I have a 4 gallon batch of worm tea that is being aerated 24/7. It has been going for 3 months. I add molasses every 5 days. It has lots of suspended bacteria and growth on the side of the bucket. Every day I remove about 2 gallons and use it in the garden, unless it raining. I refill the worm tea container with fresh rain water. I noticed that if I don’t add the molasses soon enough the tea gets clear and lighter. As soon as I add more molasses the bacteria blooms again and it gets murky. The only smell from the bucket is a slight hint of molasses. My garden is doing better than it has ever done even though we are having a record cold June. I appreciate what you said about drowning the nematodes and other critters. When I planted I used some castings from my worm bin in my soil maybe that has helped with the nematodes and microbial life. I have been filtering some of the tea into a garden sprayer and using it on the leaves of my apple tree. I would estimate it to be about 80% effective in dealing with aphids . It doesn’t eradicate them it just seems to keep them in check. Thanks for doing the channel. I’ll subscribe. BTW I don’t use a tea bag I just dumped 2 cups of castings into the bucket.
Feed the slime/residues in the bucket that forms around the sides and siftings back to the worms. When the concoction is 'ripe', it shouldn't smell of molasses any longer and instead, a healthy fish tank odor. That is the smell of the ammonia cycle completed and ready for plant consumption.
Thanks..great video.. I can’t wait to start my worm tea project..Miracle Gro is way too expensive anymore..made my winter vegetables too expensive to grow..
While I'm always interested in the theories behind various gardening practices, I'm more interested in the results. That is, does a particular practice give me noticeable results as compared to my simple practice of applying compost only to my garden beds. This worm tea concept looks intriguing and I'm wondering if you have done any field trials that show significant improvements by its implementation. That is, using healthy garden soil, growing identical crops, in the same season and applying worm tea to one section and not the other? Thanks for the video.
I am an advocate of checking all my teas, and compost under a microscope. Without a microscope how do you know what is in it. By no means am I a soil microbiologist, But I have acquired enough knowledge to determine if what I am looking at is what I want to put out into my garden or on my plants. Worm tea is a fabulous microbe rich and nutritional amendment to any garden bed or house plant.
@@ericcarve4476 I am sorry I do not have a specific source for identifying soil microbes. The microscope i have is set up for a camera but as of yet have not purchased one. What I try to do is produce teas that will add what is missing to my soil be it beneficial fungi, nematodes, bacteria or protozoa. I did just post a video how I separate worm castings that may be an interest to you. Will work on getting a camera and try and get some meaningful videos out.
@@brianseybert2189Here I am in my 2nd year of gardening...spring now in Sydney Australia...and I'm like. What??? There's more? I plant. Or grow. I water. Boom. Obviously there's more to this science.
Try dissolving the molasses in a small cup then add that to the mix😆 Also, using some kelp meal or alfalfa meal will provide superior carbs for the microbes. Better than molasses but 1/2 and 1/2 works as well🙏🔑✌️
@Alvys Prandy Castings have enzymes provided by the worms and microbial life which break down the materials for consumption. Cellulose is the main substance in the walls of plant cells, helping plants to remain stiff and upright. Cellulose is a molecule, consisting of hundreds - and sometimes even thousands - of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The hemicellulose is a polymer of mainly five-carbon sugars C5H10O5 (xylose). and the cellulose is a polymer of six-carbon sugar C6H12O6 (glucose). Humans can not digest cellulose though can utilize it as dietary fiber. The enzymes can break these structures down to simplified sugars for consumption. Nitrogen and a few trace elements is needed to round out what is required for survival, growth and reproduction or sporulation by the bacteria. Alfalfa/kelp are loaded with both but also many other beneficial elements for your plants, so yes but with caveats. Whether they are 'superior carbs' can be debated since carbs are just carbs. Molasses provides readily available sugars without the need to preprocess with enzymes making the production more immediate and completing faster. Think of these products decomposing in a compost pile. It is literally the same process of decomposition, just a different venue.
