# Extolling the Virtues of Worm Castings



## White WidowMaker (Apr 24, 2009)

Since my childhood, I have always loved the smell of nurseries and that special "fertile" smell.  Only when I finally found worm-castings a few weeks ago did I realize this is the smell that I have always enjoyed.

Reading on the package that it does not harm even in large quantities, I used a bunch on my clone Misty many weeks ago - she has responded so well - 100% all organic, no need to measure, and Mutt even reported that he has used it to grow entirely alone 100% worm-castings and/or mixed with vermiculite (or did he say perlite??).

Anyway, last night I read a girl here say in response to my question/clarification about its use, that Peat Moss adds acidity to a potting mixture - so I will avoid this.  I don't want the extra responsibility and hassle of checking / measuring PH.  But Peat Moss's ability to hold water longer sounds tempting.

I have noticed over these past many weeks with Worm Castings that it also holds water much longer than potting soil alone, and it holds it very well for many days I have noticed.  Worm-castings help to dramatically increase the water-holding capacity of soil / castings mixtures.

Tonight I noticed that 2 or 3 leaves of Misty are turning slightly yellow, and a few with brown dots also.  They can't be chemical burns because Misty's grow is 100% organic nutrients (worm-castings only).  So I understood this to mean she needs more Nitrogen and perhaps some other (micro)-nutrients, so I transferred her from the smaller pot to the much bigger pot and entirely filled the bottom with worm-castings, and the sides of the larger pot (in which her root-ball-soil-mixture-in-shape-of-smaller-pot) were placed.  I filled all empty space around her with worm-castings into a huge pot.  

I can't wait to see how she responds to the extra space and extra nutrients now surrounding her!

This is a thread to post your experiences and opinions of worm-castings.  Please do share if you have had experience with worm castings.


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## umbra (Apr 24, 2009)

my current mix is ffof soil, worm casting, bat guano, b'cuzz coco coir, epsom salt, dolimite lime, perlite, and kelp/seaweed extract, mycorrhiaze, triderma, with some bokashi. working quite well.


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## White WidowMaker (Apr 24, 2009)

umbra said:
			
		

> my current mix is ffof soil, worm casting, bat guano, b'cuzz coco coir, epsom salt, dolimite lime, perlite, and kelp/seaweed extract, mycorrhiaze, triderma, with some bokashi. working quite well.


 
Sounds good, yet complicated.  The last 3 ingredients I am not familiar with (never heard of them), and the guano sounds good as well as the seaweed extract.  I don't know what is coco coir, and I don't know what lime is for.  And I don't know why you would add salt to your mixture.  I have heard salt is bad for compost heaps, so why would you add salt directly to your soil medium?


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## ozzydiodude (Apr 24, 2009)

WWM Epson salt Has trace minerals and other benifisual components. not salt as you are most likely thinking. 
Dolimite lime is a ph netrylizer(?) that balances the ph to around 7 by my understanding.


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## White WidowMaker (Apr 24, 2009)

Thanks ODD.

The spelling you are looking for is "neutralizer".  Does this mean that you just thrown some lime in (no matter what the strength of the acidic content) and it neutralizes it completely?

Why use epsom salt when most fertilizers have all the micronutrients you need?  Worm castings (and probably bat guano) also say they contain other necessary micronutrients in addition to the NPK.


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## umbra (Apr 24, 2009)

White WidowMaker said:
			
		

> Sounds good, yet complicated.  The last 3 ingredients I am not familiar with (never heard of them), and the guano sounds good as well as the seaweed extract.  I don't know what is coco coir, and I don't know what lime is for.  And I don't know why you would add salt to your mixture.  I have heard salt is bad for compost heaps, so why would you add salt directly to your soil medium?



mycorrhiaze is micro organic fungi that forms a symbiotic relationship with the plants roots.

coco coir is made of coconut husks, it is organic soil less mixture with moisture retension and good aeration.

any precipitate from an acid and a base compound will form a salt. epsom salt is not sodium cloride. coco coir has a dendency to require addtional magnesium and calcium. epsom salt is for mag, lime for calcium.

in general lime helps balance ph of soil, but here it also is calcium source.


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## umbra (Apr 24, 2009)

oh...and bokashi is japanese for rotting organic matter. it is done with rice bran, molasses, water and effcient microorganisms.


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## The Effen Gee (Apr 25, 2009)

coco choir will actually pull cal mag out of your plants. Like the brown dodts you are getting...cal mag deficiancies I will bet both my thumbs.

I foliar with 2 tbsp of epsom salts twice a week PLUS I use Canna coco and the entire canna coco line. Canna a, b, and cannazyme for my base nutrients. Not only does it take three hours to mix and bond properly but it automatically ph's your water too. 

Canna is the best in my book.


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## umbra (Apr 25, 2009)

I'm sorry I spelling was so bad. I wrote triderma, and of course it is trichoderma. triderma is a glutolcortial steroid and trichoderma is disease suppressive microorganism. I meant the latter rather than the former.


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## LassChance (Apr 25, 2009)

White WidowMaker said:
			
		

> Since my childhood, I have always loved the smell of nurseries and that special "fertile" smell.  Only when I finally found worm-castings a few weeks ago did I realize this is the smell that I have always enjoyed.
> 
> Reading on the package that it does not harm even in large quantities, I used a bunch on my clone Misty many weeks ago - she has responded so well - 100% all organic, no need to measure, and Mutt even reported that he has used it to grow entirely alone 100% worm-castings and/or mixed with vermiculite (or did he say perlite??).
> 
> ...



This was very helpful. I have not used them, but I will.
I was reading about organic ferts today and learned that blood meal is nitrogen and bone meal is phos. Boith are fairly cheap, compared to the Super Bloom chem ferts.  I read about the benefits of compost tea and made a couple of gallons from my compost pile that's been working for about four years.  Banana peels are loaded with phos and potassium and are great, cut into small pieces so they breaK down QUICK.  This one woman claimed she has won a bunch of awards for her huge flowers and says her secret is burrying a couple of banana peels in the soil under her roses or whatever. 

I love the idea of compost tea because it has everything--including trace minerals, is easily absorbed and much more gentle than chem ferts.


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## umbra (Apr 25, 2009)

LassChance said:
			
		

> This was very helpful. I have not used them, but I will.
> I was reading about organic ferts today and learned that blood meal is nitrogen and bone meal is phos. Boith are fairly cheap, compared to the Super Bloom chem ferts.  I read about the benefits of compost tea and made a couple of gallons from my compost pile that's been working for about four years.  Banana peels are loaded with phos and potassium and are great, cut into small pieces so they breaK down QUICK.  This one woman claimed she has won a bunch of awards for her huge flowers and says her secret is burrying a couple of banana peels in the soil under her roses or whatever.
> 
> I love the idea of compost tea because it has everything--including trace minerals, is easily absorbed and much more gentle than chem ferts.



worm castings are basically worm ****. but just taking pieces of banana peel or other organic waste and mixing with soil does not provide plants with much of anything. Just because you cut them into small pieces does not mean they will break down into usable nute for the plant. organic decomposition and fermentation take the right microorganisms and time. much longer than a typical grow. like worm castings, bat guano is already broken down into a usable form for the plant. as well the seaweed/ kelp extract.


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