Worm Castings

[Firstflush]

I’m a huge fan of worm castings. The chitinase helps with pest control, white fly and aphids. Not eradication but keeps the populations down. Great for jump starting a veggie patch. Low NPK so it doesn’t burn plants. Humics and growth hormones for healing sickly plants. I view worm castings as a daily vitamin like a human would take.

I had a client that was losing a huge very old 3 ball buxus topiary.....big big money to try and match it and they really never do. Also, these big formal garden specimen buxus are really falling out of favor in general, so they are hard to find. I recommended a small bag of worm castings spread 2-3 feet from the trunk and voila’, buxus bounced back in a few months saving the client over a grand.

Any fans of them here? I see there are some folks with strong botany and hort. backgrounds on here and appreciate input and your experiences using them.

 

[hinmo24t]

fair assessment. highly regarded in horticulture world/gardening

 

[Rivian]

What I really want to know is what to feed them so the castings dont break down and I can use it as akadama replacement

 

[hinmo24t]

What I really want to know is what to feed them so the castings dont break down and I can use it as akadama replacement

thought i saw something recently (epic gardening on youtube) where they farm the castings on site, and feed them cardboard + ?

maybe they are the answer to my thoughts on patenting or marketing something to take care of all this cardboard as a result of amazon and ecommerce.
i pay the town for recycling cardboard but it barely keeps up. it can be composted im pretty sure, which i might need to look into soon.

 

[Starfox]

This may be of interest, well worth a listen.

Gareth Barber: Soil Science

Episode · Bonsai Mirai: Asymmetry · In this episode of Asymmetry, Ryan Neil is joined remotely by aquaculture expert Gareth Barber in New South Wales, Australia for a comprehensive discussion on soil science from a new perspective. Expand your understanding with a digestible vernacular that digs...

open.spotify.com

 

[hinmo24t]

What I really want to know is what to feed them so the castings dont break down and I can use it as akadama replacement

Metamucil

 

[Rivian]

I have no idea how a worm farm is run, I mean we do have plenty we could feed them but Ill have to look up how people harvest the castings and keep rats out etc
Im sure its all online
But maybe this kind of thing is best done by a club

Im listening to the podcast rn and the second half is interesting so far

All the worm castings I ever see are largely clay so I have no idea what they even look like without clay

I wonder if i just collect the ones with clay when the sun has hardened them, if they could last a year

 

[Aaronkslater]

been mixing worm castings and composted chicken manure and filling tea bags. this is the only solid ferts I have given my bonsai for the last two years. they all seem to love it! I make my own worm castings and composted chicken manure. I also feed fish emulsion every few weeks. I'm reluctant to add worm castings directly to soil mix as I think it will muck up my aeration and drainage. may try it though... I have grown a tomato plant in 50/50 worm castings and shredded cardboard and it thrived. magic stuff

 

[Firstflush]

What I really want to know is what to feed them so the castings dont break down and I can use it as akadama replacement

It’s worm poop that is the fert.
The casting is broken down organic matter eaten by the worm.
Fluffy nutrient rich worm poop with a sweet organic smell.

 

[Carol 83]

Fluffy nutrient rich worm poop with a sweet organic smell.

 

[Firstflush]

I have no idea how a worm farm is run, I mean we do have plenty we could feed them but Ill have to look up how people harvest the castings and keep rats out etc
Im sure its all online
But maybe this kind of thing is best done by a club

Im listening to the podcast rn and the second half is interesting so far

All the worm castings I ever see are largely clay so I have no idea what they even look like without clay

I wonder if i just collect the ones with clay when the sun has hardened them, if they could last a year

Read up and search online...your research will end next week, that’s how much info is out there.
Buy a couple quart bag and try out on a plant that needs some help or spring veggie starts. They are consistency of saw dust.

 

[Firstflush]

BTW all, if you are going to try a worm farm for castings, don’t by worms from a high brow organic nursery or online supplier. Go to a fish tackle/bait shop and buy red worms which are “red wigglers“ used for castings.

 

[BigBen]

Yes, worm castings ARE good "sh*t". LOL...

I've had my worm set-up for almost 3 years now. I keep it in the basement.
The most common worms to use are indeed red-wigglers, as they seem to have the quickest "turnaround time" from turning the food you give them into castings.
I feed them veggie scraps, as well as shredded cardboard & newsprint paper (nothing with color print though), and some rock dust as grit to aid in digestion.
They also produce "worm tea" which is the liquid part of the equation, that you can dilute with water and also feed the plants with it.

Happy Friday!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

The issue with worm castings is particle size. They are "good stuff" nutrient wise. In time the fine particle size will plug up the air voids in the bonsai potting medium. Depending on how much you use, how frequently and the particle size distribution of your bonsai media, this can range from a trivial problem to a serious problem.

If you repot on a two year cycle, as is common with younger material in early phases of development, worm castings are great. Go ahead and use them. Repot when water no longer drains freely through the soil as you water.

If you have a pine or other tree that needs "perfect drainage" and dislikes being repotted, worm castings can gunk up the works. You can end up needing to repot before you planned. Older, well developed trees are only repotted once every 5 or 10 years. If your mature pine is on a 10 year repotting schedule, and you "gunk up the works" with work castings and have to repot after 2 years, you are not doing your tree any favors.

But for young material, I really believe worm castings are a good fertilizer and won't cause any problems in the relatively short repotting cycles used for young material.

 

[casun]

I have a worm composting bin but I only use the castings in my vegetable garden, not on pre-bonsai. I don’t have any actual bonsai material but when I do I won’t fertilize them with castings either.

 

[Firstflush]

They are fine grained, true. I see them breaking up or dissolving, feeding the plant and/or washing out the drain holes.
If you have concerns, there are worm casting tea products available too.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

In my area the soils area clay, clay worthy of being made into brick, Chicago Common is a brand of brick from the area. The only worm farming I've done has started with a fair amount of this clay. If you start your worm farm with coarser substrate, like sand or such, the worm castings won't be as deleterious. For commercial "store bought" worm castings, you will just have to evaluate their clay content.