As an avid gardener, you might be looking for ways to improve the quality of what you grow on your land. Two of the most effective ways to improve soil fertility are compost and worm castings. If you already know these methods, you might be wondering which one is better: traditional compost or worm composting? Which is more efficient, effective, and, most importantly, healthier for your plant growth?
This article will inform you all about compost and vermicompost. Plus, we'll discuss the differences.
Also known as the "vermicast" or "vermicompost," worm castings are the waste from various worms. In layman terms, you can also call them worm poop. Worm casting is produced in a vermicompost bin full of worms and organic matter.
When worms eat organic matter such as vegetable waste or food scraps, they excrete water-soluble waste rich in nutrients. This nutrient-rich waste, known as worm castings, has low levels of contaminants. Worm casting is the best option for small vegetable gardens.
However, not all worm castings are of excellent quality, and the quality will also depend on the organic matter used. Generally, good quality matter will result in better manure. Although it is slightly more expensive than other soil additives, it offers impressive results.
If you want to make your worm cast, you will need a lot of worms. Typically, you can acquire worms from a worm farm. In addition, you will need a lot of organic matter such as vegetable waste, food waste, and other organic wastes. After that, you will need to put those composting worms from the worm farm into the compost bins containing all the organic matter and wait for the process to complete.
Getting worms from worm farms might also be costly. In that case, the best way would be to make your worm farm. You can do this by getting a worm bin, some worms, and worm eggs as well.
Compost piles should consist of pure organic matter. Worms are sensitive organisms, and anything acidic might kill them. Apart from food scraps, vegetable scraps, you can also put tea bags and coffee grounds in your compost pile.
Make sure not to add anything too acidic in your kitchen scrap, as it can lower the quality of your compost. Remember, a pure organic compost pile means higher quality vermicompost, which means your plant growth will be faster and healthier.
The organic matter will pass through the worm's digestive system and form a nutrient-rich water-soluble substance. If provided enough organic waste, the vermicomposting process will produce a reasonable amount of compost. The best part is that the output will be top-quality, and you can use it in your garden soil and flower beds.
Composting is a great way to let nature do all the work. Organic matter is broken down or decomposed into a concentrated substance called humus. You can make compost by loading grass shavings, sticks, flowers, kitchen waste, food waste, and other organic material into a compost pile.
The decaying waste is then eaten by composting worms, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms. The decomposing organic matter begins to break down into compost. What makes compost a better option is that it is affordable and easy to make. All you have to do is put all the organic material in a pile and wait for the decomposition process to complete.
To build your traditional compost pile, you will need organic waste such as vegetable matter, food waste or kitchen waste, grass cuttings, and any other similar organic matter. To speed up decomposition, try adding worms from the worm farm. You can also speed up the process through hot composting; this includes monitoring soil moisture and temperature.
If you compare conventional composting or worm casting and traditional composting, you will see that both are nature's processes. Both require compost piles made from food scraps and other organic matter. Traditional composting piles are slightly less costly as they don't need worms for the process, but they are not as effective as worm compost because traditional composting is not as nutrient-rich as worm castings.
On the other hand, worm compost is a bit expensive. Even if you want to make your worm cast at home, you will need worm bins containing the worm casts and organic matter. You may also need to buy worms to start the process. Either way, it will cost you more money than traditional composting.
That said, worm casting is way more effective than traditional composting. If you want better and faster plant growth, we highly recommend you try the worm casts. Earthworm castings are more effective for soil improvement and much better than a chemical process that includes various chemical fertilizers.
Moreover, you can also create your compost in cold weather. Since worm casting is purely nature's process and more advanced than regular composting, it is your best option for fertilizing your garden soil.
To that end, we hope that now you know the differences between the two composting methods. Both worm casting and traditional composting are great ways to improve your soil, and as you are already aware, they share some similarities and differences.
In short, if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, you should go for traditional compost. If you want a more effective solution at a slightly higher cost, then you should try worm castings.
Lastly, you should also consider your soil structure and choose the type of compost it requires. For instance, we recommend you use vermicompost for small vegetable gardens or flower beds, and for larger areas, you should go with traditional compost.
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.
Take advantage of our special bundle sale on 25lb bags today!
