

This morning, to my amazement, I went to the garden to do some picking and glanced over at my squash and zucchini plants only to see the healthiest looking plants ever. For the first time this week, not only are the plants sitting upright, but the leaves have an inverted look to them as they should in the morning and evening hours.

As for the little guy with only three leaves left, I am happy to report he is not as bald as he is now sprouting a total of five leaves

Now whether there was a fungus issue or other problem, it is amazing to see what adding beneficial microbes to the soil can and will do for your plants.

For more on worm tea products, visit Organic Worm Farm.

Good Luck in Your Gardening Adventures,

Bruce

Both of the following plants are summer squash and were planted at the same time.  Keep in mind, I only did a comparison between summer squash plants in our garden, however worm tea results can be expected on all plants, even cut flowers in a vase will last longer!

The photo below is a plant that was planted as a seed with 5% worm castings added to the potting mix. Since then I have only planted in the garden and watered when needed.

Here pictured below is the summer squash I originally posted with the amazing root system at 6 days. It was planted as a seed with the same procedure as above. I have watered with a worm tea I made from worm castings twice in the past two weeks. This photo below was taken 14 days after my original photo showing the six day old seedling

Next week I will be adding concentrated worm tea from here as well as worm tea bags in different sizes. If you are interested in ordering in advance, feel free to leave a comment below, filling in your email (will not be displayed online) and I will get back with you with sizes and prices on both.

As far as my experiment with seeds with varying amounts of worm castings, we had a wash out, literally. I left the plants on my covered porch; however driving rains ruined this test. I will be restarting this test shortly… so stay tuned.

Bruce

Anyway thought some of you would appreciate the photo as I did the best I could while holding the plant in one hand and taking a photo with the other

I will post more on my comparison with different amounts of worm castings as the seeds germinate…

Bruce

In the below experiment photo, I used worm castings. These were obtained from my worm bins using a 1/8″ screen to sort the castings form the vermicompost mix. The difference between worm castings and vermicompost is that vermicompost is a composition of decomposed material mixed with worm castings. Either is super beneficial for plants which I plan to prove with my worm casting garden experiment.

I took five different types of seeds, Black Beauty Egg Plant, Cantaloupe, Cherry Tomatoes, Big Boy Tomatoes and Roma Tomatoes and planted each in a variation from 0%, 10%, 50% and 100% worm castings mixed with plain composted humus made from yard waste. The photo below displays my method of madness As the experiment continues over the following weeks I will update here on the site. Be sure to bookmark this site so as you can keep abreast of the latest updates.

Keep in mind this is not a controlled experiment which would separate each of the plants to prevent cross contamination from one another. However, for my needs this will be accurate enough to show the difference not only in the plant growth, but we will display root growth once the plants have evolved enough to be transplanted directly to the garden.

Stay Tuned….