Worm Castings Experiment Update
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- čas přidán 7. 04. 2019
- It's time to see if adding worm castings to our seed starting mix has made any difference in the growth and development of our pepper seedlings over the last few weeks.
Part 1 - Equipment: • Seed Starting Part 1 -...
Part 2 - Learning From My Mistakes: • Seed Starting Part 2 -...
Part 3 - Experimentation: • Seed Starting Part 3 -...
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#SomeRoomtoGrow #indoorseedstarting #wormcastings - Jak na to + styl
Sprinkle cinnamon to not get mold on top of the soil also helps to prevent dampening off
Worm castings increase the water retention of soil. Decrease the frequency that water is applied and the plants will do better. If soil is moist do not water. Good video on the potential of worm castings! I hope you have a great farming season.
Very true! I always had a problem with overwatering but I think I'm getting better. Happy growing!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow overwatering is causing 'damping off' ... sterilizing is less important, but NOT overwatering is key. And check out 'MIgardener' and his video about the ‘Petri Dish’ Method of Seed Starting :)
Agreed! It took me some practice to adjust my watering frequency.
Absolutely! Good catch. Really major water absorption and retention with castings. Easy to overwater, if not taken into account.
Wow the first example with the peppers was incredible!!
Yeah, it was a big difference!
Have big success with peppers growing in worm castings, tiger worms, coffee on top for worms who turn it to fertilizer.
Worm castings can be acidic, a little garden lime mixed through helps I find
Great videos with great info. If you could please a video showing what soils, amendments, fertilizers, etc. you use for growing your plants.
Thank you! You can check out my videos on seed starting. I talk more about the soil mix I use in parts 2 and 3.
I've heard worm castings will release nutrients slowly to a plant, so it is not possible to give a plant too much of it. Some even grow in %100 castings with superior yields.
I’ve heard that, too, but never tried it for myself. I may set up an experiment to test that out when I plant our next batch of seeds.
You can't grow in 100% castings. That would be bad. Good potting mix mixed with 10 - 20% worm castings. Castings aid in the uptake of available nutrients etc (and have some of their own). Worm casting tea at a rate of 2.5% worm castings to water. All from reading, and I don't know a thing. Google mate, google.
Yeah I’m not sure what some gardeners are claiming. I’ve only seen 1 or 2 videos where they experimented with growing in 100% castings and they used homemade vermicompost. Not all castings are the same. Even if it does somehow work, it’s just a waste of a good resource. I stick to 20-25% castings with coir-based starting mix.
@@DavidBrockes i grew in a mix of 50% worm castings and 50%perlite & vermiculite, had awesome results, I bet I xan grow in 100% wc without issue
@@SomeRoomtoGrow there is a scientific study published by a couple universities, that all agreed, 20% is the ideal amount, sure you could tweak it probably a couple % of more or less, but any more your just wasting a good compost enhancer.
You'd be better off (depending on life of plants) using either activated biochar or small time flowering plants, or a wood chip compost for stuff with trees and so on.
But worm castings 20% is optimal. Once its ran out just til (or no til) and top dress again until the plant has been harvested. It's literally quite simple. Just search for "Et Al" studies on the usage of worm castings. Also as you mentioned, depending on how their fed, stored and transported.... some dramatically out perform other brands. Especially those who have multiple ingredients fed to them.
agree looks like damping off on the dead plants
I have my own composting worms I did the same experiment with my plants and I noticed that the worm castings holds on to moisture a lot longer , so I Water less also I mulch my plants casting first and then mulch. I enjoyed the video thank you.
Excellent, thank you!
That lettuce looks amazing! The ones that did not make it were affected by damping off. Maybe the higher ratio of worm castings made the soil too dense? Otherwise it is nice to see the big differences in the pepper plants with the worm castings versus the ones without.
I wondered if it might be that! I may have packed it in too much when I planted the seeds. And yes, the lettuce is ridiculous and tasty. Thanks for the answer!
The white stuff is called mychorizae. Yes, it's very, very important. It's the fungi that break down nutrients for plants to absorb. You would possibly kill the plant if you killed all the myco system off as well. It is absolutely important!
It sure is! I would never use anything to kill off microbiology in the soil. I was just concerned because I never saw that growth on anyone else’s seedlings. It’s the worm castings that introduced all that.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow I'm a microbiologist and studied this stuff in school. Basically, the worm castings/tea feed the myco in a symbiotic relationship. The plant gives the myco a place to live, within the root system, and the myco gives the plant food.
Exactly. It's beautiful, isn't it? Some of my favorite books are the "Teaming with..." series by Jeff Lowenfels. Of course I read those AFTER I made this video.
