April 23, 2008
Worm Castings vs Vermicompost – Whats The Diff?
I tend to use the terms ‘worm castings’ and ‘vermicompost’ interchangeably here on the site, when technically speaking they are not quite the same thing.
Worm castings are literally little worm turds (for lack of a better word – haha) – that is to say, material that has gone in one end of the worm and out the other. If you have 100% pure worm castings (virtually impossible to achieve) you should have a material that looks a lot like coffee grounds.
Vermicompost is really a more accurate term when it comes to the material produced in most worm composting systems. It is basically a mixture of worm castings, partially composted wastes, and any resistant materials that won’t readily break down. Really high quality vermicompost should have a high percentage of worm castings in it, but the chances of having every last bit of material in your system pass through a worm at least once is pretty slim.
I’ve talked previously about the awesome vermicompost produced by Worm Power. Although I referred to it as ‘worm castings’, it isn’t 100% pure castings, but there is definitely a very high percentage. If I remember correctly, they actually let the material pass through the flow-through system twice in order to ensure that it is as close to pure castings as possible!
The problem is that there are no standards in place to dictate what percentage of worm castings has to be present in order for a product to be “100% pure” – nor are there really any ways to accurately measure the castings percentage. It really just comes down to the look and feel of the material, the reputation of the company producing it, and of course its ability to boost plant growth.
Anyway – definitely not trying to split hairs here – just thought some of you might be curious about the technical difference between these two terms!
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[tags]worm castings, worm compost, vermicompost, vermicast, compost, worm composting, vermicomposting, worm power[/tags]
**Want Even More Fun With Worms? Sign Up for the RWC E-mail List Today!**Lethargic Worms & Worm Tea
Here is a two part question from a reader wondering why her worms aren’t doing so well and her ‘worm tea’ output is so low.
I followed your video for setting up a worm bin and letting
it age. I got the worms last week and added them to the system,
supposedly 1000. There always is like 10-20 up around the top. And
some of the worms are lethargic and a bit limp. Because of the
escaping issue, I checked them out, some places they are more lively
and eating the decaying stuff but there are definitely those that
seem like they are hardly living. I think I anticipated they would
be a bit more lively. if healthy. I have a second rubbermaid
underneath the first. But have got no worm tea. I actually added
about 4 cups of water just two days ago and it was all absorbed. I
checked the acidic level and it seemed to be OK. I’m sure a sound
like a paranoid newbie. My husband calls me a worried worm mother.
I’m afraid of killing all my worms. My question is: if there is no
worm tea, does that suggest it is too dry? If some worms seem limp
and lethargic is that just normal? Thanks for your input. JoEl
Hi JoEl,
You didn’t mention how you obtained your worms, but I have a sneaking suspicion you ordered them and had them shipped. If this is indeed the case, your worms are likely suffering from the stress of the ordeal (especially if they were shipped from far away). Perhaps the worm dealer even had them separated and ready for shipment prior to you placing your order (i.e. in preparation for orders coming in), or they use a harvesting method that causes a lot of stress on the worms. It’s hard to say for sure what sort of trauma your worms have been through, but based on your description I think it’s quite likely that this is what has happened.
I’m glad to hear that some of your worms are actively feeding, and seem to be more responsive! The silver lining of this cloud is that even if some of your worms die, those that survive are likely much tougher worms and your future population(s) will therefore likely be healthier as a result.
As for the ‘worm tea’…
You’ll likely notice that I’ve been putting quotes around the term. Technically speaking, the liquid that ends up in the reservoir is not really worm team – a more appropriate term would probably be ‘leachate’. In order to properly make good worm tea you generally need to use high quality finished worm castings (vermicompost). This material will be much more stabilized and will contain all sorts of great beneficial microbes. Leachate on the other hand, while it can certainly contain nutrients, can also potentially contain some phytotoxic (bad for plants) substances produced via anaerobic processes etc. If diluted with water, this liquid can be perfectly fine – especially if your bin is much more mature – but generally it is best to make worm tea once you have some finished compost.
Worms love it wet, so as long as you have good drainage in the bottom of your upper bin it should be fine to add water. The fact that you added 4 cups of water and none drained seems odd though. You might want to make sure your holes are functioning properly, since you definitely won’t want liquid pooling in the bottom of the upper bin. Assuming your drain holes are working fine, your system must have been a tad dry if it was able to absorb 4 cups of water.
One thing to keep in mind with running a lot of water through the bin – you’ll likely end up with a compost that is not as rich in nutrients (since a lot of them will be carried away in the water), but if your main interest is producing leachate for your plants then this may not be a big deal.
Anyway, I hope this helps!
Thanks for the great questions.
B
Fungus Gnat Invasion
Well, it seems the slow population growth of my ‘4 worm experiment‘ bin worms has left the door wide open for other compost organisms. When I opened the bin up last week for a watering I noticed a fair number of small maggots on some of the rotting waste materials. Digging around some more I realized that the entire bin was LOADED with them – they were everywhere! I wasn’t 100% sure what they were, but suspected they were a variety of fungus gnat.
Something that suddenly dawned on me was the fact that house would likely be crawling with adults within a couple of days! Sure enough – when I checked back a day or two later, the bin was absolutely covered with gnats, both outside and in – and there were quite a few buzzing around my basement office (where the bin is kept) as well.
On the bright side, I DID also happen to notice that there were quite a few young worms in the bin, so hopefully within the next couple months I’ll finally have a normal vermicomposting system! I’m really interested to see what sort of vermicompost I can make with it (since it is a stackable bin).
Oh yeah – almost forgot! HAPPY EARTH DAY everybody!
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[tags]worm bin, fungus gnats, red worms, vermicomposting, vermicompost, worm compost[/tags]