Composting is actually trying to stabilize unstable organic matter and storing the nutrients for immediate or future use.

Usually in nature, organic matter is decomposed in thin layers such as leaves in the woods or the grass clippings in your lawn. Being the layer is thin, the organic matter is penetrable by oxygen and aerobic organisms come to play. These are the good guys hence usually a balanced compost for the environment.

When we compost, with or without worms, we tend to pile up the organic matter which makes it difficult for oxygen to penetrate hence anaerobic organisms take over. Yes these are the bad guys. Anaerobic organisms are what take over a landfill, hence why they must be lined to prevent harmful runoff to protect surrounding soil and water sources!

When we manage decomposition, such as a worm bin or worm farm, decomposition takes place in three stages for the most active microorganisms.

Phsychrophilic bacteria begins to process at temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit

Mesophilic bacteria, the fastest decomposers process between 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit

Thermophilic bacteria come into play at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit

When managing decomposition, we pay attention to the carbon (newspaper, cardboard…) to nitrogen (vegetable scraps, grass clippings…) ratio as well as moisture and oxygen.

Composting with worms is a more controlled method of basic composting as well as speeds up the process. You maintain a constant temperature which enables the most active bacteria, Mesophilic to take over. Worms move through the organic matter helping to aerate the decaying matter as well as making smaller particles of the decaying matter, hence leaving more surface area for beneficial microbes to work on.

If the moisture content gets to high, usually above 80%, the decaying matter becomes compacted, the same way the landfill does. This is when the worm bin can begin to change over to those nasty anaerobic organisms which can be harmful to your worms and even begin killing them off.

Once the moisture content begins to rise even more, the decaying matter releases a liquid called leachate. You will see many websites refer to this as worm tea, which it is not!

Worm tea is derived by brewing worm castings which are full of aerobic microorganisms. This process is done by aerating the worm castings, water and unsulphured molasses for approximately 48 hours in order to explode the aerobic microbe population.

Leachate is usually the opposite, full of anaerobic organisms.

If you are getting a little leachate from your worm farm or worm bin, try adding several inches of dry shredded newspaper on top and place the lid on it. This will absorb a little of the moisture. If you are getting a lot of leachate, it might be time to remake the bedding for your friends!

Now that you understand the process you can probably understand why I have an issue with a few things.

First, all the websites selling worm farms with the little spigot on the bottom which they advertise as a worm tea dispenser, when in reality it is leachate which can be harmful to your worms and plants. Put it this way, it is not doing your worms or plants any good if you are getting leachate from your worm farm.

Secondly, there are many websites as well as listings on EBay offering bottled worm tea and bagged worm castings in resealable plastic bags. As you might realize by now, cutting off the oxygen in either of these two sealed products kills off the aerobic microbes and produces anaerobic microbes. So in reality, you are spending your hard earned money on something which can be detrimental to your plants.

So to answer a number of emails I receive every week, this is why Organic Worm Farm does not sell the worm farms with the little spigot on the bottom, bottled worm tea or worm castings in resealable bags. They only offer worm castings and worm tea bags which are shipped in breathable bags via Priority Mail since you are dealing with live microbes.

Hope this helps you understand the basics a little better and why it is important to avoid leachate from draining out of your bin.

Bruce Galle

Also known as “The Worm Expert“ writes informative articles to assist others raising worms. For information regarding ordering an array of red worms, worm castings and worm food visit Organic Worm Farm.

From a starting point I wrote another article pertaining to worm castings and the need for oxygen. In short, most are shipping these out in sealed plastic sandwich type baggies. The problem arises when taking into account that the reason worm castings are so beneficial are the number of live beneficial microbes. If you seal off oxygen, you kill off the microbes. If the worm castings are permitted to dry out, you kill off the microbes…

Hence this is why all our 1lb and larger worm castings are shipped priority mail in breathable bags!

Now when you make worm tea from organic worm castings what you are basically doing is exponentially exploding the number of beneficial microbes. Once again these are live organisms which require oxygen and a food supply to stay alive. In fact, brewing worm tea is nothing like brewing tea you and I would drink. It does not require heat for the brewing process but rather loads of oxygen and food which is readably eatable by the beneficial microbes.

After brewing for 24 hours, you end up with super charged plant food which is loaded with millions of microbes, all needing to maintain an oxygen and food supply.

Imagine taking an aquarium pump and turning it off, the over time the fish will begin dying off. Now imagine millions of fish crowded in the same fish tank with no room to swim and turning the aerator off. The fish would begin to die almost immediately and soon you will have an aquarium with nothing left but dead fish and a rotten stench.

The same holds true for the microbes within worm tea.

So in short, if we bottled the worm tea and sold it as others do, by the time it arrived and was used, it would be useless and most likely and full of malicious bacteria and fungus that can actually harm your plants.

This is why we do brew worm tea but sell it locally for pickup orders only on the same day the brew is finished.

Organic Worm Farm does offer a solution for anyone looking to brew their own worm tea, worm casting tea bags, shipped in breathable bags via priority mail. These are the same worm castings used by Organic Worm Farm to make worm tea for use on our own gardens as well as sold locally.

If you happen to be looking for readymade worm tea in the Pickens, Greenville area of South Carolina, simply contact us and we will tell you how to get some! Otherwise, try brewing your own tea as it is not difficult and will not smell!

Bruce