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seeds Seedlings with worm castings?

Scuba_Steve

Scuba_Steve

I have read before that worm castings are one of the only "fertilizers" that can be used in any quantity, and even with seedlings.  You can't over do it.
 
This year I am just planting directly into 72 ct jiffy pellet trays.
 
If this is true, I had the idea to just pack a decent amount of castings in between the walls and the jiffy pellets.  It should continually soak through the pellets and give the seedlings a continual supply of food until they are ready for transplant.
 
Thoughts?
 
I like to top dress my seedlings with fresh worm castings fairly early (about 2 weeks after emergence).  The quality of worm castings varies, but if you have nice castings made with love then your only consideration with regard to over-dosing your plant would involve excessive moisture content.  Worm castings can get muddy.  Once you apply worm castings, your soil will take longer to dry out, which can be good and bad.  
 
That's really bad advice, and goes against every sound principle of what a good substrate/grow media should be. (porous, retains structure,  ideal air/water ratio, proper moisture retention)  It violates every one of those principles.  The only thing it has going for it as a pure growing media, is that it re-wets easily -  when it turns to mud, that is.  If you had success sowing into worm castings, it was more luck than the expected outcome.

OP - if you want to compare the results, and see if what was just said is true, do a side-by-side experiment. (worm castings vs a proper seedling start media - like pure peat or pure fine grade vermiculite)  Post your results.  It would be great for the community to see it demonstrated.
 
keep it simple. nothing is better than nature itself.  just forget all those vermiculite, perlite, ...., super man made growing medium
 
 
lek said:
keep it simple. nothing is better than nature itself.  just forget all those vermiculite, perlite, ...., super man made growing medium
 
Click to expand...
 
Nature doesn't often grow in pure worm shit, last I checked. (seeing as how vermicomposting is a super man made process)  If saving all of your table scraps to feed to a bucket of worms that you meticulously harvested, or paid a good sum of money for, is "keeping it simple", then you live in a different world than I do.  
 
Nature will grow in a pile of trash, if all other conditions are met.  So while your idealism is duly noted, your method still sucks.  I'm all for using worm castings, but not pure.  In fact, the general recommendation for using them, is no more than 5% of the total media volume. 
 
I am just looking for a safe way to try to give myself a slight edge above nature.  Ok more than slight, as I start seeds under grow lights, use fertilizer, hydroponics, etc. 
 
Planting directly into worm castings is indeed bad advice.  I could tell that just looking at it for the first time.  And yes it does get fairly muddy.  We will see how it responds to being watered with a wick, which is another concept I am messing with this year.  Should equalize into a near perfect balance hopefully.
 
I started everything up last night, and so far it appears to be working well.  The wc is still pretty wet, but the wick has already pulled about 2 cups of water out of the tray, back into the reservoir.  The peat pellets feel just about right.  I am actually hoping it doesn't dry them out too much doing this!
 
Again, I didn't plant direct into wc.  I used a tray with jiffy peat pellets.  I then filled in all the little gaps in between them with worm castings.  I placed a very thick wick made from cotton underneath all this, and ran it to a reservoir located underneath.
 
Yes, I do not know the meaning of keep it simple.  I have an engineering mind, and over-complicate everything!  That's part of the fun for me.
 
I have tried planting directly into worm castings as an experiment using some of my own reaper seeds in the past, and while they did germinate...the moisture control issue made it an experience I would not recommend.  Worm castings are composed of very fine, dense particulates not unlike clay.  Avoid planting directly into worm castings for the same reasons you would avoid planting seeds into clay indoors.  Also... because worm castings are fairly well water soluble I ended up with only half the soil I started out with before long, as your media is dissolved away with every watering.  Worm castings by themselves lack soil structure.  
 
worm casting is a good growing medium. I don't think it's a bad advice to sow seed directly into it. 
temperature and moisture also play an important role. if your climate is not suitable for growing pepper, you need to adjust other factors to fight the nature.  :surprised:
 
forget about muddy, very fine, dense particulates, ... blah blah.  
just keep temperature, light and moisture level right, your pepper seedling will be very happy in worm casting.  
 
later on you may have worm living inside your container as a bonus.
 
 
 
When plants are mature and transplanted into a raised bed or directly into the ground in full sun, worm castings make a fine medium on their own.  However, seedlings have more sensitive requirements with regard to moisture content and soil porosity. 
 
I will show you some of my pepper seedling in worm casting.  I put them under the shade of basil plant. No special care has been taken. Leave them there. Just water once a week.
 
 
32243575286_9f9e8c8cac_z.jpg

 
The one on the left is Jay's peach ghost scorpion. The one on the right is bolivian rainbow. 
There is not enough light now. Let bring it out and take a closer look at it.
 
 
 
31905304550_ec7ed44505_z.jpg

 
 
Look like it's my luck that I can germinate and grow them outdoor in worm casting. coz i didn't have time to take care of them but they're still alive.
 
 
 
That doesn't look like any worm casting that I've ever seen.  But giving the benefit of the doubt, and assuming that it actually is worm castings, it looks like your worms had a diet of pure peat.  And they forgot to eat most of it.
 
Yeah the media in the pot looks very much like peat moss.  Also... outdoor conditions are much different from indoor conditions.  If you are sprouting seeds outdoors, I can see worm castings as being a more viable option.  However, the same media indoors would give you much different results.
 
Do you make your worm castings using your own worm farms lek?  
 
Noah, I attempted several unconventional experiments with non-typical seed starting media.  Worm castings was one, unaged, uncomposted rabbit manure was the other.  Both were grown outdoors.  I conducted the experiment, because I have lots of both.
 
I actually got a pepper plant to reach a transplantable stage in the bunny poo.  It held its shape long enough to get roots into the spaces between the poo pellets.  But the worm castings turned into a ball of clay, and then, one day, I forgot to water, and it was like a block of concrete.
 
I maintain that if the OP had any luck with worm castings, it was pure luck.  I still use worm castings, but never as a seed starter.
 
On the other hand, pure rabbit shit grows the best pineapples you've ever had. :)
 
Yeah, the thing is with worm castings... to be able to use them as a growing medium in its pure from, you need to keep the soil at an even moisture throughout its life (which requires frequent small waterings (too much attention.) I make my own castings and happen to amend them with a variety of things that give the castings texture (structure.)  Only once did I grow a mature plant in pure castings outdoors and it did really well, but it was in its own mini raised bed made of concrete blocks, which I suppose helped to provide better drainage and drying for the soil.  
 
That's what I thought.  No doubt. You guys may not have much experience with worm casting. 
worm specie and what you feed the worm play an important role.
 
You think it look very much like peat moss. Take a closer look. It's NOT.  and if you touch it your hand will feel completely different.  :party:
 
 
 
 
I have been worm farming for 7 years now.  I currently have 640 gallons of worm farm.  I am moderately experienced with vermicomposting.
 
 
I guess it is true that you could very well have a different species from what I am used to,which would produce different shaped castings!  
 
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