Worm Juice and homemade fertilers

[SueBee]

Hi All, I have three worm farms and a big 44gal plastic bin that I make liquid fertiliser in from weeds and comfrey - of course I do not know the nutrient levels in these though I read that they are supposedly quite good, but want to know if anyone else uses their own fertiliser concoctions- I also use slow release pellets every three months or so as a backup. I would prefer not to harm my Bonsai and trainers but would like to keep using my own concoctions if they are not harming the plants...they certainly have turned my vegie garden into a productive fertile area. What are your thoughts?

[MJL]

Again SueBee (and anyone else) a big caveat - I am not expert here but I do use worm juice on my garden and diluted on my bonsai...sometimes.

I am a little paranoid about inadvertently killing my bonsai with liquid fertiliser. For example, my Chinese flowering quince seems susceptible to leaf burn if I inadvertantly over fertilise with something like PowerFeed. So... with my worm juice, I often dilute to about 1/20th strength or even weaker. Perhaps that renders it useless, I don't know. Thats said, sometimes I use a much stronger brew on my garden and things seem to flourish. I had a heap of pomegranate and figs this year - but maybe that was simply the fact that those three are getting older - rather than the worm juice.

I was lucky enough to attend a Yarra Valley Bonsai Society evening earlier this week. I say lucky because Micheal Simonetto presented on deciduous and fruiting bonsai. He is a living breathing encyclopaedia of knowledge. A Superstar. One of my takeaways was his deep understanding of fertiliser (indeed, just vernal growing conditions) on differing varieties; an understanding gained through technical knowledge, practical experience and many years of experimentation - like A/B trials - some plants under differing conditions etc...

If Michael sees this thread and is on this forum he may have some views on worm juice. Or not.

[Matt S]

Hey SueBee,

Mike started a good thread on his own fertilizer mix here:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=21156

I've been using it for the last 12 months and it's a winner, other than the rodents really like it too! I know a few people who use worm juice and I've never heard anything negative.

Matt.

[treeman]

I'm a big fan of worm tea but it's good too know a few facts about it.

*The nutrients in it are completely reliant on what the worms are fed.
*It usually has a very good range of trace elements
*It is often low in nitrogen because a lot of the protein is used to make worms
*It's suppressive to many harmful microbes
*It's best to strain it very well so you don't introduce worm eggs into the potting mix
*If the castings have been leached by rain it will be very low in nutrients
*It's important to know the pH before you use it - especially on delicate or sensitive plants

Having said that, I do have a worm ''farm'' going to use on my orchids as a spray. I feed the worms with cow manure, leaves, soy bean, weeds, grass, etc, (never lime!) then I leave it for a full year to mature. The older it is the better. I use it quite diluted mainly for the trace elements and microbes it provides. About a handful of castings strained into 20L of rainwater. For bonsai you could use much higher concentrations. (10 times that)
I don't use it on bonsai because I don't make enough but I would certainly use it if I had big quantities.
Just remember the low N which you may have to supplement or use it as a supplement to your normal feeding routine. You could also use it undiluted form to add to organic cakes.

Here are some orchid seedlings which are sprayed every month with worm tea. As you can see they are thriving. They also get extra N of course, but if these like it anything will - keeping in mind the above points!

P1110581 - Copy.JPG

[SueBee]

Thanks Mike, I do use worm juice and castings on my vegie garden with good results as does my weed 'tea'. I will check the PH...my worms are fed vegie & fruit leavings,coir,horse manure with rice hulls, cardboard and some leaf drops in autumn...oak and acer mainly so they would add acidity. I saw your recipe for the blocks and may give them a go too...I have 5kg of molasses here for the chooks so they can spare some and I will add some worm castings too....might dry them in my dehydrator to get them done quickly. Will ask at the local Ag co for Soya Meal.