CCUA is looking for people who have watched our videos over the past few months to complete a quick survey! Here at CCUA we value your feedback to help us improve our programs. If you have watched any of our gardening videos, we would greatly appreciate 3-5 minutes of your time to take our feedback survey. As a ‘thank you’ for your time, after you finish the survey you will have the option to enter a free raffle to win a CCUA prize basket, each month. A winner will be announced at the end of each month. @t
Well explained, but one remark though: why would you use molasses? Those mainly stimulate bacterial life, which already dominates the majority of soils. Wouldn't it be better to use fungal feeds instead? Fungi are the best allies of perinnials and also help sequester carbon in the soil. If the fungi were restored in the soil then the soils are back in balance. Which would be helping the plants, the surroundings and make the soil more aerobic once more.
Very good information. I’m new but like to learn. Use molasses to make compost tea reason is supply nitrogen. It helps to Creat an friendly environment for fungi’s. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Thank you
@@joes5222 Well dr. Elaine Ingham, one of the most knowledgeable soil scientists out there, assures that molasses should not be added unless you want a bacterial brew. They barely will support any Fungi because the bacteria multiply way faster than Fungi and will very quickly limit your fungal growth. That is also the reason why many soils are so high in bacteria and barely have any fungi left, nitrogen fertillizers.
First of all, I would like to thank you for this wonderful video. Is it possible to add beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi to the mixture with the sugar and vermicompost?
I’m going to assume that the worm tea used in soil plants would be plenty. As you can’t over do the worm tea, I think it is possible to add to much of the things you mentioned. But I’m not 100% sure.. since they can have too much nutrients, too much sun. Too much of anything is not good.
Works okay. I’m sure it would work great if you didn’t use tap water. Tap water had chlorine, bleach and ammonia in the water, to make it drinkable. To kill the bacteria that will make us sick. But the city’s don’t care to filter out the chemicals they add to the water. So while the water won’t make you sick immediately after you drink it (which is all they care about) you are still drinking chlorine and bleach.
I've seen a traumatized lemon tree spring back to life within a few months after being irrigated with what you call "leachate". The tree had been "half dry" (half of it completely dry) for about two years prior to this experiment, and is now back to its former self with new growth from all the branches, even the previously dry ones. I also know of at least one farmer in our area who uses filtered "leachate" in his drip irrigation system with good results. So while "worm tea" may be better, (which sounds logical, but can you please provide specific links to support this claim?), I would definitely recommend using "leachate" on all types of plants.
I'm pretty new to gardening, specificaly indoor, and i have a question. If i use properly brewed worm tea once a week and add high quality worm compost from time to time, will i nned to use some kind of fertilizer to grow nice and tasty vegetables ? Thanks for very usefull video 😉
Worm castings are highly beneficial in that they provide and amazing amount of microbial activity there by bringing the soil to life. That being said, worm castings and the tea are not high in N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium). You can give it a try and if it looks like you have signs of a deficiency, fertilize accordingly. You can use organics such as blood meal- high in Nitrogen, Bone meal -high in phosphorus and calcium as well as alfalfa meal which is high in potassium. If you use synthetic/non organic fertilizer, you may want to use it sparingly depending on the salt content. The inorganic fertilizers tend to kill soil life. Hope all works out well for you. Happy Gardening!
This is a good vid, but it makes me wonder what the digested sugars become when consumed. As example in brewing, yeast eat sugars and their waste is alcohol.
Thank you for this helpful, concise and informative video. Beginner question: why is an aerator necessary? Could you gently shake the jar several times per day instead...or do you have an alternative idea instead of something that uses batteries or electricity?
