OVE Worm Tea Con

[Hummer344]

Every one is on the worm tea band wagon. At the rose garden I volunteer at we have been working with a soil specialist to help us manage our soil and to go organic for the whole garden. I asked him to look into the OVE " Worm Tea" and below is his reponse.

What we're really talking about here is worm bin leachate. I collect and use the leachate from my worm bin but I know a good amount about it because I control my worm bin. (I have a plastic worm bin with a drain spigot. Wooden worm bins do not produce leachate.) My leachate is primarily humic acid which is a good amendment for all soil and would be good for orchids as long as it has not gone anaerobic or does not have excessive amounts of bacteria in it. If worm bin leachate goes anaerobic, the organisms in it will be harmful to any plant. You will usually be able to tell if the leachate has gone anaerobic by the smell. The bacterial content will be dependent significantly on what the worms are fed. Manure and food scraps will tend towards high bacterial levels.

Humic acid is a food to fungi and orchids prefer a fungal root zone environment. So, humic acid is good for orchids, but high bacteria won't be so beneficial. This is the issue in working with living soil amendments. If the question is, "Is this good for my plants?", the answer is, "It depends.". I'm always working on finding the right balance in the amendments I create. (This is why I spend the time rebuilding compost piles instead of just using the compost as it was delivered.) The only way to tell if the bacterial levels in a liquid humic acid is to look at it under a microscope.

I looked at the OVE web site and don't really understand what they're selling. The liquid in the bottles on their web site is pretty clear so there can't be much humic acid in it. Humic acid is rich brown. I also don't understand what they mean by concentrated or why they claim their stuff has 77 elements not found in other worm bin leachate. If I were an orchid person, I'd just get a small worm bin, treat it properly and collect and use the leachate, which is what I do. I also get worm compost every once in a while. There are many beneficial organisms that come out of the back end of a worm. I'm not sure I'd spend $8 a pint plus shipping for something from OVE. I you want to use a worm cast derived fertilizer, you can get TerraCycle locally for less. TerraCycle is not a leachate. They liquefy their vermi compost somehow. Still, long term a worm bin will work out to be less expensive and you get castings. Ultimately, castings will give all the benefits found in the leachate, but also adds organic matter.

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Hummer344

My leachate is primarily humic acid which is a good amendment for all soil and would be good for orchids as long as it has not gone anaerobic or does not have excessive amounts of bacteria in it. If worm bin leachate goes anaerobic, the organisms in it will be harmful to any plant. You will usually be able to tell if the leachate has gone anaerobic by the smell. The bacterial content will be dependent significantly on what the worms are fed. Manure and food scraps will tend towards high bacterial levels.
.

My take on this. From what this person is stating, they are referring to worm bins that
are are in primarily humus and soil. Anaerobic bacteria are more likely to be
present in these conditions because the amount of oxygen is not as plentiful.
Those of us that grow orchids are using a media that is quite porous which
allows sufficent air to circulate through the media, which would inhibit anaerobic bacteria from thriving. Even the obligate (those that can grow
in small amounts of oxygen) anaerobes would be hard pressed to survive
in such conditions. Anerobic bacteria give off a very foul sulpher smelling
odor, which having worked with these unpleasant guys for many years, you
can't miss noticing when they are present.

The worm tea that most of us use that is purchased comes bottled.
Thus as Jerry stated, it is important that the cap remains loose not only
to ensure the survival of the benefical organisms but also to deter any
opportunistic anaerobes from growing as well.

[sandra]

HUH?????????

I lost track at 'worm bin leachate.'

[jerrymeola]

It is always fun to try to compare apples and oranges and think they are the same.

The one thing I agree on is that the correct name is Worm bin leachate. It is just too hard to say.

I do not understand where he said the OVE tea was clear. Mine is an opaque brown extremely dark.

He is comparing a simple leaching from the bed rather than a recycled product to increase concentration. The University of Ohio did a study on single tea extract and got excellent results on food crops.

The micro elements are from a lab analysis so it is accurate. He says you need to analyze it under a microscope and then fails to do it. You will never get the same results from composing with worms since the elements do not exist in the compost. OVE supplements the worm beds with a volcanic rock powder that the worms consume and thereby add the micro-elements to the mix.

He is really wrong when he compares the cost of an 8 ounce concentrate (50-1) with Terrcycle's ready to use product. Multiple TerraCycle's product by 50 and compare the price. He agrees TerraCycle's product is not leachate and then still recommends it as being the same. In fact on TerraCycle's literature their product is just casting mixed in water.

OVE manufactures castings as well as the tea and I distribute both but do not recommend the castings or the liquid made by soaking the castings for orchids. The castings are a pure fertilizer. We are experimenting with mixing it in our bark mix, but do not have any results yet. I am afraid it will not stay in the mix well.

OVE also sells the plastic wormery and include the feed supplement to obtain the extra micro-elements. It is interesting to note that the worms they use are not our common earth worm, although, I think this is more to do with the worm's high reproduction rate rather than the excrement results.

I am a scientist by training and understand microscopic analysis, but the end result is to test the product. There are so many results posted on the forum from users.

Tobi points out that OVE does not grow the worms in a humus bed. In fact every piece of compost that goes into the bin comes out as a casting. I could never understand how they got the casting our of the soil. Carl just laughred at me and said there is no soil. They remove the worms from the castings by going through a tumbler and saving the worms to eat again.

[articuno75]

Thank you for clearing that up Jerry.
I do have to say when I got my Dens I gave OVE wormtea to them to perk them up. After using OVE wormtea just once, on my Den seedlings, they perked right up frome being limp and lifeless. Did I mention they were shipped bareroot in the cold? One use, one time. I'm convinced and have been. Awesome stuff it is

[jerrymeola]

Unlike the original statement there is no organic material to cause the problems he encounters.

I could never understand how they got the casting our of the soil. Carl just laughed at me and said there is no soil. The worms consume everything. OVE removes the worms from the castings by going through a tumbler and saving the worms to eat again.

There is no organic product in OVE products other than castings.

It is used by organic food farms here in Florida and compose is NOT organic. Even having a compose bin on the property will cause a farm to lose its organic status. Cows are fed antibiotics and growth hormones two very non-organic compounds. Once cow manure has pasted through a worm all the pathogens are removed.