Should I Use "Worm Tea" This Year?

13 years ago

I'm pretty new to growing things organically, last year I decided to start on my own because my grandfather did it, my dad did it, basically my whole family did it at one point in their life on a farm.

Although they never grew organic. This is something I decided to change because I just prefer not to eat genetically modified foods.

Anyway, moving on to why I was thinking about using Worm Tea. Last year during my trial run I was organically growing mustard. I started very late in August, but towards September my plants suddenly overcame an infestation of caterpillars eating all the leaves. I was really surprised on how much they were eating of it!

I decided to pick them off since I didn't know what to do. I also noticed they were making a "mess" on the leaves. Moving onto the next day... there were more! So I went and bought Safer Brand Insect Killing Soap after doing some research. But that didn't seem to really do anything for that.

So now that leaves me with deciding if I should use Worm Tea. I plan on going big this year since I got some experience last year, I have some help also.

I plan on trying maybe 15-20 things such as corn, tomatoes, pepperoncini, etc...
Currently I have two banana trees growing indoors and mites decided to try to take over, the insect killing soap worked for that. Then about a week later I was tasked with a mold quickly killing the plant and turning the leaves black. I had nothing to stop it so I did a quick mix of apple cider vinegar and water. That seemed to fix it.

So I think I was tested on that. I did okay, I could of been faster at catching it. But now I know.

So now, to prevent this from turning into a long story of my adventures into gardening - do you think I should use Worm Tea? If so, how would I use it on tomatoes, peppers, etc?

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Comment (1)

Kimmsr
13 years ago
That depends on many factors. Organic growing starts with the soil and theat should be a good healthy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants. If you have a good healthy soil worm or compost or manure teas will not do enough for your plants to warrent the time and energy needed to make them. If the worm, compost, or manure tea does make a difference in your plant growth that is telling you that you have a soil nutrient problem that needs to be addressed.
Start with a good reliable soil test so you know what your soils pH is and what, if anything, needs to be done to get it into balance along with the major nutrients. Along with that soil test these simple soil tests might also be of some help,
1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drainsÃ¯Â¿Â½ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
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