Growing Better Plants With Vermicastings

By Bruce Galle

Worm castings are one of the few available resources today that offer numerous proven benefits while offering no bad side effects.

Contrasting to pesticides and fertilizers with special risky handling directions, worm castings promote plants and root development without the side effects of ingesting poisonous chemicals.

Decomposed organic matter and vermicast are not one in the same. Rather they are a biological process that takes place within the worm's digestive system. Composted organic matter is what is actually fed to the worms on some farms.


In order to create premium worm castings, the worms should be cultivated in a controlled setting with minimum temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Don't get me wrong, just about all fresh worm castings are good for your garden, with a stress on the word fresh, which I will account for later in this article. Some beneficial bacteria, which assist worms and digestion, only endure in a temperature range of seventy to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

Increased root and plant growth, increases in blooms and colors, as well as increased yields of fruit and vegetables, are just a small number of the proven benefits by a number of particular University studies. Studies have also publicized that plants together with vermicast were notably more resistant to diseases and carcinogens while it is still not known exactly why. Some reason that it is survival of the fittest since worm castings produce healthier plants in general.

There are good nematodes that eat malicious fungi, and others for instance, that are root-eating nematodes. Tests have revealed that worm castings only exhibit the beneficial nematodes!

Worm castings are beneficial also as the bacteria, fungi and other assorted by products are readily accessible by plants as plant food, as well as assist to recondition the surrounding soil to help take care of a healthy level of minerals, which most other fertilizers strip away.

Following are some items to keep in mind when you go to buy worm castings.

When I refer to fresh worm castings, I am not referring to whether they were harvested yesterday or last week, but rather the current state they are in as follows below.

First, numerous worm farmers will take their worm castings and stock them in a pile outside. One of the main issues here is the reality that seeds are air born and settle in the piles. When you add them to your garden or potted plants, you start to produce undesirable weeds!

The second problem with storing them outside is the chilly weather. As I mentioned before, there are numerous bacteria and fungi living within the worm castings and temperature is an issue in producing premium castings. Once they become too cold or even freeze, many of the benefits of the worm castings can and will be killed off. The preeminent way to store worm castings is in the same restricted environment in which they were generated.

Thirdly, many places selling what they call worm castings is actually vermicompost or worm compost. Worm compost, or vermicompost, is a mixture of decomposed or decomposing matter mixed with vermicast.

Fourth, many worm farmers maintain their worm bins real wet, which results in their worm castings being water logged. Hence, you are buying a lot of water. The best wetness content for worm castings is approximately 30 percent giving you more bang for your buck!

This brings me to my final point of what to keep away from, which is worm castings sold in plastic sealed bags and/or containers. One of the benefits of worm castings is the detail they are laden with aerobic microbes. By definition, the word aerobic means requires oxygen to stay alive. This would be the same as winning a gold fish at the county fair and leaving it in the bag for a week. By then the fish will be floating belly up. Whenever ordering worm castings, you want them in a breathable bag and freshly packed, not sitting on the shelf for a month. The reason is that when in a breathable bag, worm castings will dry out over time once again losing the benefits normally associated with them.


Bruce Galle offers premium worm castings for sale from his web site.