I don’t dilute mine at all...I do it in 40 gallon batches in my diy brewer in a 55 gallon rain barrel with a pvc ring bubbler based on the Oregon state univ plans online...ez to search for
Dilution maximizes the efficiency of the elixir by providing each plant an ample feeding for each duration between feedings, without substantially over feeding. Over feeding is said not to harm plants however, it is redundant, if the plant is unable to consume it within a particular time frame. I have used castings and tea without dilution and without issue. That said, castings are not cheap and they take time and energy to produce. In the end, the choice to dilute is a personal preference based upon what one deems is best for the plants and what you have to spend.
Did you mean vegetables? I would say yes. And she said the worm tea doesn’t burn plants like other options do. You can’t over due the tea. But you do have to brew new batches frequently.
Can I use well water instead of rain water ??? We live in the country no city or piped water. We had to dig a well . I would think this would be fine , but I could be wrong . Help ???? yea/ no ????
You can spread the vermicompost on the the top of your potted plants or mix it back into your worm bed. I would never just discard it. Making the tea simply removes a lot of the microbes etc. It's sort of like when you brew tea in a tea bag to drink; once you use it, it doesn't do well trying to use it again to brew more iced tea.
Worm castings contain a highly active biological mixture of bacteria, enzymes, remnants of plant matter and animal manure, as well as earthworm cocoons. The castings are rich in "water-soluble" plant nutrients, and contain more than 50% more humus than what is normally found in topsoil. Once the majority of the water soluble materials have been exercised from the castings, there should still be plenty of life and nutrients remaining to continue to break down. For me, these always go right back into a worm bin. Incidentally, brewing is also how I test castings. I worm farm but need to buy castings as well. Not all castings are equal so I will weigh the difference of the materials before and after this brewing process. Product I have tested has turned up various amounts of sand, coffee, coco, peat and even char to bulk up and color the medium with a lesser quantity of soluble content... what you are really paying for and want! All these items are either sources of nutrients or catalysts for a good casting product however if they have not been processed or is in excess, it is just a bulking agent. As with every good thing in life, some douche comes along and tries to commercially exploit a market with substandard product, so buyer beware!
The model organism Escherichia coli is a facultative anaerobic bacterium, i.e. it is able to grow in both aerobic and anaerobic environments. So yes, it is a possibility it could exist in a unpasteurized (thermophilic process) manure source. I do not use manure in my worm farms but even then there is a chance of some pathogen(s) invading the systems so caution is always practiced.
I have a 4 gallon batch of worm tea that is being aerated 24/7. It has been going for 3 months. I add molasses every 5 days. It has lots of suspended bacteria and growth on the side of the bucket. Every day I remove about 2 gallons and use it in the garden, unless it raining. I refill the worm tea container with fresh rain water. I noticed that if I don’t add the molasses soon enough the tea gets clear and lighter. As soon as I add more molasses the bacteria blooms again and it gets murky. The only smell from the bucket is a slight hint of molasses. My garden is doing better than it has ever done even though we are having a record cold June. I appreciate what you said about drowning the nematodes and other critters. When I planted I used some castings from my worm bin in my soil maybe that has helped with the nematodes and microbial life. I have been filtering some of the tea into a garden sprayer and using it on the leaves of my apple tree. I would estimate it to be about 80% effective in dealing with aphids . It doesn’t eradicate them it just seems to keep them in check. Thanks for doing the channel. I’ll subscribe. BTW I don’t use a tea bag I just dumped 2 cups of castings into the bucket.
Feed the slime/residues in the bucket that forms around the sides and siftings back to the worms.
When the concoction is 'ripe', it shouldn't smell of molasses any longer and instead, a healthy fish tank odor. That is the smell of the ammonia cycle completed and ready for plant consumption.
Raising worms is fun & easy. Why any gardener would not raise worms totally eludes me
Wow you explained this so well I was shocked 😳 I'm going to binge watch all of your videos and subscribe.
Thanks..great video.. I can’t wait to start my worm tea project..Miracle Gro is way too expensive anymore..made my winter vegetables too expensive to grow..
Thank you for this video! Very informative! HAPPY GARDENING
Well done and engaging. Rare stuff. Thanks.
