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Montoursville, PA

Today I met the owners of a company called Soil Secret, Inc. Their farm is a little different than most. They professionally produce worm castings. They now have millions of squiggly worms to care for where they maybe could have kept a dozen regular farm animals.

....From their brochure nicely said. "castings can naturally improve the look and health of your plants, stimulate flowering and fruiting and produce larger harvests. Studies have shown several types of pests and diseases being eliminated naturally. As an organic product, these benefits can all be achieved without fear of burning you plants, or harming the environment".

....The belly of an earthworm infuses regular compost with beneficial organisms, while furthur transforming the nutrients into an odorless form more readily usable by plants. In nature, animal waste and decaying plant material are worm food, not plant food. Worms are the most natural producers of plant food.

.....Since I already have a high worm count in my patch I plan to use these castings as a Compost Activator.

.....I am going to add by experimentation some of these casts to my aerobic tea makings. This will be foliar fed as part of my aerobic tea this summer.

.....You may see the product in my Diary. You may go to the Soil Secret. Inc. web site: www.SoilSecret.com

5/1/2004 5:39:39 PM

South Western Pa

Just a note on castings, I had planned to put some directly in my patch this year. However, after using some to start my tomatoes I found they have quite a few weed seeds. The worm farm I use ( and quite a few others ) use horse manure as bedding and food and a lot of the weeds seeds survive the trip through the horse and the worm.

So if you’re weeding averse like me you may want to reconsider.

5/1/2004 11:21:11 PM

Deer Park WA

Worm castings from our wild wriggler ranch are used as a base for our teas. Doc is right on with his information on the value of castings especially if you brew.

5/2/2004 2:02:57 AM

Montoursville, PA

Here is a test report I found which is interesting:

It was decided that tomatoes (Solano County's #1 cash crop) would be grown, and on April 1 the plots were set up. In a checkerboard-type planting, there were four different soil conditions, multiplied by four for a total of sixteen plots. The four soil conditions were: 1) soil with no amendments, 2) soil with steer manure incorporated, 3) soil with castings incorporated, and 4) soil with castings and worms incorporated. The results were not surprising. There was virtually no difference between the plain soil and the soil with manure. Soil with castings increased production by 10% and the soil with worms and castings produced 33% more tomatoes.

This project clearly shows the enormous impact worms have on increasing productivity. There are many more questions to be answered and I believe we've only scratched the surface of the enormous potential worms can have in global agriculture.

Stuff......reguardless of origin, that kills, sickens or chases worms out of the patch must be taken out of the management program. If you have high humus and do not have worms you have "stuff" to overcome on you way to begin having a healthy patch.

5/2/2004 10:14:05 AM

minnesota

How long does it take to overcome "stuff"? I have an OM % of about 12, and did a number on my worm population last year with muriate of potash. I am trying to go mainly organic this year, will I see an appreiable increase in the worm population by the fall. I am planning on going with fish/seaweed and molasses on a weekly basis, as my sole fertilesers this year, P and K are already very high in patch.

5/2/2004 3:31:42 PM

Montoursville, PA

It might get a little testy but you should really ask the people that sold you the stuff.

5/2/2004 6:47:12 PM

Benton Ky

I have a friend that has a worm farm .He also has a couple of chicken barns and he feeds the worms crushed corn and chicken manure.Do you think there castings could be to hot?

5/3/2004 1:54:33 PM

Montoursville, PA

Worm castings......read up, read up. The words above are not complete but they are mostly accurate. How they feed the worm does not erode or improve the value of the casts.
..If the worm lives and produces the cast it is the finest plant food known to man.

5/3/2004 10:01:00 PM

Amherst, WI

I know that I kill a lot of earthworms by tilling. I'd like to buy some from somewhere and set them loose in the patch in June or so. By then I'm not going to till anymore. Has anyone ever done this? Think it would be worth the trouble?

5/8/2004 10:14:34 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

As long as you have food resources available & don't (chemically) scare them away this beneficial creature will always be present.

Just for fun do an earthworm count in your patch now.
measure and dig 1x1x1 ft of soil & count how many you find.

You can also do this a week or two after tilling and compare your findings.

5/8/2004 1:43:27 PM

Canada

Myself, My Back yard is just filled with earth worms
you can go out there on the average warm night after a nice rain and you are literally walking all over them.
I do allot of fishing dureing the spring and summer
and every fishing trip i usually purchase 2 dozen worms
and most of the time i come back with 6-10 worms left over
and for $2 a dozeni dont bother keeping them so into the patch they go!!

Dave

5/8/2004 2:46:57 PM

Montoursville, PA

Don't buy the worms....for your patch. If the conditions are high humus and it is not nuked to the point they can't stand to live there...you will be blessed with their presence.

If an event shook up your population you could get all the grandchildred picking night crawlers....night walkers to the Southern folks. Try putting them into your patch. Once again if the conditions have returned to good so will the worms.

Gray garden worms and night crawlers are for garden soil. The red worms so frequently sold to fishermen are only found or raised in manure piles. The red worm will not live in your patch.

All worms love coffee grounds, corn meal and a lick of molasses. In proper conditions they will reproduce rapidly without any help save the presence of food provided by the patch owner.

