Different kinds of compost will offer certain nutritional benefits to your plants and soil. Since worm castings can provide more nutrients and a score of beneficial microbes to your soil structure, they reign supreme over the traditional compost pile. So the bottom line is, yes, worm castings are better than conventional composting.
Worm poop, since that's what worm castings are, is organic matter that can improve plant growth and garden soil. If you want to promote an excellent fruit yield and flourishing flower beds, then worm castings might be the answer. The humble organic waste produced by worms can have a far more significant impact than traditional composting. In addition, worm casts and castings tea can help ensure you have healthy soil in your garden beds.
Let's take a look at everything you need to know about worm composting, earthworm castings, traditional composting, soil structure, and plant growth. We'll break down the nutrient content of worm castings and how they compare to traditional compost.
To fertilize a barren garden and prepare the soil, gardeners must add the necessary nutrients and soil aeration to ensure soil health. Due to soil degradation and pollution, most garden soil lacks beneficial microbes, and plant roots alone do not offer adequate nutrition for optimal soil conditions. Yet, healthy flower beds start with healthy soil.
Soil additives such as fortified fertilizers and compost derived from conventional composting are beneficial to soil, but nothing works quite as well as worm castings to replenish nutrients. This is because worm castings undergo two separate decomposition processes, once in the earth and then in the worm's gut, which yields a perfect product for soil enrichment.
Traditional composting is made in a compost bin at home or in a factory for commercial use. It assists with soil aeration but does not always offer as much nitrogen, phosphorus, or other plant growth regulators that worm castings can.
Simply put, the nutrient content of worm castings has a more significant impact on the soil than traditional composting.
Worm Castings is the byproduct of composting worms. Worms eat food scraps and other organic wastes in their worm bin, and then they excrete worm castings. As we said, it's literally just worm poop.
This product has undergone a natural decomposition process which releases plant food in a readily available form with more nutrients than regular potting mixes or other organic fertilizers. This wonder product contains natural plant growth hormones and other organic material to help ensure healthy soil and optimum plant health.
The truth is, plants grow better when planted in soil enriched with worm castings. This is because worm castings are super beneficial for soil amendment and can improve the overall moisture-holding capacity of the soil. In addition, the worm castings activate natural plant hormones promoting plant health.
Another benefit of worm castings is that they are much cheaper in the long run. While you may have a higher upfront cost establishing your worm bins than regular compost piles, there is little future effort or expense once your worm farm is ready.
Traditional compost is made by adding carbon materials such as coffee grounds, kitchen waste, some potting mix, shredded paper, chicken manure, and so forth into a compost bin or hole in the ground. The end product results in an organic matter which enriches the soil and assists with soil aeration.
Compost is an excellent product for potted plants and is used in potting mixes and already healthy soil. However, it is much less nutrient-dense than worm products that have undergone the vermicomposting process. Therefore, it might not offer enough nutrition for very severely damaged topsoil.
On the one hand, it is pretty easy to establish a traditional composting bin or even do thermophilic composting. All you need is regular kitchen waste. Additionally, regular compost is affordable off the shelf and, in most cases, is perfectly compatible with healthy soil.
However, it's important to beware that regular compost can introduce harmful plant pathogens and weed seeds. In addition, traditional composting contains fewer nutrients than worm castings. For this reason, it is not always sufficient to restore soil health.
Many people are unaware that worm castings are not the only byproduct of worm farms. Worm eggs are found naturally in worm compost and worm bedding, adding excellent nutrients to the soil. By using worm castings in your soil, you are automatically transferring worm eggs and, thus, eventually, worms. Worms in your soil are a key factor in healthy soil.
Another fantastic worm product is worm compost tea, also known as castings tea. This liquid fertilizer can be used as a highly efficient herbicide. Additionally, it is healthy for the human digestive system, all plants, garden insects, and bugs. It is more advantageous than most other humic acids, which can harm the environment. It makes for a great natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.
You can spray bedding materials with compost tea before planting indoor plants. This will prevent dry root weights and other similar commonplace problems with house plants.
In most instances, a combination of worm castings and traditional compost is the way to go. You can add equivalent quantities of both materials to the topsoil for soil that is already relatively rich. If you want your plants to grow well, you also need to be mindful of the temperature.
In cold weather, vegetable matter needs less Ph than in warmer climates. Therefore, you should add fewer earthworm castings in cold climates. Adding too much enrichment could be detrimental to plant growth.
It is good to undertake potting experiments to establish a well-balanced approach. Over time you can create the perfect potting mix using regular compost piles and earthworm castings from your worm bin.
Gardening might seem like child's play to the uninformed. Seasoned gardeners know that it is a delicate art that requires devotion, patience, and practice. There is no quick and easy, one size fits all approach. Healthy soil and optimal plant health come from a balance between earthworm castings and regular compost.
In general, worm castings offer more benefits to soil than traditional compost piles. Yet, regular compost bins are still an effective way to improve your soil. However, it's important to watch out for weed seeds and other harmful plant pathogens.
Setting up your worm bin and harvesting worm castings to make worm tea can seem a little daunting. It's tempting to use chemical fertilizers or stick with your conventional compost pile. But the benefits of worm composting and the nutrient worm castings offer far outweigh what food scraps and coffee grounds can give your soil.
Do you wish your plants would grow bigger? Was your garden less than it should've been last year?
If you're tired of growing puny vegetables and fruits, it's time for an upgrade...Simple Grow Worm Castings!
What are worm castings? Another term for worm manure. Why would you want to use it in your garden, raised beds, and house plants? Because it makes them grow bigger, faster and healthier...with no chemicals!
How do worm castings do this? It's like giving your plants a powerful multivitamin with everything they need to grow. Trace minerals, nutrients, and most importantly...worm castings are chock full of beneficial microbes. Why does that make a difference?
In recent years, we've learned the importance of gut bacteria for humans and know that it impacts so many different parts of our health. The same thing applies with worms. Gut bacteria from the worm's digestive tract gets into the soil from the worm castings and promotes plant health. Plants have a symbiotic relationship with the microbes from the worm's digestive tract. Plants respond to it and grow really big...really fast!
If you've never tried worm castings before, you owe it to yourself to give them a try. Instead of using traditional chemical fertilizers from the big box store, why not try fresh, certified organic worm castings this year? You'll be able to grow bigger, healthier plants that you actually can feel good about eating.
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