Growing in pure worm castings

Anyone tried growing in pure worm castings or a mix with coco? What kind of results have you got? And if you mixed it with coco, what percentage of each?

5 Likes

Yeah, nitrogen toxicity at 25% EWC. You have to tailor the percentage to the strain.
15% is usually safe but depends how fresh it is.

Cheers
G

7 Likes

Iā€™ve tried semi-pure castings(ā€œvermicompostā€) with peat/perlite, with perlite only; results werenā€™t great & on average my best results were with 5-10%.

But more importantly I think is ā€˜not all casts are alikeā€™ā€¦ in otherwords a worm farm using cardboard as an input vs. rotted veggies vs. old supersoil will result in wildly different NPK/etc #s and pH. I found my worm shit to have an 8.4 pH and that was a fā€™n problem. :unamused:

Mixed it with 1/2 native dirt & planted in-ground last year, got amazing results using straight 7.1 tapwater, no feeds or ferts & could go 5+ times as long between waterings.

A lab test would have shown me WTF was in my bugā€™s diet besides BBQ chicken bones & old porno magazines. :thinking:

:evergreen_tree:

6 Likes

Coco drains quickā€¦prolly wash out your castingā€¦top dress could work. Are you looking for 100% Organicsā€¦

4 Likes

Not really, I tried growing in pure coco and did not like it. I also have a shit ton of my own home made worm castings. So instead of buying bags of soil I though, why not try a mix of coco and worm shit? I usually use a mix of coco and worm castings in my garden and it beats every kind of soil that I have used in my garden before

6 Likes

Worm casting can run hotā€¦for a 3 gal potā€¦mix the coco and perilite firstā€¦Than add 1 gal of casting to 2 gal mixā€¦if your mix is to hot a clone will make a claw shape with the leavesā€¦ no way to know until you make the mixā€¦

5 Likes

If you cut the worm castings and coco with your garden soil, in the exact same way you cut your garden soil with worm casting and coco it should work just fine.

2 Likes

You can grow in pure horse manure if it is composted long enough. You will still need amendments though.

My castings are naturally ā€œhotā€. I have to at least cut it by 50% or more for mature clones and I only use like 10-25% in my seed starter. Just get some promix and use that. It makes great seed starter.

3 Likes

Right. :+1: I spent 3 years making yards of vermicompost in the same mindset.

Get it lab tested & youā€™ll be SO much happier. Chasing weird nutrient problems isnā€™t fun(for :sweat: me).

:v:

:evergreen_tree:

1 Like