With minor exceptions castings a are castings. The castings are excellent food for plants. They will not hurt you or your plants. Tea made from the castings is a prized product when foliar fed. It can be used alone or blended with compost tea for an even better offering. If applied to the leaves properly it is possible for the bacteria to totally build an envelop where in the bad guys can not get a foothold. Both the tea and the application must be rated as very well done to expect the ideal perfect insect and fungi damage free control. This is rarely achieved by those not in full advisement of quality coaches when learning the business of using aerobic teas. Partial success has been achieved by many who attempt to withdraw from the use of some harsh chemicals.

5/8/2004 7:42:34 PM

Pulaski Tn blkcloud@igiles.net

Doc, i keep a old section of carpet in my garden and on the way to the pond we pick it up and gather up the worms for fishing..they are 100% red wigglers... and they do live in my garden, where did you hear that red worms wouldnt live in your patch??

5/11/2004 12:59:04 PM

Montoursville, PA

Red Wigglers and the information I use comes straight from the folks that raise them. It was confirmed by numerous cross references surfing the subject.

I did not say they would not live in your patch. I reported what the growers say and that is that red wigglers are worms that live and prosper in un-composted manures. It is their duty to process these manures into casts.

You will find similar information if you seek it. Perhaps there is a classification of worm problem or do you maintain raw manures in the patch consequently a population of red wigglers? The only support that may permit this would be the use of anaerobic teas. Doubt that but its at least a possible.?????

5/11/2004 6:03:17 PM

Deer Park WA

We have many red wrigglers in our native soil and our boxes Doc, I think they are adaptive as all get out! It is true that our wriggler worm populations soar in uncomposted manure wind rows though, but they are also natives here just watch the Robbins wolfing them down.

5/12/2004 1:40:43 AM

Montoursville, PA

Garden's Alive reports the same as I on one page and on another page using Latin the sell Red Worm Eggs for your garden. The spin makes it confusing for sure.

I have not and will not make a study of this but I do believe we are dealing with different species of worms with different regional common names. There is Latin out there for all of the major worms. There are indeed whole bunches of small worms likely in all soils that are not even known to exist by lots of gardeners. This whole arena is just begining to be studied and understood in relation to the real value of the earthworm. For me it is simple enough to know what harms and kills them so that my plants may have the maximum pounds of naturally made casts as their best known food. I believe anyone would do well adding coffee grounds up to fairly large amounts to really see their worms breed and increase their numbers. I believe yellow cornmeal is a good garden additive that the worms also like.
This is in addition to the fungi resistance the corn meal helps the plant develop. The icing on the cake may be pure and simple compost or visa versa depending on your thinking.

We need not worry to much about PH because the worms will eat darn near any reasonable amount one could add to his growing practices. The method of a little here and a little there very lightly raked in is as good as any application proceedure. Be sure to errect a small "GROUNDS HERE" sign so the worms can find them. :)

5/12/2004 6:06:47 AM

Pulaski Tn blkcloud@igiles.net

Yep doc, you did say they wouldnt live in my patch, i copied this from your earlier post..
("The red worm will not live in your patch.")
i'll try to get a picture this evening and post it that way we'll be sure were on the same sheet of music when it comes to calling a red wiggler a red wiggler..

5/12/2004 8:26:50 AM

Montoursville, PA

I only know what I am taught by the worm growing people. Since I have no manure that reamains undigested very long any red wigglers I may have imported go away. I would look for sure but I would not claim or disclaim.

I have seen red wigglers when we load manures. There are none of them making it to the finished compost that goes into the patch.

Let me change my quote to say if your patch is not containing raw manure the red ones will not stay. I assume that manures, in the patch, are composted thereby changing the medium in which the red ones like to live.

Pumpkins and corn will grow in partially finished compost and partially digested manures. I firmly believe they will grow better if the patch is finished compost and digested manures already in the form of humus going into the humates.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...worm ranch, I can find no knowledge indicating that the casts of any earth worm, are that much better than any other earth worm or red worm.

The bottom line is that the composts or manures are food for the worms. The worms are the major players who can make the perfect food your plants need. They of course use the other life forms to support their mission. Some other life forms are fungi and bacteria....only a few of which we have identified and named.

I am going to be a little scarce but I will come or go to see your pix. This heat wave is raising havoc in my patch so I am into rigging some temporary shade.

5/12/2004 1:47:19 PM

Pulaski Tn blkcloud@igiles.net

ok doc, went home at lunch and i got the pics posted in my diary..let me know if you think these are red wigglers or not..blkcloud

5/12/2004 5:05:08 PM

Benton Ky

I read a little clip in a field and stream magazine tonight that said there were about 2000 different types of earthworms.

5/13/2004 12:58:45 AM

northern indiana

Doc the red wigglers have to have a way of moving form one compost pile to the next. Don't take this the wrong way but they don't appear by magic, eat their way through the compost pile and die. Maybe you could read the ideas of brian in his article "how to raise 100# of worms" at http://gnv.fdt.net/~windle/ and give me your thoughts on his ideas about the red wiggler life cycle. It makes sense to me that they have to be able to move from one place to another. The fat ones you see in the compost pile early on do seem to dissapear when the product is finished. But his ideas about the life cycle do seem to explain how they get there in the first place and how they move to a new abundant food source area. perhaps a closer check of your finished compost could help determine if he is correct as I have not yet tried his bucket method but intend to soon. given the huge amounts of organic matter we add to our patches one would think that red wigglers would at some level of organic matter content find it a good home.
Eric

5/15/2004 8:08:57 AM

porterville, calif.

I started all my seeds out in pure worm castings. I had 100% germanation They are really taking off. I have to have them in the ground by Tuesday

5/16/2004 1:12:42 AM