Worm Juice (forum)

MaryT starts with ...
My worm farm is now producing lots of worm wee - would you say it's good for everything? Are there any reasons why one should not use it? Can you over dose?

Time: 4th December 2013 9:57am

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About the Author MaryT
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Julie says...
Mary, it's usually diluted with water, not used straight. But the dilution might vary - I've seen worm wee that was a rich, dark brown, and other stuff that was quite light and almost clear.

I guess it depends on what you are feeding the worms. I can't imagine anything it wouldn't benefit, except maybe some native plants.

Time: 4th December 2013 10:11pm

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About the Author Julie
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MaryT says...
Thanks, Julie. I have been using the worm wee with good results but I don't want to over do it. It is quite dark and I do dilute it. I bought a worm farm second hand and I just collected worms from under pots etc. and let them multiply. Works.

Time: 4th December 2013 10:47pm

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About the Author MaryT
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TMary says...
I did not buy one worm for my warm farms but collected them from under my pot plants. They do just fine so may be they are compost warms because everyone's saying earth worms will die in a worm farm. These multiplied.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2

Time: 13th October 2014 2:22pm

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Original Post was last edited: 13th October 2014 2:21pm
About the Author TMary
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Julie ! says...
In your situation Mary, you would be unlikely to find earthworms. They usually live quite deep in the ground, and I don't know that you have that sort of space.

The only time I see them is when I dig deep enough to plant a tree or shrub. If you collected them from under pots, they are compost worms, which is what you want in a worm farm.





Time: 13th October 2014 8:26pm

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About the Author Julie
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TMary says...
Thanks Julie. They must have been in the potting mix/compost/manure/mulch. They're now all over the garden. I see some very big long ones in the ground.

Time: 13th October 2014 9:01pm

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About the Author TMary
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Brain says...
Pic 1 looks like the 'reds' and pic 2 is prob a bluey. There is a 3 rd type called tiger, prob due to the stripes.

Anyway, there are a few sites saying leachate, the liquid collected in the tray is no good, and real worm tea is only made with casting, aerated for like 8 hours.

Personally, i just add some extra water to the farm and dilute the collected worm water that way. And have some great results but i suspect regular feeding is required. As I have found It works as a boost.

I have read a site, where they recommend you repour the leachate collected back into the farm a few times and make it very rich.

Overall, i think worm farms are awesome and would recommend everyone to give it a go. The initial set up - if you buy everything can cost a bit but it would be worth it. Or a diy option can be quiet cheap also.


Time: 13th October 2014 9:11pm

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About the Author Brain
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Brendan says...
Many years ago I bought 'worm farm' worms for my first farm, they were called: Red Wrigglers, Tigers & Night Crawlers.
They would only survive in the farm, not in the garden! Don't know if they're still available?
I think the dilution rate of 'worm tea' was 10 to 1. (10 parts water to 1 part worm tea :-)


Time: 14th October 2014 8:40am

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About the Author Brendan
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MaryT1 says...
Brendan, I also feed the worms to my gold fish so the cycle is complete.

Thanks, Brain for worm info. Our local council sells them for $30 each but broccoli boxes would be free. I also water the farm and collect the liquid that way; my plants respond well to it. That and gold fish pond water together are all I am using this season to see if they're enough. So far so good.



Time: 14th October 2014 8:59am

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About the Author MaryT1
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Julie ! says...
Mary, that's very like an aquaponic system in miniature, and they can cost $100s.

Well done!

Time: 14th October 2014 10:24am

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MaryT1 says...
Thanks, Julie. Yes, my system is miniature and also manual. My pond has no filter or pump so no electricity either.

Time: 14th October 2014 10:39am

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MaryT1 says...
Brain, after reading your comment re leachate I read the articles online and think there is a fair bit of hysteria about it and I'm glad I never read it before I started worm farming. Fact is, when diluted with water and/or mixed with pond water I have never had a problem with killing plants/yellowing leaves. So far so good.

Time: 15th October 2014 8:26am

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Brain says...
I read up on worm farming as i am new to it and want to ensure success. I think it comes down to leachate being somewhat anaerobic and it is unprocessed by the worms. I have not come across any scientic published stuff to say leachate is bad, but have work arounds.

A working wormfarm should produce very little leachate, so dont overfeed and if there is leachate, repour over the worm farm and let the worms have a drink, lol. Or use in non-editables.

After all composting produce leachate and humus without the worms and that seems to work fine.

I too do what you do mary, except with rain water tank water and can report, my plants are doing well.

Like all things, take precautions, wash your veggies etc throughly and dont feed for say at least a week before consumption. No different to say other types of fertiliser really.





Time: 15th October 2014 2:01pm

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About the Author Brain
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Waterfall says...
The instructions in my worm farm recommend putting 5L of water through it once a week, this gives me a dilute worm wee which has no smell and goes straight on all my fruit trees.

Time: 15th October 2014 2:35pm

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About the Author Waterfall
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Julie ! says...
My local community garden uses a mix of worm juice and Seasol every two weeks, and the plants leap out of the ground! I've never seen veggies grow so fast.

There are plenty of people selling worm juice at inflated prices - never heard of any problems.

Time: 15th October 2014 8:48pm

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About the Author Julie
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Brain says...
funny that my instruction say the same thing, add 5L of water (lol) ... whilst it is good to get worm tea that way, I found it does compress the vemicast a bit and may leave a gap between trays, making the worms less mobile between trays. So I probably only do once a fortnight and only say 500ml to 1L of water at most. Just to keep the farm a bit wet.

I don't have enough worm juice/pee/tea to go around my plants, otherwise I'd be a very rich man ... but I'm increasing my production with a 2nd and bigger farm. now if only the worms would eat faster and breed faster ...





Time: 15th October 2014 10:56pm

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Waterfall says...
Yes I had to lay off the water for a while too during winter as it got too wet and the vinegar flies moved in. Let it dry out a bit and a few hand fulls of lime and the flies are gone now.

Time: 16th October 2014 9:30am

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About the Author Waterfall
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MaryT1 says...
I have not heard of the 5L flush before; it does sound excessive. I have more than enough to do the whole garden though not all at once. Good thing about having a small garden :)

Time: 16th October 2014 10:09am

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About the Author MaryT1
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Brain says...
Mary, if you are keen, you can prob download a manual to your worm farm. Mine was a pretty good read.

Time: 16th October 2014 10:39pm

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About the Author Brain
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MaryT1 says...
Thanks, Brain but maybe it's too late. However if all else fails, I will consult a manual. :)

I have three worm farms; a second hand can o worms and two council ones.

Time: 17th October 2014 8:54am

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About the Author MaryT1
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Brain says...
No wonder you have sufficient worm stuff. 3 farms, thats impressive. And all without an outright worms purchase.

I have a worm cafe and just started on a wormsdownunder wh1.

Here is a link to the tumbleweed worm farm manual, covers can o worms and worm cafe.

http://www.vermicrobe.com/upload/Tumbleweed_WormFarm_Instruction_Manual.pdf

But judging by your successful program, i wouldnt say you need be worried, lol.




Time: 17th October 2014 9:56pm

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