I don't use worm tea and would never pay money for it. Sorry.

wormainea wrote:
"Recently, however, it seems that people are more interested in a gallon or a "tea" bag of worm compost (actually about 4 ounces of dried worm compost) that they can brew on their own".
If you have people interested and asking for it then I say give it a try. When pricing something for the first time I usually tell people it is an introductory price. Then when you see the time and cost involved you can change the price, if necessary.

"Introductory price"... I like that it suggests that it could changeand also highlights the fact that this is a new product.

Thanks!

Mark

I've seen a similar tea bag with to make compost tea. The link below is the item I am talking about

Here is a link that might be useful: Barnyard tea

for a gallon of decent worm tea i think i'd pay 5 bucks...not sure if that works out for your business but im just tellin ya what i'd pay..

What does it cost you to make it and how much do you wish to make for it? Over time, you hope to make more money by producing it at a lower per unit cost, increasing price or increasing demand.

Sorry to be such an accountant but there is no correct answer. Trial and error is the best method.

Let us know how it goes.

Yes, from economics 101. What will the market bear? I'm finding that worm castings in a tea bag (sized to produce between 1-2 gallons of finished tea) sell easily for $2 each. If I harvest castings and batch process 50 at a time, it is worthwhile (whole thing takes about 2 hours: harvesting, bagging, stapling, tagging, etc.). I prefer to sell bagged worm castings, but it seems to me that people are excited about making their own worm tea-- although I still prefer the brewed/fermented tea myself.

here's a link to the terracycle that is gardening-related

Here is a link that might be useful: the

Interestng concept worm-tea-bags. Sounds like an untapped market to me and that means $$$$$. There are plenty of people out there who will lay out cash in large sums for convenience while still having the peace of mind of knowing that they are not harming the environment.

Those tea bags may be 5 cents at the retail level, but you could get them much cheaper from a wholesale supplier. If you can find a cheap organic substance to fasten the bags closed and make them fully recycleable (without staples) you've got a real winner.

Cheryl

Hey, guys, I really don't know why anybody would buy (or sell) worm tea at all. Just tell folks the simplest, no-mistake way to make it while recycling your household organic waste at the same time...here's how:

OK, this post is a bit long, but you will be glad you took the time to read it.
About 99% of advice and videos I�ve seen on how to make Worm Tea involve soaking the castings for 24-48 hours in a 5 gal or larger container with air bubblers going for aeration. I really don�t see the need to harvest worm castings or "brew" worm tea from castings at all. To me it seems like unnecessary waiting, unnecessary energy spent and actually less efficient use of the worm "offal". In the following, I detail a much simpler method which I think is more efficient in every aspect, and I would like to know what you and your audience think. Using this method, my garden has grown quickly without the use of any other fertilizer and severe infestations with aphids and white flies have disappeared. I also would like to know what you recommend as a mineral, etc. supplement to worm tea, or is it a complete fertilizer in itself.
I built a worm bin in a 25 gal Rubbermaid Tote, I originally drilled 5/16″ holes only in the sides and ends for aeration, but NOT the top and bottom. However, I developed a problem with gnats or fruit flies coming in through the holes. So I redesigned it and I installed 4 x 4″ plastic dryer vent covers, 2 in the ends near the top and 2 in the sides near the bottom, covering them with a piece of nylon from old ladies hosiery. This solved the problem I had with gnats Then I installed a PVC drain valve in one end near the base of the unit. Next I put a bag of gravel over the drain valve intake, filled with bedding, kitchen waste and worms and wait 2 or 3 days for the worms to do their thing. I pour a 2 gallon watering can of water over the worm bin contents 2 or 3 times daily and put the can under the spigot and turn on to allow it to drain into the can. PRESTO, worm tea and it works very well. This Worm Tea (or Leachate, call it what you will) is simply the dilute and FRESH version of Worm Castings and can be poured directly over the leaves of your plants and/or onto the soil of your garden.
This method avoids the 3 to 6 month waiting period during which time your worm bin matures after which the castings can be harvested. This way your worm tea can be harvested almost immediately and several times per day providing up to 6 gallons per day of effective, perfectly diluted worm tea for your garden. Using this large volume of water and not allowing it to sit in the worm bin avoids the problems I have seen others have of making the worms uncomfortable, etc. My worms have yet to "run" and are never to be found crawling on the sides or lid of the worm bin, and just appear to be very content to take their daily "worm shower".
It appears that what is happening is that the water is partially dissolving the worm castings and cleaning out what other worm wastes are present (pee, poo, sweat, slime, etc.) and keeping your worm bin clean and attractive to the worms. In other words, they don�t have to crawl around in their own waste products for several weeks or months. Since their home stays nice and clean with plent of aeration and food, they have no reason to leave. It just works, plain and simple, with the absolute simplest and cheapest design, least amount of labor and attentiveness and greatest productivity of any system I have heard of. Try it, you�ll see.
Michael

So leachate is really different than brewing oxygenated tea. Not saying its bad for you, but there are some doors you do not want to go through with leachate. Phytotoxins and all. It depends on how lucky you are really, as to what goes into your bin. The idea of brewing the tea is to control anerobic bacteria, infusing oxygen to do so while feeding carbon sources like corn syrup or unsulphered molasses to bloom the bugs into a dispersable biologically dense spray. Then the plants will continue to feed sugars from their roots, maintaining this microherd as they need to call for biochemistry resulting from the activity of the biolife in the tea. Compost sources such as the built up castings should then be placed around the plants for longer term nutrient supply both for the plant and the microherd.

Even though I have made and used worm tea from my own castings Ive not seen proof that it actually makes a difference. It might be interesting to see a side by side test trial of use with and without worm tea,, what would be the difference if any? At first guess if added to inground plants if your soil is fertile I doubt there would any. The way might be on cuttings or tender new plants.

Since any worm farmer knows that fresh made worm tea is only good for the first 4 hrs and many people otherwise are also aware of the fact. Then again there are those people who dont know and maybe dont care or believe it will buy it. Good luck.

I would be interested to see it soaked into fine ground charcoal and sprayed on my ultisol clay lawn.

Mikey10 worm tea and leachate are very very different. Leachate is anerobic first of all. You have gnats because your saturating your peat and castings and any food in there daily. If properly assembled, there should be zero bad smell, gnats, and will supply the leachate naturally without dousing with water. And if using chlorinated water from the sink, your killing all the beneficial microbes your after. Worms dont like baths. Good luck and research

People are advised to throw out leachate. I wouldn't use it for edible plants either but for ornamental plants, it worked wonders. I have never used it on my potted plants but the ones in the garden. Several plants that were planted in unfavourable spots and have never bloomed and poorly looking are now lokking very healthy and have flowers. I didn't even diluted it. Just threw/empty the can over the balcony where the plants are. I guess that counts as foilage spray too.