Built a tea brewer outta pvc and a 55 gallon rain barrel and dump about 40 gallons of fortified worm tea on our little 30x16’ garden ...plants luv it
Excellent explanation
Great video! Thank you ❤️
While I'm always interested in the theories behind various gardening practices, I'm more interested in the results. That is, does a particular practice give me noticeable results as compared to my simple practice of applying compost only to my garden beds.
This worm tea concept looks intriguing and I'm wondering if you have done any field trials that show significant improvements by its implementation. That is, using healthy garden soil, growing identical crops, in the same season and applying worm tea to one section and not the other?
Thanks for the video.
I'd love to see this too.
This is very helpful! Thank you!
감사해요 🍒🍒🍒
s korea
I am an advocate of checking all my teas, and compost under a microscope. Without a microscope how do you know what is in it. By no means am I a soil microbiologist, But I have acquired enough knowledge to determine if what I am looking at is what I want to put out into my garden or on my plants. Worm tea is a fabulous microbe rich and nutritional amendment to any garden bed or house plant.
Did you have any video or reference you can recommend that would teach me what are good things to look for in the scope vs the bad things? Thanks!
@@ericcarve4476 I am sorry I do not have a specific source for identifying soil microbes. The microscope i have is set up for a camera but as of yet have not purchased one.
What I try to do is produce teas that will add what is missing to my soil be it beneficial fungi, nematodes, bacteria or protozoa.
I did just post a video how I separate worm castings that may be an interest to you.
Will work on getting a camera and try and get some meaningful videos out.
@@brianseybert2189Here I am in my 2nd year of gardening...spring now in Sydney Australia...and I'm like. What??? There's more? I plant. Or grow. I water. Boom. Obviously there's more to this science.
Try dissolving the molasses in a small cup then add that to the mix😆
Also, using some kelp meal or alfalfa meal will provide superior carbs for the microbes. Better than molasses but 1/2 and 1/2 works as well🙏🔑✌️
Really it works??
@Alvys Prandy Castings have enzymes provided by the worms and microbial life which break down the materials for consumption.
Cellulose is the main substance in the walls of plant cells, helping plants to remain stiff and upright. Cellulose is a molecule, consisting of hundreds - and sometimes even thousands - of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The hemicellulose is a polymer of mainly five-carbon sugars C5H10O5 (xylose). and the cellulose is a polymer of six-carbon sugar C6H12O6 (glucose).
Humans can not digest cellulose though can utilize it as dietary fiber. The enzymes can break these structures down to simplified sugars for consumption. Nitrogen and a few trace elements is needed to round out what is required for survival, growth and reproduction or sporulation by the bacteria.
Alfalfa/kelp are loaded with both but also many other beneficial elements for your plants, so yes but with caveats. Whether they are 'superior carbs' can be debated since carbs are just carbs. Molasses provides readily available sugars without the need to preprocess with enzymes making the production more immediate and completing faster.
Think of these products decomposing in a compost pile. It is literally the same process of decomposition, just a different venue.
@@dizzydinonysius thnk you men for the information nicee🤙🤙
CCUA is looking for people who have watched our videos over the past few months to complete a quick survey!
Here at CCUA we value your feedback to help us improve our programs. If you have watched any of our gardening videos, we would greatly appreciate 3-5 minutes of your time to take our feedback survey.
As a ‘thank you’ for your time, after you finish the survey you will have the option to enter a free raffle to win a CCUA prize basket, each month. A winner will be announced at the end of each month. @t
Well explained, but one remark though: why would you use molasses? Those mainly stimulate bacterial life, which already dominates the majority of soils. Wouldn't it be better to use fungal feeds instead? Fungi are the best allies of perinnials and also help sequester carbon in the soil. If the fungi were restored in the soil then the soils are back in balance. Which would be helping the plants, the surroundings and make the soil more aerobic once more.
