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 reduce the life of your flowers and may extend the life.

Anton you are right in that the process comes from Australia. It is fairly odorless composting as long as you do not add meat to the mixture. Meat is a No No for all composting as it also attracts rats and other undesirables.

[mayres]

Jerry - do you recommend using this in "addition to" a regular fertilization program, "in place of part" of a normal fertilization program or a "total replacement" for a typical fertilization program?

[Debra Campbell]

Hi jerry, I think that I would love to try this on my beautiful orchids. I know that they would just love it by the way your talking. Contact me and I'll order some from you. Thanks a bunch AND HAVE A GREAT DAY! Debra

[janet_a]

hmm, there's a place that sells basically "worm tea bags"; i may have to give this a whirl, particularly for my big den which has some weird blotchy thing going on.

[Anton]

Next thing you know, there'll be "iced worm tea".

Originally Posted by janet_a

hmm, there's a place that sells basically "worm tea bags"; i may have to give this a whirl, particularly for my big den which has some weird blotchy thing going on.

[butt0n]

So where can we get worm tea that's not in bulk? I don't have that many plants...hehe.

[justloveorchids]

Worm compost and worm tea DOES NOT SMELL
I have 2 worm bins and the results are great

Its all a matter of correct management

i shall certainly try spraying my orchids with the diluted worm tea

[arleneg]

butt0n,

I buy my worm tea from Our Vital Earth's website. They sell it in smaller amounts. If you do decide to buy from them, I suggest starting with the quart because buying smaller than that, the shipping will cost the same if not more than the product. So start with the quart first. If you can afford it, you could start with a gallon.

[mayres]

Arlene/Button - I'll second the recommendation. I thought I'd give it a whirl and received a quart all the way from Florida to Oregon in three days! I'm anxious to see how well it keeps the mealies away from my plants this summer - these are the only pests I've had to contend with in about three years - and they can be really persistant. Will let everyone know if I concur in 4-5 months that this attribute is all that it is cracked up to be. mike

[jerrymeola]

Mayes
I find that it eliminates mealys in one spraying.

A customer used it on spider mites last week and eliminated them in one night.

To use it as an insecticide mix one ounce concentrate in a quart of water, and spray on with a NEW spray bottle.

You need to use non-chlorinated water (or it kills the microbes) and plastic absorbs chemicals so use a new sprayer. Do not even use the same bottles and sprayers you use for fertilizers. They have chemicals in the mixes that can affect the microbes in the Worm Tea. All Phosphates kill beneficial microbes in your potting mix. Another reason to stay away for the high phosphate mixes called 'bloom boost'.

I am trying to experiment with the use of fertilizer and Worm Tea, but first indications is that it is not necessary.

I have a Lady slipper on my desk that lost its flower 3 weeks ago (hydroponic without drainage - article to follow), and the small pup has grown from 1 to 3 inches in that time and a second pup has appeared. I never had that much growth from a slipper before.

I had said I was going to photograph the same two Loveknot pictured above because the worm tea one had grown a half inch bigger than the other in only 4 weeks of growth. Remarkable grown for a miniature.

My wife watered both with worm tea last week (only second time for the one and first time for the other) and in the week the formerly control plant caught up to the other and its leaves puffed out fuller.

[mayres]

Jerry - the instructions with the worm tea say to leave the cap on the bottle loose so as not to kill the microbes. I'm wondering how loose it has to be? For those of us that may not be big users I was wondering about evaporation. Also, any idea of shelf life for this product? How often do you spray this on your plants? Weekly? Thanks - mike

[jerrymeola]

Shelf life is one year and all you have to do is NOT keep it tight. A half turn is plenty. For shipping and handling we sometimes leave it closed tight for a month so it is not too critical.

[Sharyn]

Jerry: If using just Worm Tea and no other types of fertilizer, will orchids planted in predominately bark mixture receive enough nutrients? I presume that regular fertilizers are stopped while using the tea so as not to kill the micro organisms?

Also, I think you mentioned somewhere that small orchids could be placed in a tray and watered all at the same time and the leftover worm tea poured back into a separate container for future use. Is that correct? I know the worm tea has insecticide properties, but is there a danger of spreading viruses? How long does the mixture in a spray bottle or jug last after it's mixed?

Sorry for all these questions, but last of all: If each watering is done with the worm tea, is it necessary to dilute the mixture even further for weekly or even more frequent watering?

[jerrymeola]

Sharyn

I have not had enough testing to say if Worm Tea is sufficient fertilizer by itself. Renee uses nothing else and has excellent results on her limited selection. Microbes in the mix are capable of binding nitrogen from the air directly into a usable form for the roots. I will be setting up a section to receive nothing but Tea, but it will be the end of the summer before I will be able to make a comment on the results.

Phosphates are the only ingredient that conflicts with the microbes. I so far have watered my plants enough after regular fertilizer to be effectively washed out of the mix before Tea applications. I also doubt that inorganic salts of phosphorus could kill all the microbes and microbes will reproduce.

