Is worm tea okay on new growth?

[patlee]

I have a Phal with four or five new leaves (Baby leaves).It is recovering from some very bad treatment-- Following the advice of a forum member, I cut off the new-growing flower spike (really hard to do!!), but it needed the energy and in the long run will help the plant to grow stronger. The question is, now that I have three mature leaves(healthy) and all those baby leaves, can I use worm tea on it a couple of times a month? Or is that still too much stimulation? I never have used it before, but picked some up last week as everyone on this forum seems to think highly of it. I thought it gave the plant a kind of gentle push... Am I wrong to use it on new growth? It will enhance root growth, too, won't it? (The baby leaves are only about 1-1/2 inches long.)TIA!

[jbigio]

I use worm tea on all my plants including all my seedlings and it only seems to help. I would use it.
Joe

[Tobi]

I've used it on all my Den. seedlings and they are just doing phenominal.

[jay]

I believe that Jerry uses it on stressed plants. I have as well with great results.

All of my orchids are in S/H culture with worm tea fed 24/7 with great results. I only have one paph that is not responding as well, but that is more to timing of repotting to S/H than being in worm tea.

Jay

[patlee]

Thanks, everyone for your comments. Now, reading some older posts I found mention of something for root growth called Super Thrive...which is better (remember, I don't want spikes right now).

[drecksuck]

Sorry because of my stupid question, but:

Is worm tea made of real, killed WORMS??? uaahh!

[mayres]

NO - even better! It is a concentrated solution from water that has run multiple times across worms and their "beds" - including worm "pooh". GOOD STUFF!

[drecksuck]

do u mean : worm-shi*???

[jay]

yes, and pee too.


We all use worm tea
It comes from the poo and pee
All from worms you see


My worm tea haiku

Jay

[Miki]

I like your poem Jay, it's very artistic!
It is prbably the first "Worm Tea Haiku" ever written!
Congrats!

[WIB]

Somewhere on this site there's a post describing the contents of Super Thrive. Basically it's a mix of B vitamins (which it smells like) and rooting hormone. It's unclear to me whether the B vitamins add anything. So far, I'd say my plants are perking up more clearly under a regimen of worm tea than they ever did with the periodic dousing of Super Thrive, but I don't have controls. -- Bill

[benaged]

I don't completly understand, do you place the pot in the worm tea, and how far, also how long. Thank you. MQ

[Miki]

Hi MQ,
Jay is growing his orchids in semi-hydroponics (s/h), so that means constant feed with the reservoir on the bottom and two holes on the side -do a search on s/h if you are not familiar with this growing method.

If you grow your orchids in other media, you could just use the worm tea like a liquid fertilizer.

Miki

[benaged]

Oh, thank you Miki, I could write an encyclopedia on what I need to learn.MQ

[WIB]

BTW: you can't really do a search on "S/H" because the string is too short. So you'll come up short. Try "semi" or "hydroponic." -- Bill

[Nancy]

I know that worm excrement is fed to hermit crabs. It is otherwise known as 'crabby crack" because they will eat it at the expense of many other foods that are good for them. I was wondering if someone would direct me to where I can order some worm poo. Ifit's good for the crabs, it's got to be good for the orchids. Thanks.

[Sharyn]

Nancy: Many of us use the Our Vital Earth worm tea. I've been using it for almost a year and I'm quite pleased with the results.


Our Vital Earth ~ All-About-Worm-Tea

[brookn]

Jay I had not read this thread in a while, and the haiku just cracked me up. A haiku on worm poo, so funny. My son is going to love it, just the mention of poo makes him giggle. That should be immortalized in the e-book.