Kulak's Nursery & Landscaping | Garden Center Clifton Park, NY

Perhaps you used compost tea on your plants and saw the amazing effect it had. (If you haven’t, you should try it and then you’ll see it…promise!) However, if you think your plants loved their compost tea, try giving them a drink of worm casting tea. No, it’s not the liquid dripping from the bottom of an elevated worm bin.

You’re not sure what worm-casting tea is?

Simply put, it’s a liquid concoction made primarily by steeping worm castings (worm poop) in water. This is an “extracting” process. As when making compost tea, this transfers the microbes and nutrients into a solution. Use it on your plants by drenching the soil around plants or spray onto the leaves for foliar absorption. Both spraying and drenching eliminate the labor of spreading a solid compost. And, applied as a liquid, plant resistance to pests and diseases and microbial activity in the soil are all increased. While compost tea contains many beneficial microbes, it’s nothing compared to worm-casting tea that contains a much larger and diverse microbial population due to the various physiological life processes of the worm.

However, to really kick up the benefits of worm-casting tea, try “aerobically brewing” a batch. This simple process increases the microbial populations by circulating the microbes in a nutritious and aerated solution to double the population every 20 minutes. This method also eliminates any possibility of E. coli, which can be present in both compost and worm casting tea brewed by extraction.

Here are the instructions to brew your Worm Casting Tea:

Connect 3’ of tubing to an air stone. Attach other end to small air pump.
Put 4 gallons of water into a clean 5-gallon bucket. Let sit for 24 hours to allow chlorine to dissipate. Alternatively, use non-chlorinated water.
Add:
¼ cup sulfur free molasses or corn syrup
1 tablespoon water-soluble sea plant extract
2 tablespoons soluble fish power or liquid fish
Plug in pump and place air stone at bottom of bucket to begin agitation.
Add 4-8 cups earthworm castings, crushed into small bits, if possible.
Brew until a froth or slime appears on the water surface. The smell should now be gone or very weak. This indicates the maximum population has been reached and no “food” remains for the microbes to eat. The solution may contain over one billion microbes per teaspoon of solution!

The brewing time is temperature dependent. The warmer the temperature, the quicker the tea will brew. Leave the bubbler on to continue oxygenating the microbes.

Strain the solution to remove solid particles. Use as soon as possible.

Note: The odor should be minimal or vaguely pleasant. If the smell is unpleasant or similar to sulfur, do not use. Pour it over some weeds.

You can use your worm casting tea anywhere in your garden: upper and lower sides of leaves, on flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs or soil. Spray in the early morning or evening or in the shade during the rest of the day. Use the remaining castings as you would any compost, after all, it still contains a diverse microbial population!

Now, perhaps you don’t happen to have any worm castings around the house. What can you do? You can begin farming your own worms in a worm bin. Or, if you don’t want to be a worm farmer, you may purchase worm castings to brew your own.

Either way, come on in and talk to us. We’ll be glad to answer your questions and get you started with farming and/or brewing.

composted mulch in wheelbarrow

We’re very excited about one of the newer trends…vermicomposting, otherwise known as worm composting! This simple process mixes food scraps with yard waste and other organic materials in an enclosed area containing specific types of worms. The worms (and associated microorganisms) eat the organics and turn them into a beautiful light and fertile soil amendment. This compost is almost magical! It’s packed with nutrients, improves soil structure, increases drainage and appears to improve plant growth while decreasing pest damage and plant diseases. Not only environmentally friendly, vermicomposting doesn’t require much space, is inexpensive and easy, and it’s a fun hobby for the entire family.

Here’s how to get started:

Worms
The two recommended worms for vermicomposting are Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) and European night crawlers (Eisenia hortensis). The latter grows bigger, eats coarser food and may be heartier. They each eat their own weight in food every other day. Do not use native earthworms. They do not live well in bin conditions.

Most people begin with 1 lb (16 ounces) of worms. These will eat 8 ounces of food every day.

