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I'm curious about anyone's comments on the use of worm castings in AG culture. I have been using them for a few years in my landscape business in many ways. A friend here is a commercial greenhouse grower (annuals) and has been incorporating 10% castings to his starter mix for years, swears it cuts his fungus problems to next to nothing with the added bonus of "gentle" fertilization.
My results in planters and beds have been great. I have a source of supply for a quanity of the stuff and will try it in a few weeks in my planting pits and on the surface of the patches.

3/7/2006 6:43:28 AM

Buffalo, MN ([email protected])

Dan let me be one of the first to welcome you to this site.
Keep the questions and answers coming and have a good year.
Bill

3/7/2006 10:05:26 AM

Western NY

I used them on a limited basis last year and had good results. I'll be using more this year.

3/7/2006 11:38:23 AM

Thanks Bill you have been a great help already. I will be picking your brain from time to time. For those that know him I'm sure you'll agree BillF is an asset to the "sport" and this site in general. He has been very gracious offering this newbie some seeds and answering questions for me.

3/7/2006 1:12:22 PM

Coventry R.I.

HI DAN, I WOULD LIKE TO NO WHERE I COULD GET SOME I LIVE IN THE U.S. FROM R.I. OR CAN ANYONE ELSE ELSE HELP ME OUT . E/MAIL ME AT [email protected]

3/7/2006 2:49:22 PM

This is the supplier I use:
http://kandmfarms.com/
At the risk of getting some peoples ire up,,,he sells on ebay and shipping is nominal. Or contact him direct from his site.
If you run a google I'm sure there are many suppliers nationwide.

3/7/2006 4:10:29 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Where in NE Wisconsin are you located at Dan?

3/7/2006 4:31:15 PM

Colo.Spgs.CO. Pikes Peak Chapter @ [email protected]

If you have healthy soil with the correct amount of orcanic matter, WELL YOU BUILT IT And The WORMS WILL COME along with their poop, so as long as you retain healthy soil and correct OM% without pesticides and chemicals high in salts that destroy worms...Happy growing

3/8/2006 3:32:21 AM

Burt NY

try www.gardensalive.com

3/8/2006 4:17:14 PM

[email protected]

I was at a HUGE Green Industry conference in Providence, RI today. The 2 guys across the aisle from me were selling worm castings. They only sell one size which is a 1 Yard box for $275.00 each FOB. The box is wood nailed to a pallet.

The man who set up & now runs the operation had videos of how he built & runs the place. The only reason they started vermicomposting was to get rid of surplus manure & corn silage from their otherwise very succesfull dairy operation. Very cool idea.

They also indicated that a semi-local giant pumpkin grower tried a box last year. After some probing I figured out who it was. LOL

Oddly enough the salesman grew up in Collins, NY & went to school with Ray Waterman's kids.

Small world.

3/8/2006 5:04:33 PM

Any idea how that "semi-local" liked the results?

I agree with the posts regarding organic matter and the worms will come, in my area it's hard to maintain large holdover worm populations due to our severe winters and frost depths. Also the short period of time that the soil is actually warm enough for worms to repopulate.

The guy that holds the copywrites to most of the "worm growing" books and manuals lives locally, we've discussed this many times throughout the years.

3/9/2006 6:35:13 AM

Norton, MA

Should've come and got me out of school Tremor (I go in Providence). Would have gotten out of school to talk pumpkins, sounds good to me. LOL! AleX Noel.

3/9/2006 8:27:59 PM

SW Mo

I did a tomato trial this winter with worm castings and above 20% provided no additional significant growth. This was done with three different tomato varieties. I am next going to compare huamtes to worm castings. Whatever is in the castings isn not traditional NPK,or at least not testable by traditional NPK testing methods. The results were pretty amazing with plants growing 3-4 times larger.
steve

3/12/2006 10:09:39 PM