Worm tea in a bottle?

[boxerfan]

I was at Home Depot yesterday and saw a bottle labelled "worm poop". They had a variety for fertilizing vegetables and lawns. Has anyone seen these products and does anyone know if they might be safe for orchids? TIA. Lisa

[flowerchild]

Originally Posted by boxerfan

I was at Home Depot yesterday and saw a bottle labelled "worm poop". They had a variety for fertilizing vegetables and lawns. Has anyone seen these products and does anyone know if they might be safe for orchids? TIA. Lisa

Home Depot also sells one specifically for orchids as well is is made by the terracylce company that recycles pop bottles. I bought one there but it only lasted about a week and a half spraying 19 orchids, so it was going to be a little on the pricey side. I looked for other types of worm poop maybe not quite as expensive and came up with worm castings to make my own worm tea. A 4lb. bag cost me 7$ cdn. and will probabley last a couple of months. I found it at a hydroponic supply store.

[chefatplay]

I saw that, too. I figured it was worm tea, but other companies can't use the name. I got my worm tea from Jerrymeola and here are his prices. His worm tea is Vital Earth brand. I just felt more comfortable getting it from someone who has used the brand and is a "family member".

I haven't compared the prices yet. I going to be ordering more tea soon, though. With my Vanda accquisition, I need more.

prices including shipping are
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.

[Sharyn]

I'm not familiar with the Home Depot worm mixture. Making your own tea with worm castings is probably fine. Never made worm tea as I have no room for this type of project, however, I use the Our Vital Earth worm tea which has the trace elements added to the concentrate.

I've been using this worm tea for several months with good results. The mix is concentrated to be diluted 50-1. That's only about 1/3 cup mixed with a gallon of water, or 1 oz for a quart sprayer for misting.

I mist a few times a week and recycle the tea after watering - that is, I set the plants in a container, water thoroughly, and pour the run-off back into a gallon size milk jug to be used next time. Recycling the tea until it's time to mix up a new gallon makes it much more economical. There were a few questions regarding the transmission of viruses by this practice, however, Jerry has been doing this for quite awhile with no problems, and my results have been postive.

I have about 30 orchids, a dozen of them being small, and I've used less than half the quart bottle of concentrate, so this seems like a more economical buy than that of Home Depot. Admittedly, my climate is cooler and watering this past spring has been less frequent than those of you living in warm areas. Obviously, if you're watering 3-4 times a week, you'll be using more tea.

Worm Tea testing – follow-up - WOW

[E-Jag]

Bear in mind that you needn't use the tea every time you water. That could get a little pricey. I use Our Vital Earth, which I purchased from Jerry, exactly as Sharyn does but I use it only once every couple of weeks or so. Jerry has indicated that using it even once every 3 or 4 weeks will make a significant difference.

_____________
E-Jag

[PhalPal]

Boxerfan - I bought the Terracycle for orchids at Home Depot a few months back, and like stated above it went very quickly. I only have 15 orchids so I used it as a foliar spray on some stressed plants and it worked fine. (at least it did not hurt anything) I paid $5 for 16 ounces (not concentrate) which gets pricey so I have switched to Jerry's Our Vital Earth. Shipping is a drag but it does last a long time and well worth it for the results I have been getting. SOON I am going to start a new thread about my 'Orchid Intensive Care Unit' that involved foliar sprays of worm tea on a Phal with NO roots left, soggy leaves, and virtually no hope. The plant is now out of OICU and in my dining room growing a new leaf after only 6 weeks of special care. Just gotta get that camera out and get with it....
I will also say that living in a very agricultural area I thought I could easily find worm tea locally, but could not. I could only find the HD spray. Finally bit the bullet and ordered from Jerry!

[justloveorchids]

Set up your own wormerie and you will have all the worm tea and castings you ever need for free and it will deal with all the kitchen waste you can produce too

[prisana]

I just bought this " worm poop " today from HD, I'll give it a try on my less thriving orchids . If I like the difference it makes on my plants , I'll buy me some of Jerry's tea or will even consider getting me a starter kit. Anybody know if you need to wet the plants first before you spray it like reg. fertilizer ? It doesn't say on the bottle...Thanks..

[Sharyn]

Ejag: Thanks for clarifying my post. I don't use the worm tea every time I water either. A couple times a month.

prisana: I use the Vital Earth so I don't wet my plants first. Outside plants get sprayed early and in a shady area. With the Vital Earth, don't use chlorinated water. I presume the same would apply to the Home Depot stuff so as not to kill the micro organisms. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[prisana]

Thanks Sharyn..I'll not wet the plants first.

[Sharyn]

prisana: I should have been a little more specific in my post above. If it's time to water my plants, it is done early in the day and I do not pre-wet the media first before watering with the worm tea. Usually when I'm done watering, I give the leaves a mist with a plant sprayer.

If it's not time to water and I just want to mist the leaves, which I do a few times a week, again, I only use the worm tea mist, no pre-watering.

[PhalPal]

I mist all over the plant also, especially the undersides of leaves with the worm tea. If it is not dry within a few hours I will use a q-tip to soak up any water near the crown.
Sharyn - I tried your arrangement of getting a big bucket and filling it up with hose water and letting it sit outside for a few days so the chlorine evaporates. It is a pretty good system but my dogs take a sip out of it once in a while!

[prisana]

Originally Posted by Sharyn

prisana: I should have been a little more specific in my post above. If it's time to water my plants, it is done early in the day and I do not pre-wet the media first before watering with the worm tea. Usually when I'm done watering, I give the leaves a mist with a plant sprayer.

If it's not time to water and I just want to mist the leaves, which I do a few times a week, again, I only use the worm tea mist, no pre-watering.

Sharyn, actually that's exactly what I thought you meant....in between watering. One question, it doesn't pertain to me now, but if I were to use the concentrated formula that needed dilution, why not chlorinated water ? Chemical reaction with the ammonia found in urine ?

[Sharyn]

Originally Posted by prisana

Sharyn, why not chlorinated water ? Chemical reaction with the ammonia found in urine ?

According to Jerry, chlorinated water will kill the live beneficial micro-organisms in the worm tea. I'm only familiar with the Vital Earth worm tea. I don't know anything about the pre-mixed stuff from the big box stores. Since I have municipal Lake Michigan water, it needs to sit out for a day or two to allow the chlorine to evaporate. While it's sitting there, my dog likes to sip it too. Oh, well, no harm done. He thinks I set the pails out for him!

[prisana]

Got it, thanks Sharyn..that is good to know. Sorry I didn't see your post until now that we got back the most recent threads --thanks again.

[robb]

i purchased some of the TerraCycle Orchid mix from Home Depot ($6.95 for a 16oz bottle, if i recall correctly) here locally. i used 2 bottles of it in about a month on my 7 orchids, alternately spraying with straight water. it made an incredible difference to them (these are all $5-$10 discounted orchids which were in sorry shape) and are actually growing new roots and leaves in the time since! the price is a factor indeed, so i'll be looking around locally for some castings bags to make my own mix from, but i'm definitely a believer.