Worm Tea testing – follow-up - WOW

[jerrymeola]

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.

[fred]

that is very interesting jerry.
thank you very much for posting the information.
this will be very useful

[janet_a]

what does this stuff smell like (if anything)? i'm growing indoors.... the thought of spraying worm poop around the house is somewhat... offputting.

[arleneg]

Janet,

It doesn't smell at all. To try it out, I ordered a quart of concentrated worm tea from OurVitalEarth a month ago or so and have used it on several of my orchids and White Ginger. So far so good. Last week, I ordered a gallon more.

[butt0n]

So use worm tea to spray on the leaves and use it to water for orchids? Do you know if this would work for bonsai trees as well? I picked up a few trees and am curious since I have a cherry tree with unwanted spider mite visitors.

[jerrymeola]

The Worm tea is odorless. So is the castings. They also have a manure casting mix for outdoor plants which has an odor from the manure when it is first mixed by them. (There are disadvantages of visiting the facility)

I will take another picture of the two LoveKnots next time I am home. Last weekend (only three weeks since the photo) the worm tea plant was a full 1/2 taller than the one with rain water (and we took pity on it and watered both with worm tea this time).

[jerrymeola]

bittOn

It is excellent for all plants. I think it would be exceptional for bonsai since the nutrients can be absorbed through the leaves and it will build the natural immunity of the plant.

[jerrymeola]

I had some very good feedback on the insecticide quality of Worm Tea.

I did a lecture at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens during their plant sale last week and one of the customers who bought Worm Tea told me it completely eliminated spider mites in one day with a single spraying. She also had noticeable improvement in her Vanda, as I had also seen.

I have used it on mealy bugs with a single spraying eliminated the problem.

[NancyG]

Hi Jerry,

Will you be coming to the Fairchild Garden orchid show this weekend?

Do you know if OurVitalEarth will be there?

You can soak multiple orchids in the worm tea without spreading any diseases?

Sounds like something I would like to try.

Thanks,
NancyG

[butt0n]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

I had some very good feedback on the insecticide quality of Worm Tea.

I did a lecture at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens during their plant sale last week and one of the customers who bought Worm Tea told me it completely eliminated spider mites in one day with a single spraying. She also had noticeable improvement in her Vanda, as I had also seen.

I have used it on mealy bugs with a single spraying eliminated the problem.

I'm glad I asked...I've been having a spider mite problem with my bonsai recently, and I used a water based insecticide which burned a few of my blooms and buds on my cherry tree. I'm not going to use that for stuff in bloom anymore...The worm tea wouldn't harm buds and flowers would it?

[Anton]

For the adventurous, here are some fact sheets on one of our Local council's Web site about worm farming.
http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/compo...TeaTreeGullySA

I am going to have a go at making one myself. Why pay someone else ?

[prisana]

Originally Posted by Anton

For the adventurous, here are some fact sheets on one of our Local council's Web site about worm farming.
http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/compo...TeaTreeGullySA

I am going to have a go at making one myself. Why pay someone else ?

Anton, I saw the kit you can buy to start your own I's like to start one , but afraid I'd be fined for the smell...Looks like it could be smelly . Hey, I lke your bunny ears..very seasonal...Happy Easter !!

[Anton]

I don't think the smell would be too great, just tell the authorities you are being GREEN and looking after the enviroment with your veggy scrap recycling.

If you search under "worm farms" in Google Australia, you will see how many Australian city councils are promoting it, even to the extent of providing the bins for a nominal fee. Less stuff going to land fill.

Just show them how Australia is leading the way and they should follow suit.

Happy Easter to you and all of the Family of Forumites.

My monkey likes the festive seasons.

For Xmas, he had a Father Xmas hat on and for New Years, he wore a party hat. It is actually my alter ego.

You NEVER know what he's going to get up to next.

P.S. Thort I would give him a more contrasting background than that brown.

[kmarch]

I think maybe the smell would not be too much of a problem if covered. We have 3 fairly large, covered, compost bins for our block. The bins are within sight of our patio, only a stone's throw away from our place. We put all of our....extraneous food matter.... in there and it's full of worms. I rarely detect a smell coming from it, only if we have a long run of extrordinary hot days. It's a bit...ummm...potent when i take the cover off to put stuff in. It is heavily shaded however under a tree...maybe if it were in full sun it might be smellier (is that a word?).

-K

[prisana]

You know when your garbage bag leaks in to the garbage can , can't you use that water ? If you let it sit long enough , you'll even get free maggots ..Ok that's way too disgusting..

[Anton]

But It Is Not Worm Poo!!!!!!

[jerrymeola]

NancyG

Both OurVital Earth and myself will be at Spring Fever in the Garden in Winter Park Florida this weekend.

ButtOn
I am spraying the Worm Tea directly onto my flowers. They refresh the flowers damaged by heat. I know of several florist that are using it on cut flowers to extend their life. I am doing a number of experiments to see if watering and spraying with Worm Tea extends the life of an Orchid flower on a live plant. It certainly should not re