Re: Earth Worm Castings
 

Interesting thread... I'm starting to do worm composting mostly b/c I want to get back into composting and it's the best option for me for a few different reasons. One is that I will hopefully be able to keep the racoons out of it by keeping in contained in buckets. I like the idea of worm composting in that there can be two products: the finished compost and the compost tea concentrate. I have always done regular bin composting (w/o worms), this will be interesting to try and compare. I have done a lot of research on it to get started and I have heard only great things about the compost and the tea. I have seen worm castings available at garden shops, but never tried it mainly b/c it's so expensive compared to composted manure. Plus, the dried out castings seem to be an odd soil amendment. Looking forward to getting my worm bins up an running.

Re: Earth Worm Castings
 

My agenda is giving people proper info. Saying castings aren't balanced as a fertilizer is just absurd.

Re: Earth Worm Castings
 

I say add some wigglers to the pot or dirt and mulch heavy.. so there is more to go around.. I think just adding castings is short lived.. I say go long term. :^)

Re: Earth Worm Castings
 

Worm castings are a balanced fertilizer in the sense that they have equal levels of macronutrients, however bananas require more potash than anything. If you apply worm castings to meet the potassium demand you will be over-applying phosphorus and nitrogen. Granted, if you put 200 lbs of worm castings on a mat of bananas I am sure you will have some fantastic looking plants, but in my experience with other plants, you would have the same results with 200 lbs of composted steer manure.

Re: Earth Worm Castings
 

I was reading this thread tonight, and thinking about the concepts I've been employing for a couple of years now. It makes sense to me that, creating an environment where soil biological life thrives, (bacteria, fungi, earthworms, etc..), is natural and healthy. And plants grown in that environment will also thrive and be healthy. This concept has driven what I am trying to achieve in my yard.

Unfortunately, it seems that most people, are looking for a quick fix approach to obtaining great results in their gardens, (I did for years), thinking that 1 or 2 ingredients were what was needed, and then everything would come together. When talking with friends about growing stuff, they just want to know what to add to their plants, to get great results.

I never found the miracle ingredient, but I believe that I stumbled onto a path, that when followed, will produce amazing results.

That all being said, I think earthworm castings are great! Even greater and free, when being produced naturally in the environment that the plants are already growing in, along with all the other bio-life thriving. Earthworms are one of the signs of a healthy, productive soil.

I know this is a little off the topic of this thread, but not really.
Now onto the path: I would urge anyone, who has not already investigated,
the growing method of " High Brix Gardening " to do a little studying on the subject. I stumbled onto this info one day while doing some research, and I am still studying all the info I can find on this subject. The high brix group on yahoo groups is a great resource. Also google search info on Carey Reems, and Reems Biological Theory of Ionization. Here's a link with alot of info: International Ag Labs - A Biological Approach To Agriculture
The menus on the left and newsletters are very informative.

Click on this link: Affordable gardening products for gardeners and growers.
and scroll down to the pictures of the tomatoes, this is what originally caught my attention. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a tomato that wasn't rotten and mush after about a month, much less 14 months.

I have been growing tomatoes, in pots on my patio, using these methods, and have achieved the best results of my entire life. Next time I'm in town I'll try to post a few pictures of them.

I believe that Richard is right about spraying compost tea on the leaves.
Last year my tomatoes suffered some disease, so I discontinued spraying the leaves, and just add it to the soil now. So far no disease, no insect damage, no problems. And there are a lot of earthworms to be found!

More links for those interested.
The Earth Project. org
Sustainable Farming News & Biological Agriculture Information. » Blog Archive » Mycorrhizal Magic – New Biological Breakthrough

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