With 3 hours a day of rain in Florida, I double there is any fertilizer left after two days rain. I have used regular fertilizer as often as 4 times a week during heavy rains with good results.

I am watering mostly by submersing the pot in a bucket of tea and have had no problems with insects from reusing the Tea.

The few tests I have made on insects is that a single spraying of the leaves and roots is a 24 hour kill of scale, spider mites, mealy bugs and aphids. They are the only insects I have seen so far and most of these were not on orchids. I have never had a virus problem and really do not think of it as much as it is discussed on this forum.

There are millions of orchids in Florida wholesalers and I have not even heard of rumors of virus problems.

[Sharyn]

Thanks for your reply Jerry. I think for the time being, I'll just use the worm tea. Please follow up with us as far as the use of fertilizers. I know that you must water frequently in Florida, however, in the Midwest we're still having snow flurries in mid April! Still very cold and damp. Consequently, nothing needs watering very often.

Still two questions: Once the tea is mixed for spray bottle or watering jug, how long will it keep? And also, if only using the tea to water, (no fertilizer) is it necessary to dilute further than the directions call for (that is, if you're watering several times a week)? I guess I still have it in my head, "weakly, weekly." Just need a little clarification.

[justloveorchids]

I have 2 worm bins and made up a bottle of diluted worm tea to spray on the neglected orchids /phals that i was given

I have removed all the dead/ dodgy roots and old compost
cut off the old stem just below fresh gree roots and repotted

I have liberally sprayed them with worm tea

i have to say the results are amazing
in just 2 days a new leaf is appearing on 2 of them
the one whose leaves were totally floppy has perked right up

i think you are all worrying unnesecarily about shelf life etc

I shall now be spraying a couple of sad shrubs in my garden with the stuff and oh ..........i wonder if it would kill Lily Beetle if it would that would be a real bonus because the little red "suckers" could soon devastate my pots of lilies

[butt0n]

Would it be smart to mix the worm tea solution in distilled water? I'm trying to think of bottled water that doesn't have chorine in it...

[Sharyn]

buttOn: If your tap water contains chlorine, like mine does, you can fill up gallon milk jugs or a couple small buckets. Let the water sit uncovered, 24-48hours and all the chlorine will evaporate. I've been doing this for years, including water for the fish tank.

[butt0n]

Originally Posted by Sharyn

buttOn: If your tap water contains chlorine, like mine does, you can fill up gallon milk jugs or a couple small buckets. Let the water sit uncovered, 24-48hours and all the chlorine will evaporate. I've been doing this for years, including water for the fish tank.

Sounds good to me! I'll do that even though I'm not sure mine has chlorine.

[Sharyn]

buttOn: Sometimes I buy bottled water just for the convenience, but I don't want to have to buy it for all my plants and orchids.

Here's an interesting article about bottled water. After reading some of the ingredients in some brands, I think I'll stick to the tap.
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?1125

[janet_a]

another question for jerry and you folks using this stuff regularly: pls keep an eye on your medium and let us know if it's breaking down any faster due to the tea; i could see how the critters in the tea would enjoy "composting" the bark and sphag etc. i wouldn't expect it would have any radical effect, but i'd just be curious to see. TIA.

[jerrymeola]

They definitely like to eat Sphagnum. I though I would get a jump start by putting it in the mix before I started mounting and did it ever stink.

You are right they are alive and do eat. Fortunately fungus and harmful bacteria are a favorite with them.

Interesting the girls that work for me, who use it every day, say that their nails are looking much better. White spots upon the nails just disappear. It is not surprising since OurVitalEarth makes a more purified version for human use (external only). I tried it on my wife's sunburn this weekend.

[janet_a]

Interesting the girls that work for me, who use it every day, say that their nails are looking much better. White spots upon the nails just disappear.

well hey whatever works.

[trybalpnoy]

I'm thinking this worm tea stuff will induce baby orchids to grow faster?

The potting mix i use has fertilizer already in it that says, "feeds plants for three months." Will watering with worm tea conflict with the fertilizer in the mix?

[janet_a]

i thought i read up-thread somewhere that the phosphorus in the fert kills the beneficial organisms in the tea...?

also, just a caution on using potting mix with fert already in it--they put A LOT in it. i've lost amaryllis babies to fertilizer burn using the fortified mixes.

[jerrymeola]

The worm tea is a big plus for baby orchids.

In the wild seeds will not germinate without beneficial microbes to maintain them.

We use sterile agar solutions in the greenhouse, but the microbes do everything for the seeds in nature. It is beneficial to maintain this relationship for baby orchids.

The Worm Tea is sufficient without any additional fertilizer. Phosphorus does kill beneficial microbes. Phosphorus also takes 4 years to break down.

There are a lot of things going on. The microbes break the elements down into a usable form for the roots to absorb. This is their biggest benefit. They can allow the plant to absorb nitrogen directly from the air. In addition to fighting fungus and insects, the microbes build up the immunity of the plant.

Many commercial growers put their seedlings in a high peat mix. This will develop beneficial microbes over time naturally.

