Worm Tea

[DebsC]

I wonder if this works something like cow poop tea. Where you put the poop in a bucket of water to soak and then strain through cheese cloth or something of the sort and water with the "tea."

This is an old timey way of fertilizing. I can remember my grandmother taking a large bucket on a sunny day and going to the cow pasture to pick up dried "cakes".

She kept a bucket "brewing" all the time and used it on all her yard plants. She never bought fertilizer in her life but grew the most gorgeous flowers.

Of course, her recipe had no scientific studies or proof.

[Jadeco]

I know this thread is kind of old, and I've been trying to find studies done with worm tea and the lack of such is disappointing! Someone should do something about this =/

Anyhow, this link is enjoyable. How much would someone have to pay you to drink a glass of worm tea?

[Junebug]

I am curious as to why there are so many negative feedbacks to this topic. Long before man's interference plants got along just fine. They do not grow in a sterile environment. Natures fertilizer is made up of excrement, death, and decay.

[Sun rm.N.E.]

I have been here for only a short time and I am impressed with the kindness I feel from most posts.
I am sorry that people were offended and hope that the sweetness of forgiveness will prevail.

It occurred to me that one of the more definitive and inexpensive tests for certain orchid viruses is to try to infect certain indicator plants that very quickly show signs that is thought to be specific to these viruses. One of them is the most prevalent weed all over the planet. I often find them with these symptoms and my worms eat them. So I have real reservations about using worm tea.

[Snowden]

I have been researching worm tea for a short while. I have gone organic in every area of my life except for my orchids, and would do so in a heart beat. The benefits of vermicompost tea has been extensively researched at Ohio State and Cornell universities, among others.

As for viruses and diseases that may be transmitted to the plant through worm tea, the exact opposite has been found to be true, at least for tomato plants. Worm tea actually seems to suppress pathogens.

Here's a link to the Ohio State research papers. As I find more information, I'll post it here.

Ohio State Research

[hollylee]

Well i started using the terracycle mix that I got with my orchids. Mixing fertilizer was slightly intimidating for me. It was ready to go and I will be honest, totally caught my eye at the store.

In any case, it seems to be working well so far, although its only been a few weeks.

Has anyone else used this brand with success long term?

[nynighthawk]

I recently took a course at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and became a "Master Composter" - that is certified to offer workshops and trainings in composting techniques. As part of our course, we learned about vermicomposting - composting in a small (or large) bin with red wiggler worms. I started my first worm bin about three months ago and am just about to harvest the first batch of vermicompost. A by product of the worm bin is often "worm tea", a little extra liquid that drains out of the bin if the mix is a little too wet. I think you can also make worm tea by putting some of the vermicompost in cheesecloth and letting it soak in water - preferrably with some aeration (like from an aquarium aeration bubbler).

The beauty of the worm compost is that it is about twice as nutritious as compost that you'd make in an outside compost bin. It also has additional enzymes, trace minerals and beneficial bacteria, etc. from the worms. It is indeed odorless and simply smells like good fresh earth. The worm tea is also odorless. The compost can be used on houseplants, but it is recommended that it be mixed with regular potting soil, since it's so rich. I think it should be mixed in even smaller concentrations for orchids.

As an experiment, I took a turkeybaster full of the worm tea and added it to about two gallons of water. I'm using it to water and mist my orchids (a few dendrobiums, two phaius, a zygopetalum and a few cymbidiums). I just started doing that a few weeks ago, so I don't have any results to show for it yet. I'm a newbie at growing orchids, so I don't really have a long track record of growing plants that I will be able to compare against this experiment. I'll only know that the plants like the worm tea if they remain healthy. I figure it can't hurt to give them a little extra nutrition with such a broad range of components to it.

If anyone is interested in info on worm composting, I can forward you more info. It's very easy and a great way to "recycle" household veggie waste while creating rich, nutritious potting soil for your houseplants, garden or street trees.

I'd really be interested to know if anyone else has tried using worm tea in the past and what the results were.

Also, if anyone thinks that using the diluted worm tea is a BAD idea, please let me know. As I said, I'm a newbie at this and don't want to overfertilize the plants and cause a problem.

Thanks,

[nynighthawk]

Oh, here's the basic wormbin composting info at the NYC Compost Project. If you navigate around the site, you'll find additional info on various types of composting. There's no specific info about orchids, so I think experimentation is a good thing to try.

I hope this is helpful:

nyc compost project: indoor composting with a worm bin

[Leisurely]

I grow in a greenhouse and I use worm tea just for the heck of it. I don't water plants with it because I have too many. It is used judiciously on certain plants. I make a couple of gallons at a time by soaking one tea bag for 24 hours in a gallon of rain water and spraying the pot surface of exposed roots and the leaves on warm days. I have been doing this for about a year and my plants have made a remarked improvement. It could possibly be attributed to HB101.
I also use 3/4 teaspoon of fertilizer once a week. In addition, I have been using a "miracle" product called HB101 for about a year and a half that I have mentioned on this forum previously but no one responded to it. If there is a "miracle" product, this is one. The results are larger and faster growth, more new leads, less disease and more flowers that last longer.

[nynighthawk]

Thanks for the suggestion of HB101. I never heard of that before. I looked at their website, but they really don't seem to say what's in the product. It would be interesting to know what it is, but maybe it's a "secret".

Glad to know it's working for you, though. Might be worth a try.

This is always, the thing, though... We're all doing our own "seat-of-your-pants" experiments with so many variables and no control group, so it's hard to say what is actually working or not.

I think I'll continue with the diluted worm tea and see what happens. I only have a few orchids, so I figure I'll water (maybe alternate waterings) and mist with it during the active growth season and keep track of the results.

Fingers crossed............

Good growing!