Worm Tea
 

Hi,
I'm wondering if anyone has used worm tea and what you think of it. Is it meant as a supplement or a replacement for more traditional types of fertilization? I was at an orchid show not so long ago where the big buzz-word seemed to be "liquid compost" and worm tea came up a lot. Just curious.

Yeah, it is water passed through worm castings (not dead worms!). There are a lot of extravagant claims made of it in other horticultural areas but I haven't heard much about it's utility for orchids, until recently.

Kinda like fish fertilizer. I personally think it is more hype than science.

An orchid grower in another forum raves about the benefits of worm tea for plant growth. It also acts as an insecticide. I havn't tried it yet. A company called Our Vital Earth of Florida offers it. Here's the site for more info: Our Vital Earth ~ All-About-Worm-Tea

I never used it...
I think the nutrients would have to be furthur broken down by micro-organisms before a plant could take it up through it's roots. Orchid bark doesn't have as many of these micro-organism as soil

That looks interesting... would probably be a good fert for vivaria

I have heard about worm tea. This is an organic fertilizer much like fish emulsion. I've also heard that this formula is proves resistance to pest and fungi:fight that is most common with orchids. It is odorless and many have proven it's ability to produce healthier plants. I personally am not sold on it, but than again if you go back to the habitat of nature and orchids...a'la natural fert :biggrin:

Are you saying that fish fertilizer is hype or just the worm stuff?

Some orchids demand organic stuff in their roots, like many Stanhopeas; they are in fact quasi-saprophytic in nature, and grow better in old and acid medium. I never used fish-emulsion (not available), but 'bokashi', made of powdered fish and other smelly things, works well as a supplement to foliar plant food (Peters etc). I think in Cattleya-alliance this kind of stuff is not recommended, it may causes rapid decline in the medium. If I'll have an opportunity, I'll try worm tea in Stanhopeas and Bifrenarias (odorless is a great advantage!)
Frederico