TIP: To determine your average daily food waste, weigh your food debris each day for a week. Add these amounts and divide by 7. (Do not include meat, fish, oily scraps, fat chunks, bones, or dairy products)

When you know your amount of food debris, buy twice as many pounds of worms. For example, if your average daily food debris is 1 lb, order 2 lbs of worms. If your average daily food debris is 4 ounces, order 8 ounces of worms.

Provide a bin with a surface area that equals the weight of the worm order. In other words, if you order two pounds of worms, your worm container will require at least 2 square feet of bin surface (but should be larger). This could be 1’ wide by 2’ long.

Worm Bin or Container
Use non-treated wood, plastic, rubber or galvanized. A larger container houses more worms to compost more material. Worms do not burrow deeper than 24” therefore the bin should be less than 24” deep.

The bin needs a removable cover to protect from rain, light and drying out. Remove it if the bedding becomes too wet, but place a screen across the top to prevent escape. If needed, use a moistened strip of burlap or canvas to add moisture.

Unless using wood, provide ventilation by drilling 12-18 1/8” holes on all four sides. Drill holes on the bottom to prevent drowning.

Remember, the worm population will increase. When sizing, allow an additional 40% of surface area for the increase in addition to the initial population’s requirement.

Site
Elevate the container on bricks to improve ventilation and drainage of excess moisture.

Place the worm bin where it will not receive direct sunlight. In a shed or garage, under house eaves or other shade structure to maintain a temperature above freezing and below 85° is perfect. In the winter, prevent freezing and insulate with sheets of foam on the top and sides, add a heating pad to one side, or move inside a building.

Preparing the Worm Bin
Before adding your worms, add “bedding” to the container. Soak and squeeze out the excess water from shredded fibrous materials such as newspaper, egg cartons, or single-layer cardboard boxes. Mix in dry grass, brown leaves and/or straw. Add sawdust or aged manure, if available. Cover with a thin layer of well-moistened soil.

composting

Feeding Your Worms
Until the worms begin multiplying, only feed once a week by adding a small amount of food scraps. Chopping or breaking food into small bits helps the worms eat the scraps faster and reduces any smells and fruit flies. Mix the food lightly into the bedding on one side of the worm bin.

Include eggshells, non-citrus fruits, coffee grounds, unbleached filters, leafy green vegetables, rice, grits, and vegetables. Do not include meat, fish, oily scraps, fat chunks, bones, dairy products such as milk or cheese, or cat/dog waste. Avoid eucalyptus leaves, these contain a natural insecticide which could kill the worms. Additionally, if adding cut lawn, be sure it hasn’t been chemically treated. Green foods such as leaves, vegetable tops and green grass add additional nitrogen to the finished compost. Eggshells increase the calcium in the final compost and brown foods such as paper, wood chips, and leaves increase phosphate and carbon.

When the worms begin to multiply, provide a weekly quart of food scraps per square foot of surface area. If your bin is 2’ square, provide 4 quarts of scraps per week

When adding food, be sure to check the amount of bedding. The bin was full of bedding when the worms were added. When reduced to half, add more newspaper or cardboard strips, hay, straw, etc.

TIP: One way to tell if you are feeding too much is by smell. If it smells bad, food is rotting instead of eaten. Reduce the amount of food going into the bin.

Watering Your Worms
Check the bin every other day and moisten the material, if needed. It should be moist but not wet.

compost

Harvesting Compost
Compost should be ready in 4-6 months. The easiest way to “harvest” is to scoop out small piles of the material and place onto a flat surface. Remove as many worms as possible and then return the un-composted materials and worms to the bin. You may use a wire mesh netting as a screening device. Add more bedding and let the cycle begin again.

Your reward…after removing the worms and chunks, what’s left? The grand prize of worm castings (poop)! This is the “magical compost.” Some people even call it “Black Gold” it’s that fantastic for your garden.

Raising worms and producing your own super compost is easy and fun. Plus, it removes food waste from the local landfills. Come in to see our worm bins, supplies and books. Of course, if you have any questions, we’re here to help.