Worm castings are full of beneficial soil microbes that will help your plants grow, and access nutrients. Castings will also contain worm eggs (that will hatch and give you more worms!), and castings are naturally very water absorbant.
Worm Castings are Worm Poop
Worm castings (or vermicompost) are worm excrement. The castings are made up of live biological organisms, including fungi, actinomycetes, beneficial bacteria, pseudomonads, plant growth regulators, yeasts, molds, trace elements and Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (N-P-K).
Then I noticed the sides of the bin, the underside of the lid, and the top of the pile were all covered in tiny, white specks. After some research, I discovered that these are mites. They're mostly harmless, but show up when there's been too much moist food added to the bin at once.
Yep, compost worms lay eggs. If you buy your worms online, you'll probably get a mixture of live mature worms and unhatched eggs. If you've got live worms in the mix, you won't have to worry too much about hatching the eggs yourself, you can just add the whole bunch into the Subpod once it's set up.
Those little moving white balls are almost certainly a species of white mites which are extremely common in worm bins. They tend to thrive in really high moisture conditons, and can often be an indication of overfeeding – or at least adding materials that the worms can't readily consume right away.
Those cocoons are so small, only 3-4 mm long, that they are often hard to see amidst the rest of your worm compost. Luckily, when they are first dropped, they are distinctly yellow. Not bright, but obvious against the dark rich soil of the worm bin. In time, they darken to a rich maroon color and blend right in.
To determine if it's time to harvest the castings, check the bottom of your compost bin. The castings will accumulate at the bottom of the bin, and you might notice a layer of dark, crumbly compost. If the compost has a pleasant earthy smell and is free of worms and undigested organic matter, it's ready to harvest.
When worms die in the bin, their bodies decompose and are recycled by other worms, along with the food scraps. Worm castings are toxic to live worms. After all the food scraps in a bin are recycled, the worms will eat their own castings which will poison them.
Spread a thin (approx 1 inch) layer of castings on the burlap. Wait for at least 20 minutes for the worms to burrow away from the light source, directly into their new home. Worm-free castings can then be removed from the top of the burlap. Repeat this process until all bin contents have been separated.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Worm Castings? The drawbacks of worm castings are that they take several months to produce, are challenging to harvest, and might contain pathogens and weed seeds. The downside of castings you buy is that they are more expensive than regular store-bought compost or homemade vermicompost.
Castings can be harvested anywhere from two and a half months to every six months, depending on how many worms you have and how much food you're giving them.
Worm castings only last for a short time in soil. This is because they break down as they release their nutrients and become incorporated into the ground. Depending on environmental conditions, they can take between 20 to 25 days to break down entirely.
Worm castings can be slightly irritating if they contact the skin, so taking precautions is wise. It's also crucial that children not handle the worm castings. Wash your hands after handling the compost and before eating or touching any other part of your body as well.
However, do not make the mistake of planting only in worm castings. Because they're 100% organic matter it has little structure itself and is best used to better the soil you already have. Planting in only worm castings is not recommended!
A single bag of Worm Castings can cost as much as $30, making them a difficult fertilizer to justify for small vegetable gardens. However, the benefits of Worm Castings may outweigh the cost. In addition to their high nutrient content, Worm Castings also help to aerate the soil and promote healthy drainage.
Worm castings can last up to 6 months – and sometimes longer – depending on the method of storage. Keeping them out of UV light (e.g. the sun and some grow lights) and at a stable temperature helps them last longer.
It's not that worm castings are better than compost, but rather that they play a different role. While both will add organic matter and nutrients to the garden, worm castings have the added benefit of the bacteria and enzymes coming from the digestive tract of the worm.
Worm castings have soil-promoting properties but aren't a complete fertilizer. Furthermore, they don't have all the nutrients plants need without adding fertilizer or other soil amendments to improve it. Therefore, as a replacement for fertilizer, earthworm castings wouldn't work.
It will take your worms 6-8 weeks to produce a noticeable amount of vermicompost. The castings appear as small, dark, clumps that easily break apart. There are several methods for removing the finished compost: Every 3-4 months, stop feeding for a few weeks and rake the compost to one side of the bin.
Worm Castings contain a highly active biological mixture of bacteria, enzymes, remnants of plant matter and animal manure, as well as earthworm cocoons (while damp). The castings are rich in water-soluble plant nutrients, and contain more than 50% more humus than what is normally found in topsoil.
Apparently, by pasteurizing compost or worm castings, you will kill the rogue seeds. Not only that, but you also kill bad organisms while allowing the good to survive!
There are several reasons to put eggshells in your worm bin. Eggshells provide calcium, which reduces acidity in the bin. This prevents high acid conditions that can harm your worms. Also, crushed eggshells provide grit to aid the worms' digestion.
Coffee grounds, as an organic material, can be added to your compost pile. Worms like coffee grounds, so you may want to put a layer of coffee on the bottom of your pile to attract worms.
Threadworm eggs can survive for up to 2 weeks before hatching. If the eggs hatch around the anus, the newborn worms can re-enter the bowel. Eggs that have been swallowed will hatch inside the intestine. After 2 weeks, the worms reach adult size and begin to reproduce, starting the cycle again.