I am curious if the worms eat the mycos? Thanks for the info!
I’m not sure. I think they mostly eat bacteria.
I just use RECHARGE. Its like 30 bucks but a little goes a long way. It is amazing for any plant.
Shhhh..
What kind of water did you give them, tap,rain or bottle?
It was tap water.
@Some Room to Grow
What brand was the worm castings used here please? Would you mind sharing what brand of worm castings yoh used please
Hi, thank you for your interest but I don’t know exactly what brand it was. I bought the bag at Costco 6 years ago.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow those seedlings looked way healthy too by the way. Lots of good greens. Bright, vibrant too.
@@re2590 thanks!
you are correct that is good fungal growth, however the moss or algae i think i saw isn't beneficial but it isnt bad per se either , it just says you water the shit out of it. you should put pine needles or a mulch on top when they are that small as in a cup soil dries out too fast and the reply is often over watering so the flux between saturated and dry kills microbiology and therefor effects nute uptake and availability. yopu want the top layer of soil to always be moist and that can only be done in a small cup with allot of mulch on top. that's just a soil tip in general for you.
Thanks for the info! I definitely used to overwater things back then (this was from 2 years ago). I’ve gotten much better at that.
Thank you🙏
This is an excellent experiment!
I’ve just started mine with caterpillar castings & already seen the vast difference in just a few days.
I’ve also watered once with EM4 bacteria solution (I believe it’s called EM1 there?)
I was pretty surprised myself! I’d like to try this again when we start our own worm bin. I haven’t heard of the bacteria solution but I’ll look into it. Thanks!
Please make a video when you’re experimenting with EM1🙏
Came across this video, thought might help you. He has more on this subject. czcams.com/video/pgJqsBKNuoY/video.html
Thanks, I'll check it out!
I heard that its not the amount of worm castings used. I heard that worm castings holds water.
That’s true. It’s easy to overwater when using worm castings.
Are homemade worm castings safe to use on homegrown salad leaf growing in my greenhouse?
Absolutely! I would guess that homemade vermicompost would be even more beneficial than a store product because it may have more bacterial activity. It’s great for everything.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow i was worried about fungus gnats and white fly larvae being present
@@EmperorMing1962 I’ve had some good luck with mixing the worm castings only toward the bottom of the pots, keeping the potting mix at the top.
When I mix worm castings with potting mix, should I add perlite?
You certainly can! Potting mix usually has perlite or vermiculite, but you can add a little more with the castings to keep a good ratio.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thank you!
My first bag of worm castings is arriving tomorrow. If I find any worm parts I'll scream, then faint.
I want healthy, fast growing flowers.
What does “by eye” mean? Half? A quarter? A pinch? How much did you use?
I'm not sure where I used that phrase in this video. At 4:50 I stated that I found 20 to 25% worm castings to be a good ratio.
How do you sterilize your seedling mix soil?
I get the mix pretty moist first and then microwave it for 5 minutes. The steam will sterilize it. But, to be honest, I’ve recently stopped sterilizing it and I’m still getting the same results. I’m still not sure whether it’s necessary to sterilize or not. More research is needed.
is pure vermicast?
It’s a mixture of 3 parts starting mix (coconut coir with perlite) and 1 part worm castings. So about 25% castings.
Overwatering cause the shriveling up? I know peppers like drier soil when young.
Yes, the soil was too wet and that led to damping off. It’s a fungal infection that kills the stem at the soil level.
The white appears to be damping off probably from top watering i find it helps to bottom water i have seen a product called no damp but i haven't used it.
I always water from the bottom. This fungal growth is mostly from using the worm castings, which contain beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Damping off usually kills the plant; the plant rots at the soil level and falls over.
when doing tests bud, always use more than 1 plant per test, per sample. Too many variables to conclude on 1 test plant. use 2 -4 chile peppers for worm castings and same for control. genetics, bad seeds can multiply variations in your results dramatically. Not to mention if you get your watering, lighting, temp, humidity,aeration wrong even just for a few hours...
This was meant to be a casual test, not a controlled experiment. In that case, it was a bad idea to use words like “control” and “experiment.” That being said, I believe I did have more than one test plant either with or without worm castings. I should have been more clear that this was just a casual visual observation and I’m not a scientist.
You should be using worm castings ata ratio of 10% upto a max of 15%
Any more than that your just wasting it unnecessarily
They are dying from to wet, not the castings.
Yes, thank you! The soil mix was too wet and packed too tightly when I planted them.
Yes, I do a half sand mix with compost and I never have root rot problem.
Worm castings will not burn any plant, it is not necessary to use more than 25% of soil mix.
Zzzzzzzzz
Thanks for your feedback!