Very good information. I’m new but like to learn. Use molasses to make compost tea reason is supply nitrogen. It helps to Creat an friendly environment for fungi’s.
Please correct me if I’m wrong. Thank you
@@joes5222 Well dr. Elaine Ingham, one of the most knowledgeable soil scientists out there, assures that molasses should not be added unless you want a bacterial brew. They barely will support any Fungi because the bacteria multiply way faster than Fungi and will very quickly limit your fungal growth. That is also the reason why many soils are so high in bacteria and barely have any fungi left, nitrogen fertillizers.
First of all, I would like to thank you for this wonderful video. Is it possible to add beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi to the mixture with the sugar and vermicompost?
I’m going to assume that the worm tea used in soil plants would be plenty. As you can’t over do the worm tea, I think it is possible to add to much of the things you mentioned. But I’m not 100% sure.. since they can have too much nutrients, too much sun. Too much of anything is not good.
I use regular tap water and it seems to work okay
Works okay.
I’m sure it would work great if you didn’t use tap water.
Tap water had chlorine, bleach and ammonia in the water, to make it drinkable. To kill the bacteria that will make us sick. But the city’s don’t care to filter out the chemicals they add to the water. So while the water won’t make you sick immediately after you drink it (which is all they care about) you are still drinking chlorine and bleach.
I've seen a traumatized lemon tree spring back to life within a few months after being irrigated with what you call "leachate".
The tree had been "half dry" (half of it completely dry) for about two years prior to this experiment, and is now back to its former self with new growth from all the branches, even the previously dry ones. I also know of at least one farmer in our area who uses filtered "leachate" in his drip irrigation system with good results.
So while "worm tea" may be better, (which sounds logical, but can you please provide specific links to support this claim?), I would definitely recommend using "leachate" on all types of plants.
I'm interested in the reply also. I hope they do answer this question.
Do you dilute the leachate too?? by how much??
I’ve read to dilute 1:10 ratio minimum
I'm pretty new to gardening, specificaly indoor, and i have a question. If i use properly brewed worm tea once a week and add high quality worm compost from time to time, will i nned to use some kind of fertilizer to grow nice and tasty vegetables ? Thanks for very usefull video 😉
Worm castings are highly beneficial in that they provide and amazing amount of microbial activity there by bringing the soil to life. That being said, worm castings and the tea are not high in N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium). You can give it a try and if it looks like you have signs of a deficiency, fertilize accordingly. You can use organics such as blood meal- high in Nitrogen, Bone meal -high in phosphorus and calcium as well as alfalfa meal which is high in potassium. If you use synthetic/non organic fertilizer, you may want to use it sparingly depending on the salt content. The inorganic fertilizers tend to kill soil life. Hope all works out well for you. Happy Gardening!
I tried this. The taste is not great. Should i add lemon?
This is a good vid, but it makes me wonder what the digested sugars become when consumed. As example in brewing, yeast eat sugars and their waste is alcohol.
Why unsulfered molasses?
Thank you for this helpful, concise and informative video. Beginner question: why is an aerator necessary? Could you gently shake the jar several times per day instead...or do you have an alternative idea instead of something that uses batteries or electricity?
The microbial life starts to die in as little as 1 hour, so yes. Aeration is necessary,
You can stir it every hour if you don't have an air stone. I did it like that a few times before I got an air stone.
if stored in bottles, what is the expiry date of this tea?
is it important to heat up the water? i was always told to put a water heater in and warm the water to about 28 c as the bacteria like it warm
Hello, great video. quick question, why do we need to dilute it if there is no limit of how much to use? Thanks
.... so that you're able to give more plants the tea.
I don’t dilute mine at all...I do it in 40 gallon batches in my diy brewer in a 55 gallon rain barrel with a pvc ring bubbler based on the Oregon state univ plans online...ez to search for
Dilution maximizes the efficiency of the elixir by providing each plant an ample feeding for each duration between feedings, without substantially over feeding. Over feeding is said not to harm plants however, it is redundant, if the plant is unable to consume it within a particular time frame.
