What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

does worm dressing only added on top of your soil do anything?

should i top dress my plants with casting or am i wastin time n money? ive only under dressed my girls in the past, does top dressin do much? thx for any shared wisdom
 

yortbogey

To Have More ... Desire Less
Veteran
YES...top dressing allows the plant to slowly soak upthe g00dness from the EWC over time as u water it in..........thus allowing the plant to draw from the nutrient value of the casting over time as the plant need it....
 
I

Iron_Lion

I notice the effects of EWC the day after its been applied and watered on my veg plants.
 

habeeb

follow your heart
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I notice the effects of EWC the day after its been applied and watered on my veg plants.

care to tell us how it's helped?




I guess it depends on what your wanting out of EWC? microbes / nutrients ?

to me, I wouldn't waste money on top dress EWC when I could buy a bottle of microbes / formulated nutrient / additive for the price of the EWC bag. I think you would get farther with a bottle for your money then what EWC is gonna give you..

now if you asked me if your mixing it in, sure I guess if I had it laying around.. but I've come to see pot plants don't need much to thrive. some nutrients, and microbes to process those nutrients
 

big_daddy

Member
care to tell us how it's helped?




I guess it depends on what your wanting out of EWC? microbes / nutrients ?

to me, I wouldn't waste money on top dress EWC when I could buy a bottle of microbes / formulated nutrient / additive for the price of the EWC bag. I think you would get farther with a bottle for your money then what EWC is gonna give you..

now if you asked me if your mixing it in, sure I guess if I had it laying around.. but I've come to see pot plants don't need much to thrive. some nutrients, and microbes to process those nutrients


It's not a "waste of money" when you farm your own worms and if you know what your doing you can create far better microbes with your EWC than you can buy in a bottle.

A 1-2" top dress or even a slurry of fresh EWC can bring overnight results.

b_d
 

Bullfrog44

Active member
Veteran
2" of EWC as a top dress = 20% soil ratio. You really don't want to go over 20% EWC in your soil. So if your soil mix already has EWC, then I would not put 2", maybe more like .5 or 1". Can I suggest EWC in addition to bat guano or bird guano as a top dress? The EWC will keep your microbes up, and the guano will feed your plants. Good luck.
 
I

Iron_Lion

care to tell us how it's helped?

I use a healthy amount of EWC in my recycled soil mix, but a few weeks in to veg once plants have rooted the pot I start with the EWC top dress. I notice immediate effects as quick as the next day, this consists of perked up leaves and noticeable growth over night.

In fact there have been cases over the last few years where the only fertilizer I used for veg was EWC around the base of the plant every other week or so. For small plants about 1 tbs is good, for larger more would be needed but just a few tbs, nothing crazy.

I have been top dressing organic for the last year or so and love it, it's easy as can be and been getting very nice, large buds. I even keep up with the top dress of EWC thru flowering along with some other amendments plants get everything they need to be happy and I need to do little more than water.

EWC is some great stuff and is gentle as can be to your plants.

There is documentary called "In This Tea" available on netflix that discusses very high quality tea from china, and in this doc they come to the conclusion that the very best quality tea is organic and grown with EWC, very interesting if you are ever looking for something to watch :)
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
good EWC is some of the best if not the best top dressing you can do.

you get both long term feed and microbes in one package.

you dont need 2 inches. i just scatter some into the mulch and water in. little but often works best rather than a big layer which can reduce air flow to the soil.

iron_lion you saw that documentary too lol? i love how when buying tea he just sticks his head into the giant bags of tea, takes a big whiff and then begins telling the people either its crap, chemicals or this is good shit ill buy it.
 
I

Iron_Lion

iron_lion you saw that documentary too lol? i love how when buying tea he just sticks his head into the giant bags of tea, takes a big whiff and then begins telling the people either its crap, chemicals or this is good shit ill buy it.


I was actually surprised at how good of a documentary it was, I didn't expect much out of it before I watched it but it was one of the best farming docs I have seen. I actually walked away with a much greater respect for tea than I had previously.


Another good one is "Broken Limbs", it's a great documentary about sustainable and organic farming and large scale apple production, a really great doc to watch if you've got some free time.
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
yea it was a good watch, i didnt expect anything out of it either. but he did that many times through the documentary and it cracked me up.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
If you are harvesting from a worm bin, you can use EWC that is "almost there" for your top dressing.

overnight results I have observed include very perked up leaves, and over about a week I see off looking plants return to good health.

Aside from nutrients, there is some other plant mojo in there. I have read all about seeds that should not germinate, like date palm. If I try to germinate the seed myself, no dice. Heat mat, proper moisture, etc... But if i throw the pits in my flow through worm bin, they germinate by the time they get to the bottom.
 

supermanlives

Active member
Veteran
worm castings kick ass and are free if you setup a wormfarm. most homemade worm castings are way better than store bought IMHO.
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
But if i throw the pits in my flow through worm bin, they germinate by the time they get to the bottom.

now thats a great added bonus to flow through bins.
 

GoneRooty

Member
I get all sorts of seeds sprouting in my worm bin. I even had apple seeds that had been cut in half sprout.
 

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I agree. Vermicompost is where its at. Nothing better. If you want the liquid effect, 'like in a bottle' just mix some up thick with water and a dash of black strap molasses.
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top