The two Loveknot photos in the original post are 2 inch pots, which I consider seedlings. They were under 3 inches high. They each grew a 1/2 inch in height within the first four weeks they were given a single watering with Worm Tea.

[NancyG]

Hi Jerry,

Just started using the worm tea two weeks ago. The roots do seem healthier on all my orchids. Sprayed it on my gardenias which were full of scale and aphids. It seemed to have taken care of that problem.

Keep you posted on other results.

NancyG

[robb]

no "scientific" worthiness to this report, but here it is anyway: i rescued 2 phaelenopsis' from Home Depot yesterday, and picked up the TerraCycle Orchid Mix (and african violet mix) and sprayed all 4 orchids with it (my 2 previous cymbidiums included). the phalenopsis were wilting, and thin leaves. my guess is they were regularly watered in their moss-filled pots, and drained well, but never fertilized. they've been at Home Depot for at least 2 months and survived, which attests to their hardiness! anyway, i sprayed everybody with it, and 24 hours later, the leaves are sticking straight out and looking much glossier! i'll update again if needed.

[janet_a]

ok i rec'd a bottle of germs yesterday. now the one real question is--if i water through the plants in sphag, is it going to be bad? jerry, i think in one of your posts you said your mountings got a little -ahem- malodorous?

i've got a few plants i plan on spraying with it, but if i need to keep it off the sphag i will.

[orchid_girl]

Jerry,will this work on roses and other tropical plants? Also I'm curious will it work on aphids and Japanese beetles? I have a problem with both on my roses. This time of year it is just the aphids but in the spring/early summer it is both.

[jerrymeola]

Robb
Terracycle is made by soaking worm castings in water (manufacture admits using chlorine water claiming he stirs it to remove chlorine).

Worm castings will not contain the live microbes (all companies not just Terracycle) that I find so effective for orchids. It is used extensively for nematode treatment as the casting have many beneficial nematodes (so does the liquid). Mixed 80/20 (manure/castings) with cow manure it makes a great base under new sod in Florida.

[jerrymeola]

Janet
I need to correct what I said about worm tea and sphag. I use it all the time on my mounted orchids and the limited number for plants I have potted in sphag. The original comment was a tongue in cheek insult to myself because I put it in my container of mounting sphag and the CLOSED container developed the offensive oder. It will never be a problem for regular use.

[jerrymeola]

New to Orchids
I use it on my rose aphids and find a total kill over night. It works great. It can even kill Asian scale on Sago Palms. When treating for pests that lay their eggs in the soil be sure to treat the base of the plant as well. Worm tea will kill eggs.

[malkasian942]

Thanks for the information on the worm tea. I think I will try some.
Wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays, Have a great New Year! Mockingbird.

[malkasian942]

JerryMeola,
I would like to order the worm tea through you. I'll start with the 160z size. How do you want to handle the ourchase? Thanks.

[FLBob]

I just received my worm tea from Jerry, I ordered directly from his website OrchidsAmore Home page

[bemarine]

I ordered mine from orchids amore too. Cant wait to recieve it and repot all my orchids!

[pako30]

Hi Jerrymeola,

My name is Pavel and am a worm tea producer from Bulgaria - after finding your forum I could not to resist registering myself and have a chat about the worm tea characteristics and prices.
What we do is worm tea concentrate - we call it Ferbul,it has dilution rate 1:150 so from one liter Ferbul you get 150 Liters of ready to use worm tea solution.Price per Liter of Ferbul concentrate is USD 22.10 so dividing the price by 150 you will get price cost of 0.15 USD per liter of worm tea.

I am currently trying to find distributors for our product in the States and I will be grateful to any advice I can get of how to put Ferbul on the market.

All the best

[solay]

Pako30, you might try private messaging Jerry just in case he misses this post. Good luck in your business endeavors.

[exasperatus2002]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

Robb
Terracycle is made by soaking worm castings in water (manufacture admits using chlorine water claiming he stirs it to remove chlorine).

Worm castings will not contain the live microbes (all companies not just Terracycle) that I find so effective for orchids. It is used extensively for nematode treatment as the casting have many beneficial nematodes (so does the liquid). Mixed 80/20 (manure/castings) with cow manure it makes a great base under new sod in Florida.

stirs to remove the chlorine? For how long. In the aquarium industry its common knowledge that it takes about 24 hrs for the chlorine to evaporate out of water to use for water changes. Aerating (with pump & airstones) it also helps speed it up but stirring it? Never heard of that one.

[tocarmar]

I am finding this very interesting!! I was thinking about using the worm tea awhile ago but I wasn't sure what it would do to orchids. This answers my curiosity, I will have to try some out on my babies. I'll keep you posted as to the results.

Tom

[Witchypoo]

My son has his own worm farm thingy - is the juice the same as the worm tea that you buy in USA? What ratio should it be diluted for orchids? I know he uses it on his other plants and no, I have been there and it doesn't smell. Maybe when I go down there later in the year I might get some to try. I just have a compost bin in the back garden, but no way of catching the juice.
WP