Photo courtesy of sashafatcat at Flickr.com.
Most organic gardeners know that it’s possible to convert compost into refreshing compost tea, an invigorating liquid fertilizer that also helps break down toxins and control some foliar diseases. But did you know that you can also make a great liquid fertilizer from worm castings? Sure, it’s a kind of poop, but it’s dry, granular, and doesn’t smell bad at all. For that reason, worm cast tea offers an excellent organic alternative for those situations where odor is an issue — especially when you’re growing plants indoors. Unlike some compost teas and other effective liquid fertilizers, such as fish oil sprays, worm tea is almost completely odorless.
Worm casts can be obtained from worm farms or online gardening retailers or, if you’re the proud owner of a worm composter, you can make it yourself. In addition to valuable liquid tea, the worms will convert your kitchen wastes into a rich harvest of casts. These dry, odorless little particles can be used directly in the garden as a fertilizer, but it’s a simple matter to convert them into a liquid tea that you can use to feed your houseplants too.
All you need to do is steep a pint of worm casts and a half-teaspoon of molasses in a gallon of water for 24-48 hours; for best results, stir it often, or use an aquarium aerator to keep the mixture agitated. When it’s done, drain off the liquid through a filter (a coffee filter or cheesecloth should work), dilute it with four parts water, and spray it onto your plants. The worm tea is rich in nitrogen and other nutrients plants need to thrive. As for the remaining solids, you can add them to your garden soil or compost pile to give them a second go-round.
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well i want to use this as fertilizer.
Thank you so much – This information has been most helpful. My plants are going to love you.
I have been working with Bioponics Tea and Organic Fertilizers for the last 5 years and I have yet to find a more effective source of beneficial organisms that works. If you would like to ask me any questions: My next trip is to TX to review the testing being done on the Organic Rice Trials in Houston done by the USDA.
I will be returning Dec 4th.
Below you will find a brief description of what we do..
For the past decade Organics Alive® has explored all its resources to discover a true revolution in hydroponics and soils alike. While for many years scientists and researchers have tried to create high levels of chitin degrading enzymes through genetic engineering, Organics Alive® strongly believes in an organic approach. Through extensive research, OA has developed a proprietary diet that is fed to eisenia foetida earthworms to produce castings which have a dramatic increase in the biological concentration of chitinase and cellulase producing organisms per gram.
These feeds exclude all landscape trimmings which may contain pesticides and fungicides. The feeds also exclude any animal manure which contains an excess amount of salts and pathogens such as e-coli and salmonella. Animal manures are commonly used as a food source to produce compost teas. Organics Alive® is not a compost tea its BIOPONICS TEA. Organics Alive® uses only pure substances which are carefully measured and monitored for a precise vermiculture process.
Keep growing your dreams into reality.
Ari
I really don’t see the need to harvest worm castings or “brew” worm tea from castings at all. To me it seems like unnecessary waiting, unnecessary energy spent and actually less efficient use of the worm “offal”. In the following, I detail a much simpler method which I think is more efficient in every aspect, and I welcome all feedback.
I built a worm bin in a 25 gal Rubbermaid Tote, drilled 5/16″ holes only in the sides and ends, NOT the top and bottom. Then installed a PVC drain valve in one end near the base of the unit. Then put a bag of gravel over the drain valve intake, filled with bedding, kitchen waste and worms and wait 2 or 3 days for the worms to do their thing. I pour a 2 gallon watering can of water over the worm bin contents 2 or 3 times daily and quickly put the can under the spigot and turn on to allow it to drain to the can. PRESTO, worm tea and works very well. This Worm Tea (or Leachate, call it what you will) is simply the dilute and FRESH version of Worm Castings and can be poured directly over the leaves of your plants and/or onto the soil of your garden.
This method avoids the 3 to 6 month waiting period during which time your worm bin matures after which the castings can be harvested. This way your worm tea can be harvested almost immediately and several times per day providing up to 6 gallons per day of effective, perfectly diluted worm tea for your garden. Using this large volume of water and not allowing it to sit in the worm bin avoids the problems I have seen others have of making the worms uncomfortable, etc. My worms have yet to “run” and are never to be found crawling on the sides or lid of the worm bin, and just appear to be very content to take their daily “worm shower”.
What is happening is that the water is partially dissolving the worm castings and cleaning out what other worm wastes are present (pee, poo, sweat, slime, etc.) and keeping your worm bin clean and attractive to the worms. In other words, they don’t have to crawl around in their own waste products for several weeks or months. Since their home stays nice and clean with plent of aeration and food, they have no reason to leave. It just works, plain and simple, with the absolute simplest and cheapest design, least amount of labor and attentiveness and greatest productivity of any system I have heard of. Try it, you’ll see.
Michael
Yes, the compost tea microbes born of added sugars feeding from the compost nutrients only competes with the roots for nitrogen. Worm castings are the perfect end result offering NPK at its finest. Why muck it up and add other bugs to compete with the plants roots for food?
Craig Slikker