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Worm Castings

patrick

patrick

Just had 30lbs delivered and was wondering the best way to use it? Should I add a couple of hand fulls to each 3-5 gallon pot when I transplant, sprinkle it on the top, save it and use it for seeds/seedlings? Heard too many good things about it not to give it a shot.

Thanks peoples.
 
One thing to think about is watering, if there is clorine in the water it might diminish the micro goodies in the castings. You can mix the castings in the potting soil and then later in the season do a top dressing too.
 
Thanks peoples.

It cost $12.95 for the castings and $19.95 to ship. I'm not a fan of paying more for shipping than the product itself but in this case my choices were limited. I just look at it as a little over a buck a pound. I can live with that.
 
Patrick, do you have a link to the place you got the worm castings? I actually bought some terracycle from home depot, but it's not in the spray nozzle bottle. I'm looking to buy in bulk.
 
my experiment this year was going to be worm castings, but i switched to using pro-mix and guano for the final transplant to the big pots.
 
I love my Terracycle..I can actually see the change in the plants when I do a feed with it.

My choc hab looks like one of those plastic office plants now, it's so purdy and shiny.

Umm, why not just put a couple real earthworms in yer pots though? Seems a lot better and cheaper IMO. I plan on getting some outa the parents back yard now that's warmer. :)
 
QuadShotz said:
Umm, why not just put a couple real earthworms in yer pots though? Seems a lot better and cheaper IMO. I plan on getting some outa the parents back yard now that's warmer. :)
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I try to grab a few every time it rains, they are out in the 100's on my asphalt. I wonder how many you should put in each pot? Anyone know?
 
Prolly a couple.

Note that using high-power ferts and the like will fry the lil buggers.

Earthworms can very well survuve in a Pot along with a potted plant .

To be sure take a large sized pot.

Put organic waste and turn the soil from time to time .

Do not put inorganic fertilizers or granulated fertilizers or any salts in the pot . ( N P K fertilizers I mean )

Keep it as natural as possible .

Organic fertilizers are welcomed by them!!!
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they are not the same worms you need for good worm castings...

i think you need worms that are called red wigglers for best results..
 
From everything I've gotten from this forum, it seems really important to severely cut back the nitro when plants start producing flowers for maximum yield, right? from what I'm was reading about castings, it has really high levels of everything including nitrogen that last through the season. When you want to cut your nitro back mid to end season wouldn't changing your soil prove annoying?

Or are you believing that if you use it early, the soil will be depleted enough later to not worry about it?

Just questions, still trying to figure all this out
 
hotenuff4u said:
From everything I've gotten from this forum, it seems really important to severely cut back the nitro when plants start producing flowers for maximum yield, right? from what I'm was reading about castings, it has really high levels of everything including nitrogen that last through the season. When you want to cut your nitro back mid to end season wouldn't changing your soil prove annoying?

Or are you believing that if you use it early, the soil will be depleted enough later to not worry about it?

Just questions, still trying to figure all this out
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I used to always just use bone meal to feed in mid summer. (3-15-0) I never got tall plants for the most part, but they always had good #'s of pods. One of the most respected growers I've seen on the web, John Fieldler in Maine, likes to keep it simple. Here's a direct quote I copied from him from somewhere: "I start my seeds and grow my plants in Pro Mix BX or Fafard--similar products. I used to mix my own with peat, bagged top soil, and perlite but it was a lot of work and didn't really save much money. Cheapest way to buy it is in 3.8 cf compressed bales.
Fertilizers:
Peppers don't need a lot of fertilization and in my opinion don't need anything special to produce well. I have grown several hundred varieties over several years using 1/4 strength 15-30-15 a couple of time as seedlings, watering them into their final pots with 1/2 strength and the only a couple of feedings of 1/2 strength during the growing season." BTW - Miracle Grow Bloom Booster granules are normally 15-30-15. Check out Johns plants - very impressive. http://www.pbase.com/chiles400/profile - go to galleries
 
The 30lb bag of worm castings that I bought last week is 1-0-0.

I asked the guy, wtf good is this going to do with such a low NPK rating. He tried to explain and what he said made sense although not sure that I got all of it. Something along the lines that the plants use a much greater percentage of whatever worm castings provide as opposed to high-powered synthetic ferts...


Maybe its all bs, who knows.
 
Petey the bag I bought is also 1.0.0. I'm going to do some testing/comparison this years and see if the stuff does do any good. I'm betting it does.
 
I hear ya Patrick. I'd also bet that the worm castings are "as advertised". I've read that others on here have had great success using worm castings and worm "tea". I think that Neil from the THSC used them this year for the first time and commented that his plants were a great success with huge pods.

I guess we will find out...:lol:
 
Hey guys. Im new here. No reason anyone of ya would listen to me but here I go. Organic rant "ON".

All fertilizers are rated with for NPK right. That is the ammount of nitrogen phosphorous and potassium that are "immediatle available". That is why miricle grow and the like have such high #s. Then it leaches away and you must reapply. With organic fertilizers, including worm poop, the nutrients are released slowly throught the season and dont leach away. I feed my plants at transplant time period. They get a healthy scoop of compost, a small scoop ( bout half cup) of worm poop and a small scoop of my homemade magic. Thats all. No more for the rest of the season and I get more peppers and stuff that you would be amazed. When some visits my pepper patch and says what do you feed them, I say I dont. (and heres the key) I feed the soil and the soil feeds the plants. USE THE WORM POOP!

Organic rant "OFF"
 
Hmmm, worm poo aint a fert perse, more a soil amend thing. Plants like it.

nature has all sortof thuings around in soil, we just try to get the good ones eh.

chiles been growin for millenia without our help, and will anyways i reckon. :)
 
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