I originally wanted to run a test and had posted the three planters I started with using different soil makeup’s, one being worm castings however due to a hail storm most of the plants were destroyed. Hence I decided to grow new seed eventually, sowing some of them in organic worm castings while others directly in the soil in my garden.
I also needed a way to grow some barley grain quickly each week for one of the worms we raise. I tried using soil which did alright however I went to plan “B” shortly thereafter realizing I needed a quick turnaround growing the barley to 6 inches tall. I did some reading on hydroponics however the startup costs were a bit high, especially for the amount of space which would be required for the tanks, pump equipment… for the amount of grain I needed to grow. I then decided to try growing the barley grain directly in well watered worm castings. The results were staggering to say the least.
I used the granular type of worm castings which are produced on the Organic Worm Farm. This enabled a type of blend between traditional planting and hydroponics since there was some water held between the worm casting granular. I use some starter trays with clear lids to help maintain the moisture until they grow tall enough in approximately 4 days time.
The seeds began to germinate in two days. After just three days most all the seed had germinated. Within the next four days, the barley grain had grown to about six inches tall.
The pictures below show the grain just 7 days after planting the seeds.
The next shows the extensive root growth taking place in the seedlings, something worm castings are known for.
Now back to the tomato experiment.
As for the tomato plants, these results are also amazing as they were all planted in the same soil with the exception of the addition of worm castings to some. They all receive the same amount of sunlight, water… in the garden.
To date not only are the tomato plants in the worm castings taller as well as bushier but they are also producing more tomatoes than the plants without the worm castings.
| Measurement | Without Worm Castings | With Worm Castings |
| Height (inches) | 17.5 | 23.5 |
| Width (inches) | 8 | 15.75 |
| # Of Tomatoes | 1 | 14 |
The benefits of worm castings are clearly noted here as well as how to produce more vegetables, flowers… per each plant.
The pictures below display the actual differences. Notice the wire tie for the plants and how the one without worm castings (first picture) only rises to the third wire while the one with worm castings rises to the fourth wire, 6 inches higher.
To produce these type of worm castings we use, be sure to visit 14 Day Worm Castings for more information and take advantage of the Father’s Day Special Promotion!
6/2/10
THE PICTURES,CHARTS AND INFORMATION ARE ALL GREAT.A NEW VENTURE FOR MEM SO EVERYTHING IS VERY HELPFUL.I WILL BE USING THE PROCESS.
MITCH MCKENZIE
I’m starting composting as soon as I get my worms in the mail . Susan Cole
Susan
Welcome to the forum and worm composting
Bruce
During the past year I was producing about 25 kgs weekly with worms bedded in recycled styrofoam boxes used to ship grapes from California (I’m in Manila). The boxes were a good choice when we suddenly found ourselves with 6 feet of water in the house. Just like Noah, they floated around until the water subsided. Although everything in the house was lost, no worms abandoned ship.
I’m using a composted mix of spent mushroom substrate, Starbuck’s coffee grounds, fresh fruit scraps mixed with fresh leaves from one of our sustainable tropical leguminous trees. After the worms are in their new bedding, they get fed with fresh vegetable scraps. We also collect shells from 400,000 eggs monthly, pulverize them in a hammer mill and add them to the bedding mix.
Our next beds will be rice straw and hog manure, mixed with spent mushroom substrate. Very few horses or cattle in our area. The small ruminants are mostly backyard operations, without significant manure accumulation.
These worms are a livelihood project for rural farm residents as we transition them to organic high value crop production. We were just granted a shredder, capable of about a ton per hour. We plan to be producing about six tons of vermicompost monthly by the end of the year. Then we’ll have to start thinking about mechanization.
Im new to this forum, so I would like to say greetings to all. I have been growing worms and composting for about 4 or 5 years now, but just recently got serious about the whole process. This past summer,(2010), I purposly made a comparative garden using worm castings at different intervals throughout the whole growing process of my garden, but only on certain plants. I noticed a remarkable difference between those germinated in a casting blend of soil, topdressed once transplanted, and watered with castings’ tea. I dont have pictures of this, but next growing season, I will. It’s amazing how these overlooked and under appreciated little creatures can enhance the quality of the food’s we grow and eat, clean up contaminated soils, improve soil substrates, and a list of other feats, and they have literally been right there under our feet all this time.
I guess it only goes to show how some of our most valued gifts from nature can be overlooked and under appreciated, and the answers are right under foot all the time.
I have been raising worms for about 2 years in Iowa. Last winter, I was using a salamander kerosene heater in an enclosed heated room in my machine shed with 25K red wigglers. The first time, I lost a lot of the worms through freezing because the heater ran out of fuel. The second time, the thermostat dropped in a worm bin and cooked everything, so I almost had to start from scratch. Some of the cocoons made it through until spring and without purchasing any more red wigglers, I have more than doubled that population although they are a little hard to count with so many being produced every day. I had purchased 5K bait size Europeans and these had been my favorite since I have 10 grandchildren that have a problem getting the red wiggler on the hook. I had also purchased Africans this summer and have recently changed my mind about them being just a curiousity. One of my original intentions of raising worms was the castings since I am an avid gardner and hoped to also help pay for my hobby farm. I was getting way to much left over leaf particles even though I had ground them up about the size of pepper to begin with but the brown shows up like a bright light against the black castings, so most of the casting I have already done will end up in my garden or my wife;s house plants. Since purchasing the 14 day e-book, I have learned more about the Africans than I ever thought possible and I am really looking forward to the new end product. I look forward to more information and discussions on this forum.
Great article. Very impressed by the growth after just one week.
[...] soil or potting mix benefits the plants compared to those planted without worm castings. One such worm castings experiment was posted on this blog. It has also been proven that the addition of worm castings does revitalize [...]
Great info. I am to cheap to buy your book. but have experimented with the Africans to the point, I am thinking of writing my own. Not much info. on them. The web is saturated with misinformation.
Yes it is true the Internet is full of false information…. Reason being for much of it is the fact many of the so called worm farms out there do not raise any worms but rather use a third party to send all their orders off… This is why I started from scratch and working on a series of articles. The first one, Facts on Raising Worms Part 1
Bruce
Really interesting article! Seems to work well with your plants. Going to try this out on a set of my plants and see if it works just as well. Thanks for the post!