Commercial Earth Worm Castings - The Reality

This is how I see it and if anyone has industry knowledge on the matter then please chime in.

It seems to me that the worm casting industry has grown from an established industry that being from the bait worm industry. Now bait worms are kept in roughly a 12 inch by 12 inch styrofoam box. This box is filled with peat moss and some type of food for the worms. Lets say cow shit in some cases. I believe this is done so that the worms have something to eat while they are in storage waiting to go to their final destinations(the bait shops). The peat moss is removed and the worms are packed and sent on their way. It is the combination of peat moss, food for the worms and earth worm castings that we are getting when we buy a bag of castings and generally not 100% castings. If this is the case I would surmise that any castings that are bought from this method of production are greatly inferior to home made castings and are a product you would not want to use if you wanted to create the best grow possible.

Any thoughts ?

So it's too late to get into the pre-packaged worm casting business? In reality, i see a lot more worm farming setups, and have only seen bait worms, never worm castings alone. As to any kind of pre-packaged goods, i assume most homemade things have the potential to be far superior. but even with possible wetting agents or any other unlisted thing they want to add to stabilize their product and create that "image" or marketing ideal (odd to think about with worm poop, but similar to soil) i bet its better than nothing and is in some way a fair exchange for the price of time(space) for people. other people might buy it, but the question always is, do i need this shit?.

Cheap castings looked like fine ground coffee.. with sand to increase bag weight.. (don't remember the brand name)

good poop (coast of maine) was earthy, chunky, and moist..

This was 4 or 5 years ago though.

I wouldn't buy "bait worms" in a styrofoam box to acquire castings though.. if that's what you mean?

Generally the commercially produced poop won't be of the same quality as your home made poop

I'm out of the loop tho.

Lets chat about shat.

Lets chat about shat.

I've bought from a few vendors including a local farm, and produce my own. On top of the I collect free range casting from 3 different environments.

I can't say that some commercial casting are not produced in the manner you described, but have yet to see it with my own eyes. Most vendors that are worth it will answer any question, including showing you the facility, first hand or pictures.

The local farm I got my worms, and castings from had large tables, like a raised garden bed on stilts. He had 20+ beds, and 4 different species, including a mixed bed (OOPS!!!!) He was also able to show me lab testing results, and most people that go through that trouble are proud of their products. At least in my experience.

I don't doubt there are people producing shit that don't know shit about it. In the end that product is just that too, shit. A small conversation, and a few questions make it easy to weed out those guys.

Obviously producing your own casting will be superior. They will be fresh, and very active. With a controlled diet top notch casting are easy to get. Also you don't HAVE to start off with 10-15lbs of worms. They reproduce on a very regular basis given they are in a decent environment. I started with 2 1/4 lbs, and recently harvested 1/2 my bin. I easily have 30% over what I started with, plus have hundreds of babies, and cocoons. I have also thrown about 400 worms in my outdoor plants.

So all in all, I don't feel your description is a reflection on the worm industry. Maybe a few shit faces, but not genuine worm farms. If you are not able to make your own, just do a bit of research the farm. Having a good base knowledge of raising worms would help the weeding out process too.

its all nothing but a load of crap

Trich_Tyson said:

Cheap castings looked like fine ground coffee.. with sand to increase bag weight.. (don't remember the brand name)

good poop (coast of maine) was earthy, chunky, and moist..

This was 4 or 5 years ago though.

I wouldn't buy "bait worms" in a styrofoam box to acquire castings though.. if that's what you mean?

Generally the commercially produced poop won't be of the same quality as your home made poop

I'm out of the loop tho.

Click to expand...

there are pallets upon pallets at amazon warehouses of UNCO wormcastings, i literally watched the grow market take off picking products for amazon, its crazy, but at least i get to see all the new stuff hands on

bertbkill said:

This is how I see it and if anyone has industry knowledge on the matter then please chime in.

It seems to me that the worm casting industry has grown from an established industry that being from the bait worm industry. Now bait worms are kept in roughly a 12 inch by 12 inch styrofoam box. This box is filled with peat moss and some type of food for the worms. Lets say cow shit in some cases. I believe this is done so that the worms have something to eat while they are in storage waiting to go to their final destinations(the bait shops). The peat moss is removed and the worms are packed and sent on their way. It is the combination of peat moss, food for the worms and earth worm castings that we are getting when we buy a bag of castings and generally not 100% castings. If this is the case I would surmise that any castings that are bought from this method of production are greatly inferior to home made castings and are a product you would not want to use if you wanted to create the best grow possible.

Any thoughts ?

Click to expand...

My shop sells 2 kinds of pure castings one from African night crawlers... you can tell pure from mixed shit...

Buy the high quality horticulture specific not the ones from the grocery store skids...

they are not all created equally

http://www.fertilizeronline.com/wormcast.php

Worm Castings allow plants to quickly and easily absorb essential nutrients and trace minerals. This is possible because Earthworms grind and uniformly mix the nutrients into simple forms, which are easily absorbed by the surrounding plant life. Despite the fact that many chemical fertilizers list many nutrients and have higher laboratory analysis percentages, the nutrients are not broken down in such a way that the plants can readily use them.

Agrowinn Worm Castings:

is environmentally friendly and non-polluting

is not quickly soluble and has good residual

loosens compacted soil and enhances plant feeder root fertility

does not burn plants or seedlings

In addition to the abundance of available nutrients, worm castings also provide a perfect mix of nutrients that are available to the plants and vegetables for long term nutritional needs. This allows plants to feed as needed for weeks and months at a time, as the worm castings release their precious nutrients into the surrounding soil.

Chemical fertilizers usually provide only synthetic nutrients, much of which are quickly lost into the soil during watering. Since the plant's root system can absorb only so much material over a given period of time, much of the value of this nutrient flow is wasted. Chemical fertilizers are also detrimental to soil microbiology, frequently bypassing and sometimes destroying much of the beneficial microbial and bacterial components of the soil. At the same time, many of these synthetic nutrients are absorbed indirectly into your plants and food.

The particular structure of Earthworm castings is such that it promotes soil aeration because it doesn't pack together when mixed in soil. As a result, you get a much more "open" soil, which in turn promotes rapid plant growth. In addition, Earthworm castings improve soil drainage, cutting down on water-logged soil which promotes root rot, And, since Earthworm castings contain absorbent organic matter (bio-humus), the soil's water retention capacity improves.

Quality Assurance:

Lab Tested: 99% Pure Organic Worm-Castings

Not produced with yard waste, landfill waste or compost

Not made with Horse, Cow or any grazing animal manure

Guaranteed Weedseed free

Organic Material Review Institute “OMRI” listed

Indoor manufactured and fed a controlled quality diet

The worms Diet includes high quality mineral rock dust

Free of E-Coli and Salmonella

Contains natural soil microbes

Guaranteed the Highest Standard for Worm-Castings