I promised a follow-up on the results of my use of Worm Tea so here it is.
For those who did not read the original posting. Worm Tea is the concentrated extract of worm composting. I never doubted that worm compost would be good for plants, but the results exceeded anything I could have expected.
I started on the internet and found several articles from Ohio State University on the use of Worm Tea made with a single pass of liquid through a worm bed and sprayed on food crops. Their conclusion was that it made a significant difference in the growth of the plant. This was a good start.
I have been using the Worm Tea concentrate diluted 50-1 produced by OurVitalEarth. Some of my results were scientifically done and some just observations.
I started by soaking my Vandas in the diluted solution. These plants had been greatly stressed, having gone two weeks without watering. 12 days later, with only the single watering, the roots looked better than plants being watered every day. The roots did not get the hard white coating normal to Vanda roots. They were watered daily for 8 weeks thereafter and I did not have time to soak again. They seemed to deteriorate a little, with wrinkled leaves and dry looking roots.
I gave two Lc Loveknot plants to Renee Halstead, who is not an orchid grower and owned only one orchid, the Vanda that started all this. Lc Loveknow is a true minature Cattleya that only grows 3 inches high. She took the two plants and to be fair gave the larger one rain water regular and the smaller one Worm Tea. In only 4 weeks the smaller plant exceeded the size of the other. The leaves were darker green and fat. The rain water plant’s leaves were lighter and slightly leathery and bumpy. I hope you can see the difference in the photos. The worm tea is on the right.
Here is Renee and the Vanda that started all this. Renee had never raised orchids and this was the only orchid she owned. It was watered only once a month by soaking in worm Tea. The flower had been on the plant 3 months. Notice the top three leaves on each side. They are all new growth during the year and clearly darker green and better condition than the original plant (grown by a grower who does excellant Vanda).
Worm Tea also is a natural fungicide and insecticide. It is harmless to humans and pets. When sprayed on the leaves and flowers the moisture goes directly into the leaves. Spraying the leaves is an excellent way to fertilize the plants and at the same time build up its natural immunity to fungus and insects. It is being used to kill Asian Scale on Sago Palms here in Florida. Killing Asian scale is like killing rocks, nothing seems to work before. As soon as my Sago’s are infected again (the scale lives in the trunk and roots) I will report on my first hand results.
At the Home and Garden Show in Orlando, my Phiaus flowers were drooping from the heat while transporting them to the show. The manager of OurVitalEarth took a spray bottle and sprayed the flowers. Within two hours the flowers were upright and open fully. It usually takes a day or two to refresh a flower on a live plant by watering the plant,
if it every recovers at all. Worm Tea is being used by florist in the area to extend the life of cut flowers. I am trying to devise a good test to see if it extends the life of an orchid flower on the plant.
I use a spray bottle constantly on my orchids now, both at home and when transporting to shows. I have installed injectors into my green house to spray everything periodically. I am convinced.
A different thread had mentioned that the shipping was too high, when ordering from OurVitalEarth directly. I have worked out a special price from them exclusively for members of this forum. I can ship a 4 oz concentrate (1 gal mixed) for 11.95; 16 oz (4-5 gal) for 16.95; and a 32 oz (8-10 gal) for 26.95. This includes shipping. Anyone interested can contact me directly. The live microbes in the Tea live 9-12 months and the diluted product can be recaptured as it goes through the pots and used again.