Hi,

I would like to know if there are books on using worm castings
only, as a medium?

Alex

Alex wrote:
Hi,

I would like to know if there are books on using worm castings
only, as a medium?

Alex

Probably not but you never can tell what somebody will publish a book about.

Worm castings are generally used as a feriliser and soil conditioner.
Assuming that you had enough to fill a tub or garden bed it wouldn't be such
a good idea to do it. A growing medium should be the right combination (for
the species) of the ability to hold water, air, nutrients and trace
elements, to support the root structure and to support beneficial microbes.
Straight worm castings is likely to fail several of these requirements for
most plants and even if it didn't it would be a profligate consumption of a
valuable resource. Good growing practice is about balance.

D

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Alex wrote:
Hi,

I would like to know if there are books on using worm castings
only, as a medium?

Alex

Probably not but you never can tell what somebody will publish a book about.

Worm castings are generally used as a feriliser and soil conditioner.
Assuming that you had enough to fill a tub or garden bed it wouldn't be such
a good idea to do it. A growing medium should be the right combination (for
the species) of the ability to hold water, air, nutrients and trace
elements, to support the root structure and to support beneficial microbes.
Straight worm castings is likely to fail several of these requirements for
most plants and even if it didn't it would be a profligate consumption of a
valuable resource. Good growing practice is about balance.

i agree with most of David's comments.

i'll add that not all worm castings are
the same. what is the source of worm castings
you might be using?

do you have a specific application in mind?
like a container or a specific plant?


songbird

"songbird" schreef in bericht
...
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Alex wrote:
Hi,

I would like to know if there are books on using worm castings
only, as a medium?

Alex

Probably not but you never can tell what somebody will publish a book about.

Worm castings are generally used as a feriliser and soil conditioner.
Assuming that you had enough to fill a tub or garden bed it wouldn't be such
a good idea to do it. A growing medium should be the right combination (for
the species) of the ability to hold water, air, nutrients and trace
elements, to support the root structure and to support beneficial microbes.
Straight worm castings is likely to fail several of these requirements for
most plants and even if it didn't it would be a profligate consumption of a
valuable resource. Good growing practice is about balance.

i agree with most of David's comments.

i'll add that not all worm castings are
the same. what is the source of worm castings
you might be using?

do you have a specific application in mind?
like a container or a specific plant?


songbird

Hi Dave and Songbird,

Commercially bought worm castings - plagron
( Dendrobena Veneta). I have use them as a soil
amendment for a long time, and used them in
soilless potting mixes.

I am thinking of using them the way ordinary compost
is used.

A long time ago I grew a plant in a mix of worm
castings and perlite, and it did spectacularly well,
when fed with high (8.0) pH tap water and worm tea.
My guess is that the pH can get low, or maybe
watering every day flushed the salts out or the
plants liked the high calcium and mg concentration.

It would be nice to know other people's experiences.

I was just wondering whether there is any literature
on using them this way. There are some websites,
but they are very short in description. Like:

http://www.thewormdude.com/worm-blog...worm-castings/

A reason I like worm castings is because I can
basically grow them myself, and keep
foodscraps out of landfills.

Alex

Alex wrote:
songbird schreef in bericht:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Alex wrote:
Hi,

I would like to know if there are books on using worm castings
only, as a medium?

Alex

Probably not but you never can tell what somebody will publish a book about.

Worm castings are generally used as a feriliser and soil conditioner.
Assuming that you had enough to fill a tub or garden bed it wouldn't be such
a good idea to do it. A growing medium should be the right combination (for
the species) of the ability to hold water, air, nutrients and trace
elements, to support the root structure and to support beneficial microbes.
Straight worm castings is likely to fail several of these requirements for
most plants and even if it didn't it would be a profligate consumption of a
valuable resource. Good growing practice is about balance.

i agree with most of David's comments.

i'll add that not all worm castings are
the same. what is the source of worm castings
you might be using?

do you have a specific application in mind?
like a container or a specific plant?

Hi Dave and Songbird,

Commercially bought worm castings - plagron
( Dendrobena Veneta). I have use them as a soil
amendment for a long time, and used them in
soilless potting mixes.

I am thinking of using them the way ordinary compost
is used.

A long time ago I grew a plant in a mix of worm
castings and perlite, and it did spectacularly well,
when fed with high (8.0) pH tap water and worm tea.
My guess is that the pH can get low, or maybe
watering every day flushed the salts out or the
plants liked the high calcium and mg concentration.

worm castings don't necessarily have a high
salt concentration. it depends upon what the
basic feed stock is. i use quite a broad range
of materials for the worms i grow here and i've
never noticed a salt accumulation problem.

from what i recall worm tea can be very
strong and most times i see it referenced as
diluted with water. here i do a closed system
bin/bucket - the worm tea stays in the container.


It would be nice to know other people's experiences.

I was just wondering whether there is any literature
on using them this way. There are some websites,
but they are very short in description. Like:

http://www.thewormdude.com/worm-blog...worm-castings/

A reason I like worm castings is because I can
basically grow them myself, and keep
foodscraps out of landfills.

yes, that's a good thing for sure. i do a lot
with worms here, but mostly i use them to recondition
garden soil so that is an outdoor application (even
if i keep the worms indoors all winter to keep them
from freezing).

i don't do much with houseplants, but a part of
the possible trouble with using worm castings for
houseplants is that the worm casings may contain worm
cocoons that will hatch out tiny worms. eventually
these worms may get big enough and start crawling
out of the plants (at night or after watering).
that is if they survive. some potting soil
environments may not be suitable for them and they'll
die off. so there is that caveat besides the other
obvious one that not all plants need a particularly
rich soil. straight worm castings are likely to be
fairly rich in nutrients if the base feed stock is
veggie scraps and other high nutrient density
materials. so i would cut the worm castings with
peat moss and like you said before perlite or
vermiculite for plants that don't need such a high
nutrient soil.


songbird