I have used castings and tea without dilution and without issue. That said, castings are not cheap and they take time and energy to produce. In the end, the choice to dilute is a personal preference based upon what one deems is best for the plants and what you have to spend.
Some add kelp, humic acid and fish fertilizer
Is it a must to have an aerator?????
Where can I find that or a similar aerator
Can put in vestable? How many times a week n.burn or not. n smell bad? Thanks
Did you mean vegetables? I would say yes. And she said the worm tea doesn’t burn plants like other options do. You can’t over due the tea. But you do have to brew new batches frequently.
Can well water be used to make the tea?
No. Well water is usually salty, which can kill a plant
Can you use to much worm castings?
Watch the video she explains it
How long does this worm tea last? Is there an expiration date?
Watch it again?. She explained that very clearly.
@@dancoon6214 Why not just answer the questions Dan? Dont be a dick Dan.
Can I use well water instead of rain water ??? We live in the country no city or piped water. We had to dig a well . I would think this would be fine , but I could be wrong . Help ???? yea/ no ????
I'm interested in this answer as well.
totally, well water is awesome, I use my well water and my veggie garden is popping!
Yes, She stated "tap" water meaning "city" water. Unless you treat your well water, (not unheard of), well water is perfect.
You need an air stone that lays flat. If not more air escapes from the high side of the air stone.
Hi. Do you then discard the vermicompost when you finished brewing your tea or do you use it in the garden?
Spread it on your garden
You can spread the vermicompost on the the top of your potted plants or mix it back into your worm bed. I would never just discard it. Making the tea simply removes a lot of the microbes etc. It's sort of like when you brew tea in a tea bag to drink; once you use it, it doesn't do well trying to use it again to brew more iced tea.
Worm castings contain a highly active biological mixture of bacteria, enzymes, remnants of plant matter and
animal manure, as well as earthworm cocoons. The castings are rich in "water-soluble" plant
nutrients, and contain more than 50% more humus than what is normally found in topsoil. Once the majority of the water soluble materials have been exercised from the castings, there should still be plenty of life and nutrients remaining to continue to break down. For me, these always go right back into a worm bin.
Incidentally, brewing is also how I test castings. I worm farm but need to buy castings as well. Not all castings are equal so I will weigh the difference of the materials before and after this brewing process. Product I have tested has turned up various amounts of sand, coffee, coco, peat and even char to bulk up and color the medium with a lesser quantity of soluble content... what you are really paying for and want!
All these items are either sources of nutrients or catalysts for a good casting product however if they have not been processed or is in excess, it is just a bulking agent. As with every good thing in life, some douche comes along and tries to commercially exploit a market with substandard product, so buyer beware!
@@OSGCourtWatch you
How long can you keep finished worm tea in jars?
Once you stop the bubbling / brewing process you use it right away
She explained the life span very clearly?
Are you kidding me?
❤️❤️❤️🇱🇰
Rain water can or not?
Watch
it again!!??
@@dancoon6214 no thanks 😂
@@mr.azlansidekhamzahtokki LOL Maybe pay attention the first time then??... Oh.... to late for that! LOL
@@dancoon6214 no thanks my data is over😂😂😂
@@mr.azlansidekhamzahtokki LOL. cool. Anyway. Rain water is perfect!! Take care, and have a great day!! Dan In New york!!
If you do this be aware that e. Coli bacteria may be part of those bacterial growths
The model organism Escherichia coli is a facultative anaerobic bacterium, i.e. it is able to grow in both aerobic and anaerobic environments. So yes, it is a possibility it could exist in a unpasteurized (thermophilic process) manure source.
I do not use manure in my worm farms but even then there is a chance of some pathogen(s) invading the systems so caution is always practiced.
This tea takes disgusting, I had to add so much molasses just to get it down
Lol jk
Your recipe calls for "unfiltered" water.