Worm tea for Orchids

[Nexogen]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

I respectfully disagree on all counts.

TyronSA, the decision is up to you, but I have 30 years experience growing orchids. This is a bad idea.

Use the compost on your vegetables, etc.

I never use "secret" boost

Except Liquid Karma – Botanicare, I never use additives, only fertilizers and Cal-Mag Plus.

[TyronSA]

He did actually say there was a secret formula he adds to the vegteble matter what you unse to feed the worms with. But over all I heard a lot of good stuff about this.. And yes think I will try it on dif orchids in dif health conditions aswell.. But first I need to know how to make the tea.. Do I flush the farm with water or do I leave it moist to drip in a jug..

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by LadySoren

I think they meant use the tea (and if you do ever have compost) on vegetables in your garden if you have one.

That's correct . . . I understood that TyronSA was only planning to use the leachate ("worm tea") on orchids. What I suggested instead was to divert everything (compost, leachate, etc.) to the vegetable garden (flower beds would be fine, too; plants that grow in soil).

Compost is great for some things. But, it is also full of bacteria and fungi that are decomposers (think rot).

Originally Posted by LadySoren

I have only ever seen one article praising worm tea. I haven't researched it further though. I know he says its the "secret" to growing great orchids.
Maybe pick out some of your chids to experiment on and see what happens. That way, if it does have negative effects, you haven't done it to all of them.
I'd experiment for a year at least.

Also, is there any way to contact the author and ask what exactly goes into his worm farm? What if that is a "secret" boost too?

Nothing wrong with an experiment (but I would only do so with plants that you don't mind losing).

TyronSA, if you want to experiment, I suggest that you heat sterilize this material first by boiling it. It should kill most bacteria and fungi (won't kill virus). BTW, in reference to an earlier post, vegetable peels can carry virus. Washing the vegetables will not remove virus.

[svlair]

OK as a retired microbiologist I will climb on my soapbox briefly. Bacteria can be harmful or beneficial. The whole selling point of worm tea is that it is supposedly loaded with beneficial bacteria and their metabolic byproducts that are of benefit to plants.

There is ample evidence that worm tea is helpful for vegetable crops but perhaps not for orchids. The bacteria are of soil origin and that is their natural environment. Orchids are grown without soil and these bacteria probably do not colonize orchid roots or their media.

My experiment was confined to a single orchid and the worm tea proved to be of no benefit whatsoever. Please keep us posted if your results are different.

[TyronSA]

Will post some pictures during the duration of my tests.. Who knows maybe it saves it from death but wont let it grow "out of proportion" maybe it will kill the plant. personally i have a few orchids that i dont mind loosing but there is a few i do mind loosing. Will keep everyone updated on it

Thank you for everyone's input on this.. I'm a bit skeptic about this now but who knows i got the water culture thing down maybe i can get this Worm tea thing down haha.

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Compost is great for some things. But, it is also full of bacteria and fungi that are decomposers (think rot).

That's the point. How do you suppose orchids in the wild get their nutrition? He's proposing mimicking nature instead of using chemicals.

I'm sorry, but as a botanist and professional horticulturist, I also need to get on my soapbox..

In nature, decomposition (rot) is a necessary and beneficial process for nutrient recycling. Through decomposition nutrients tied up in plant and animal tissue are broken down into molecular form as cations and anions that can be absorbed by plants. Observing orchids in the wild, they often have dead leaves and small twigs trapped in them that are decomposing. The nutrients released by this decomposition dissolve in rainwater and are absorbed by the orchids roots and feed the plant.

Where rot is problematic is when the decomposition occurs in a desirable plant. In such cases, the "rot" is the result of other problems such as physical damage to the plant, or water saturation of tissue or growing medium due to over watering which kills plant tissue and allows decomposition of that dead tissue on the desired plant to occur.

All that said, I agree with Svlair that the bacteria and fungi in worm compost and from a worm gut is terrestrial in nature and may not be ideally suited for use on epiphytic plants. However, bacteria and fungi spores are blowing around in the air all the time and theoretically, if conditions are right, the right type of micro organisms should be able to colonize your plants if you put them outside.

As far as using compost and compost tea, compost and compost tea are very low in nutrients like N, P, and K and will often be less than 1 percent of each. Compared to a synthetic (chemical) orchid fertilizer that is around 10-20 percent of each, don't expect any dramatic changes. In fact, growth should be smaller, slower, and plants will probably look yellower.

Finally, keep in mind that if you are using a synthetic fertilizer, the salts in the fertilizer will most likely kill the beneficial organisms you're trying to establish with the tea, so there will be no benefit to using it.

If you want to experiment, I would suggest using plants you don't mind losing as mentioned before, or better still divide an existing plant and continue your existing synthetic fertilizer routine on one, and treat the other with only compost and compost tea, and compare the plants in a year or two.

Cheers.
Jim

[keithrs]

Speaking from experience of using worm casting on my orchids for almost a year. I can't say anything was gained or loss with using worm castings on my orchids. I can say that using trichoderma and bacteria products do help with fighting off 'rot'(especially damping off) if that's what your looking. The theory on using worm casting is to increases the bacteria in soil to help break down organic matter in the soil. It's not meant to be used as a fertilizer! I have found that very low doses of salt fertilizers in combination with flushing works very well and keeps a healthy Eco system in the pots(moss growth being my indicator)

[dounoharm]

I had a cute little girl come to my greenhouse bearing worm tea...she wanted to trade for an orchid, lol...so I did, I always encourage entrepreneurship in kids....I used gallons of the stuff for months on a couple of dens and cats, but did not notice any discernable difference...when she stopped bringing it by I stopped using it....I wouldn't be crazy to use it again, I like the msu and have always had good results from it, so I am unlikely to change....don't mess with success!

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by keithrs

Speaking from experience of using worm casting on my orchids for almost a year. I can't say anything was gained or loss with using worm castings on my orchids. I can say that using trichoderma and bacteria products do help with fighting off 'rot'(especially damping off) if that's what your looking. The theory on using worm casting is to increases the bacteria in soil to help break down organic matter in the soil. It's not meant to be used as a fertilizer! I have found that very low doses of salt fertilizers in combination with flushing works very well and keeps a healthy Eco system in the pots(moss growth being my indicator)

I agree. Moss is a great indicator plant. I transplant moss plugs into all my plants except my Neos grown on sphagnum mounds to use as an indicator. Happy moss, happy plant.



This is Phrag. sedenii in semi-hydro with an almost complete carpet of moss.

Cheers.
Jim

[IncurablePlantHead]

I have used worm tea on my orchids tho not really that often. Mostly because I use it more on other plant projects. I know its there if ever I should need it for the orchids. For me its about sustainability. I have never had it hurt anything I've applied it to. This incluses plants I would consider way more sensitive than the resilient orchid. Its an option, and in my opinion a good one. One day you may find it to be one of the only ones......