Worm Castings

[jamrock]

Anybody have any experience with worm castings?

[Captain Obvious]

Great Stuff, just do a search, you'll find tons of information.

 

Taste like chicken too.

[+JuztBudz]

I use worm castings in my initial soil mix. I start with ocean forest from Fox Farms and add about a quart of worm castings to a large bag of soil, along with other amendments. I also make a tea from the worm castings and bat guano to feed the plants throughout the grow. It doesn't produce plants the size of some that I've seen, but the flavors, oooh the flavors. To me, that is oh so important... Peace ... j.b.

[jamrock]

Thanks for the replys. after doing some research its basically just a nitrogen soil ammendment or can be made into the tea.

 

Since the tea is organic and alive, does it go bad? if so, what is the general shelf life of worm castings tea?

 

Thanks!

[Celliach]

No need to make tea if you add the castings into the soil initially. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble and hassle doing it that way.

[GanjaWarrior]

tea rocks.... no shelf life. I use it up after after a couple days airation.... its so easy to make u dont need shelf life....just make a gallon...use a gallon. theres life in it...after a couple days the life dies, then its anerobic i believe...either way its no good then. the castings are cheap as can be...or free if u make ur own...just make ur teas as needed and you wont need to worry about shelf life. Dont get confused this isnt just basically a lil nitrogen. its far more than that, way more than that. get a book on the midcrolife in soil...worm tea is like giving ur plant a shot of all those majik goodies.

[Estimated Prophet]

The benefit is from the rich microbe colony found in castings, not the nitrogen.

 

As for the shelf life, i would say us it within the hour and dump the rest.

[jamrock]

Ok i'm starting to understand this better, never been an organic farmer myself.. although i would like to.

 

I have an opportunity for a basically unlimited amount of worm castings, from a large scale worm farm. They are looking to me to help them sell their castings, which they currently do nothing with. They already have bags made up and that will be the bulk of the operation. But i was wondering if i could bottle the tea made from the castings. I have all the equipment to make it on a VERY LARGE scale, but from what i have read that is pretty much worthless, beacuse of the shelf life.

Too bad they don't make oxygen permeable containers that it could be bottled into. Just throwing some ideas around still.

[edawg]

I use 24oz of castings per 10 gallons of soil, plus 4 tblsp ea of mexican and jamaican bat guano. this is just in addition to my regular feeding schedule.

[MightyMightyMezz]

Ok i'm starting to understand this better, never been an organic farmer myself.. although i would like to.

 

I have an opportunity for a basically unlimited amount of worm castings, from a large scale worm farm. They are looking to me to help them sell their castings, which they currently do nothing with. They already have bags made up and that will be the bulk of the operation. But i was wondering if i could bottle the tea made from the castings. I have all the equipment to make it on a VERY LARGE scale, but from what i have read that is pretty much worthless, beacuse of the shelf life.

Too bad they don't make oxygen permeable containers that it could be bottled into. Just throwing some ideas around still.

 

I wouldn't mess with making teas commercially really. Without oxygen a microbe-filled tea will soon become a microbe-less tea. That is amazing that you have a business opportunity like that. What part of the state are you in?

[jamrock]

I wouldn't mess with making teas commercially really. Without oxygen a microbe-filled tea will soon become a microbe-less tea. That is amazing that you have a business opportunity like that. What part of the state are you in?

 

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the more i have been thinking about it, i may end up trying to market some sort of do it yourself kit if possible, but we will see... I've been reading that when packaging fresh castings into bags (our current business plan), the microbes will soon become anerobic and useless... But i'm sure there are some ways around this. for examples some sort of breathable bag... lots more research to do!

 

I would love to be able to take this and possibly make and market a cannabis specific blend of other organics, but i have limited knowledge in the subject.

once again, more research to do.

 

I'm located in macomb/oakland

[t-pain]

there are some 'compost tea kits' already on the market. just add water.

not sure how well they sell, but you could take a look at them to steal some ideas from.

[Bisharoo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJLrYjKqPmk

[Bison]

How about old fashioned burlap for a breathable bag?

[casper medz]

I'm new to this. However I have made alfalfa tea in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. I poked a hole thru the lid to feed my air line into. Seems to keep smell down. What works for me is new paint screen strainers used fora 5 gallon bucket. I put my ingredients in the screen then it fits around the bucket. The air stone goes freely in the water. Plenty of mesh to let beasties out and leave solids behind. Hope this helps.

[baddog]

i guess that i'm confused. is there a shelf life on fresh castings when bagged? i'm sure you still get the benefits from nitrogen but does the microbial life die off sitting in that plastic bag i just bought at the getting place?

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the more i have been thinking about it, i may end up trying to market some sort of do it yourself kit if possible, but we will see... I've been reading that when packaging fresh castings into bags (our current business plan), the microbes will soon become anerobic and useless... But i'm sure there are some ways around this. for examples some sort of breathable bag... lots more research to do!

I would love to be able to take this and possibly make and market a cannabis specific blend of other organics, but i have limited knowledge in the subject.
once again, more research to do.

I'm located in macomb/oakland

[Petyr]

i guess that i'm confused. is there a shelf life on fresh castings when bagged? i'm sure you still get the benefits from nitrogen but does the microbial life die off sitting in that plastic bag i just bought at the getting place?

The microbial life goes dormant until a new food source arrives.

[trichcycler]

I employ the services of around 25000 red wigglers to recycle my soil, and replenish it with fresh worm castings. I water the farms weekly and collect all of the tea also, bubbling untl replenished.

but I bet you prefer the dried up store bought kind....lol

Anybody have any experience with worm castings?

[garyfisher]

I'm new to this. However I have made alfalfa tea in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. I poked a hole thru the lid to feed my air line into. Seems to keep smell down. What works for me is new paint screen strainers used fora 5 gallon bucket. I put my ingredients in the screen then it fits around the bucket. The air stone goes freely in the water. Plenty of mesh to let beasties out and leave solids behind. Hope this helps.

 

 

Why filter out the solids if you're growing in soil?  Doesn't make sense to me.

[baddog]

makes sense. thanks for the reply

The microbial life goes dormant until a new food source arrives.

[Petyr]

Why filter out the solids if you're growing in soil?  Doesn't make sense to me.

Alfalfa meal has a lot of N in it.  If you added the tea with the solids at the start of or a couple weeks into flower, the solids would possibly be providing nitrogen for longer that you wanted.  By filtering the tea, you give the plants a good boost of N but it won't stick around and cause airy buds father on down the line.  

 

Plus, the solids are awesome for my compost pile.

 

P.S.  rabbit pellets are 100% alfalfa and can be used just like alfalfa meal.  Its available year round at TSC and other feed stores.