dyzzypyxxy said:Yes, we had some bags of worm castings donated for our school garden last fall. I used almost all of them to amend a new bed that we had filled with some decidedly questionable soil, and it helped tremendously. The tomato plants were sort of limping along, until I added the castings, and then they took off and were great.
I'm not sure if you could do completely without fertilizer, using worm castings though. It's hard to know how much, and what nutrients are in them, and how long it will last. I'd put down some pelleted time-release fert as well, (and we did in our tomato bed, too) if you're planting anything that's a heavy feeder.
dyzzypyxxy said:I'm using Dynamite for flowers and vegetables 13 - 13 - 13. The label says it lasts up to 9 months but in Florida with our heat and humidity it's more like 5 or 6 months.
RoseBlush1 said:This is a personal opinion and goes against everything I have read on the net about worm castings.
Please note that I am only addressing worm castings, not worms in the soil.
I don't think worm castings add any benefit to the soil. It is the worms and the organic materials added to the soil to feed the worms that provide the benefit of vermicomposting.
When I started my garden in 2004, my soil was totally dead. It consisted of tightly compressed small rocks with clay and silt between them. I could not dig in the stuff. I used a no-till gardening approach to develop the garden. Since the house pad garden was cut out of a rocky slope and was located about four feet down from what would have been the natural surface of the soil, I was actually gardening in rocky subsoil with no plant organic materials in it. There were no worms and I could not see the strands of white fungi one finds in healthier soils.
However, I did have, and still do have, perfect drainage.
I have come to believe that gardening often consists of compensating for what Nature did not put in the artificial environments we are creating when we develop our gardens.
Over the years of constantly adding new mulch, at least twice a year, which decomposed quite rapidly in the high temps of my summer, the humic acid, which is a by-product of organic material decomposing, has broken down the rocks that were the primary component of my soil. A few years ago, I went to plant some bulbs and found that I could dig in the beds I had been mulching with a trowel. No rocks. I found lots and lots of worms and the missing strands of fungi.
I've compensated for the lack of nitrogen by using chemical fertilizers. I found I could use lower number fertilizers as time went on and the soil became healthier.
At no time did I add worms or worm castings.
When I searched for published research on worm castings, every study I found talked about the addition of worms and materials to feed the worms ... vermicomposting ... as adding great benefit to the soil. None of them addressed only worm castings.
It's possible that worm castings may improve the structure of the soil, but I doubt if they provide any other benefit. This is just from observation in my own garden, so I really don't know if I am correct.
@Rascal. I noticed that you joined ATP just a couple of weeks ago.
You may be interested in visiting the Permaculture Forum ( http://garden.org/forums/view/... ), or The Soil and Copmpost Forum ( http://garden.org/forums /view/compost/ )
I think you will enjoy ATP.
RoseBlush1 said:Rascal ...
My working definition of mulch is any plant organic material you put down to both deter weeds and to maintain moisture in the top of the soil.
I have used shredded leaves, pine needles, straw, partially decayed wood chips and more.
Do take the time to learn about mulch. It's one of the very best ways to improve your soil and to help your garden. As the mulch decomposes, it feeds the soil. Also, keeping the soil moist helps create the environment for worms and other beneficial soil bacteria. It's a win all the way around.
I don't buy mulch because I live in the midst of a forest and can go out and collect my mulch materials.
If you click on the button to the left on the navigation bar ACCESS THE IDEAS POSTING AREA and enter "mulch" in the search field, articles and ideas about mulch submitted by ATP members to the site will come up and provide you with a lot of reading.
Then, if you feel like you have more questions about mulch, just use the ASK A QUESTION forum.
dyzzypyxxy said:Rascal, mulch is really great for gardening in Florida. It not only keeps weeds down, it also cools the soil (shade from the sun), helps prevent your soil being washed away from around your plants by the heavy rains in summer, and as it breaks down it slowly adds organic fibers to the sandy soil. Mulch is a huge plus for your garden, all in all.
As to the worm castings, I think the benefit of having worms in the soil besides the aeration they provide is that they actually digest the organic matter in the soil and add the benefit of their waste products to the castings. It does have some nutrients, but as I said originally, you never know how much, or how long the will take to wash away or be used up. The 40lb. bag of castings I added to our tomato bed last fall really seemed to help a lot. At the very least, it was 40lb. of organic material added to a raised bed, so not spread over a large area, probably was more help.
dyzzypyxxy said:They are all good, but the best mulch you can get if it's available is called Florimulch. It's made from an invasive tree, melaleuca, so does two good things at once, promotes eradication of a bad tree to make really great mulch. It's so good because it does have an aromatic oil in it, tea tree oil, in fact. It's not harmful to plants, but does discourage insect activity - in fact a couple of UF studies showed it was somewhat repellent to subterranean termites. So it's safe to use near your house as well.
dyzzypyxxy said:Several of our local nurseries carry it here, and also one of our Lowe's stores usually has it as well. Might be worthwhile to call around for Florimulch. It really is great stuff.
dyzzypyxxy said:Rascal, I was shopping for something else on Lowe's website and took a look - you can order it online and pick it up at your store, I think:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_293619...
This is a really great price, too because my friendly nursery along the street charges me nearly $3 per bag. Think I'll go get some from Lowe's this week as well!
dyzzypyxxy said:My pleasure, and you're right about the lava rock btw. It's not a good mulch because it heats up, and thus doesn't do the cooling, moisture retention, and natural breakdown that the wood chip mulch does. You'll love working with the Florimulch. It's really great stuff and smells nice too. (I think it does anyway) Spread your mulch fairly thick, because it does settle somewhat, and of course insulates better if it's 2 or 3in. thick as well.