Worm Farm / Castings

Wet Distillers Grain (WDG) is an excellent source of earthworm feed. Particularly fond of this feed are the Red Wigglers. Worm castings are one of the most natural soil enrichments available and are environmentally friendly, all natural, easy to use and safe to handle. Worm castings improve plant and soil vitality by providing essential plant nutrients, beneficial bacteria and microbes.

Castings added to the soil carry to the root zone a rich compliment of soluble plant nutrients and growth enhancing compounds, a diverse and populous consortium of microbial life and a substrate of organic matter harboring a storehouse of nutrients that are not lost to rain and irrigation. The plant is delivered an ongoing, reliable food source when bacteria and microscopic fungi feed on the organic matter, releasing some of the nutrients to the soil and storing others for their own energy and reproduction. When nematodes and protozoa in turn feed upon them, the nutrients stored in the bacterial and fungal bodies are released to the soil in a plant-available form.

Technically speaking

Vermicompost is the product or process of composting utilizing various species of worms, usually Red Wigglers, white worms, and earthworms to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. Vermicast, similarly known as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by a species of earthworm. Containing water-soluble nutrients, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.

There are many benefits and uses for Worm Castings.

Benefits

• Suppress fungal diseases (phythium, fusarium, dollar spot, etc)
• Reduce algae in greenhouses, ponds, & lagoons – no nitrogen run-off
• May be applied to phosphate sensitive areas
• Reduce irrigation cost up to 50%
• Increases drought resistance
• Reduce all chemical costs by 75% first year of 3 year program
• No ground water contamination
• Improve crumb structure of soil
• Not toxic - reduce liabilities for employees and clients when used professionally

Uses

• Potting mixes
• Delicate Houseplants
• Gardening
• Commercial vegetable production
• Shrubs and Trees
• Lawns and Turf Grass Programs
• Golf Courses
• Landscaping
• Topdressing house plant soil
• Custom potting soils