Facts on worm castings
Worm castings are a rich, all-natural source of organic matter with lots of nutrients and moisture-holding capabilities. They are known to have an extraordinary effect on plant life. Castings improve the soil structure and increase fertility making them the most enriching soil conditioner available.
Worm castings have attained the highest attainable rating of EXCELLENT from an independent testing laboratory. The soil is odor free and will not burn. The high species diversity of microorganisms serves as a protector against disease as well as helps to control disease. In addition, the microorganisms break down soil nutrients making them readily available to plant root hairs. Castings also stabilize soil aggregates to enhance water-holding ability. They are high in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and trace minerals that are available immediately and time released for maximum results.
There are special plant growth enhancers as well that are only apparent in worm-worked soil. Studies show plants or seeds demonstrate the following attributes when grown in worm castings: greater plant height, leaf area, root mass, better germination and faster growth. Long-term benefits include improvement of soil and subsequent subsurface water quality. Earthworm Castings can be used to make worm tea to spray on soil and plants which multiplies the beneficial effects of the microorganisms.
You need only use a small amount in or around your houseplants, vegetables and flowers. The miracles of the earthworm are easily seen in the beautiful growth and yields of your plants.
Extremely dark and rich in texture, tests have shown the nitrogen content to be 5 times greater than ordinary topsoil, the phosphate 7 times greater, potash 11 times, and magnesium 3 times. Castings will not burn even when applied directly to the most delicate plants. Definitely the finest soil conditioner available.
Great for use in your entire garden! Completely odor-free and 100 percent organic! Use for indoor plants as well.
Castings contain slow release nutrients which are readily available to plants. Castings contain the plant nutrients which are secreted by the earthworms. They dissolve slowly rather than allowing intermediate nutrient leaching. They are excellent for soil structure, porosity, aeration and water retention capabilities.
The activity of the earthworm gut is like a miniature composting tube that mixes, conditions, and inoculates the residues. Moisture, pH, and microbial populations in the gut are favorably maintained for a synergistic relationship, and then a terrific end product. Dr. Bill Becker, "The Benefits of Earthworms," Natural Food and Farming, July/August, 1991, p. 12
Earthworm castings are the best imaginable potting soil for greenhouses or house plants, as well as gardening and farming.
Earthworm castings will not burn even the most delicate plants and all nutrients are water-soluble, making it an immediate plant food. Earthworm castings, in addition to their use as a potting soil, can be used as a mulch so that the minerals leach directly into the ground when watered. The effects of earthworm castings used in any of these ways are immediately visible. They make plants grow fast and strong. Nematodes and diseases will not ruin gardens or plants if the soil is rich enough for them to grow fast. It is the weak plant in poor soil that is destroyed by nematodes and diseases. R.E. Gaddie and D.E. Douglas, Earthworms for Ecology and Profit, Vol. I "Scientific Earthworm Farming" 1975, p. 175.
Simple worm pile under bananas with burlap layer and shade cloth on top.
Makes bananas very strong.
Warning: Feeder roots thrive on/compete for castings!
The activity of the worm’s gut is like a miniature composting tube that mixes, conditions, and inoculates the residues. Moisture, pH, and microbial populations in the gut are favorably maintained for a synergistic relationship, and then a terrific end product. ~Dr. Bill Becker, “The Benefits of Earthworms,” Natural Food and Farming, July/August, 1991, p. 12
Worm castings are the best imaginable potting soil for greenhouses or house plants, as well as gardening and farming. Worm castings will not burn even the most delicate plants and all nutrients are water-soluble, making it an immediate plant food. Earthworm castings, in addition to their use as a potting soil, can be used as a mulch so that the minerals leach directly into the ground when watered. The effects of earthworm castings used in any of these ways are immediately visible. They make plants grow fast and strong. Nematodes and diseases will not ruin gardens or plants if the soil is rich enough for them to grow fast. It is the weak plant in poor soil that is destroyed by nematodes and diseases. ~R.E. Gaddie and D.E. Douglas, Earthworms for Ecology and Profit, Vol. I “Scientific Earthworm Farming” 1975, p. 175
http://kandmfarms.com/facts.html After a worm ingests organic matter, the material undergoes a change that is nothing short of a miracle. As Thomas J. Barrett once put it, "they (the worms) literally serve as colloid mills to produce the intimate chemical and mechanical mixture of fine organic and inorganic matter which forms their castings (excretions). In the mixing which takes place in the alimentary canal of the worms , the ingested materials undergo chemical changes, deodorization and neutralization, so that the resultant castings are a practically neutral humus, rich in water-soluable plant food, immediately available for plant nutrition."-(Harnessing the Earthworm, 1976)
Humus is beneficial to plants in at least three very important ways:
By "capturing" toxins which are present in the soil. Humus (which is organic matter) has a high capacity to fix heavy metals in materials such as sewage sludge, farmyard manures, crop residues and peat, preventing plants from "taking up" more of these compounds than they need, then later releasing them when they are required. By acting as a "buffer". Humus can help plants overcome soil pH levels that are either too high, or to low. An acid loving plant can still do well in a somewhat alkaline soil (and vice-versa), if large enough quantities of humus are present. This is due to the way humus prevents extreme pH levels from rendering soil nutrients "unavailable" to the plants.
As a growth stimulator. "Experiments on wheat, barley, potatoes, grapes, tomatoes, beets, and other crops show that even in very low concentrations, humic acids (contained in humus) act to stimulate plant growth. Tests to determine just how humic acids work revealed that they are in an ionically dispersed state. In this form they are readily assimilated by the plants as a nutrient, over and above any normal mineral nutrition that plants get. "-(The Rodale Book of Composting, 1992)
All of these benefits to plants, and more, are obtained by the presence of humus in the soil, and worm castings simply put, are biologically-active mounds that often contain as much as 40% more humus than is normally found in the top six inches of soil.
Are Worm Castings more nutritious than regular compost?
Yes! As material in a compost heap decays (becoming humus), the various nutrients undergo chemical changes which make them more accessible to plants. In addition to this process, however, worms also reduce the overall volume of the material even further as they remove the ingredients necessary for their own survival, growth, and reproduction (mainly bacteria, rotifers, etc.) Thus, with the remaining substances compacted into less volume, the actual nutrient percentages rise accordingly. It had been noted by several researchers that earthworm castings usually contain more "total and nitrate nitrogen, organic matter, total and exchangeable magnesium, available phosphorus, base capacity, and moisture equivalent" than their surrounding environment."-(C. A. Edwards and J. R. Lofty, in "Biology of Earthworms", 1977)~~http://kandmfarms.com/facts.html
http://www.yelmworms.com/organic-fertilizer/
http://www.wormman.com/harvesting_worm_castings.cfm
http://homeharvest.com/soilamendmentswormcastings.htm
http://vermiculturekauai.pbworks.com/vermicompost-effect-on-pathogens-and-more
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