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Best brand of Worm castings

Hey everyone,
There are already several threads about different brands but I thought it would be nice to get some updated opinions.

I know that your own worm bin castings are usually the best, but what company do you think has the best castings?

I am in New England so the ones i have access to are Worm power and Wiggle worm. The wiggle worm castings look really dark and fine texture like the bedding was screened out well. I haven't seen the worm power castings but they say it is castings and worm worked material.

I am curious if anyone has seen nutrient test results for these castings or compared the micro-life microscopically to see what brand has more microbes or produces more after brewing tea.

thanks
 
idk if it's the best but I use and like Unco Industries Wiggle Worm Organic Earthworm Castings. Seemed to have a lot of good reviews and it's well priced on Amazon.
 

NWNR

Member
Have you considered looking up a local vermicomposter (Facebook or craigslist? )and getting fresh worm castings that way? They would probably be much better. I would look up someone selling worms on Craigslist and inquire about their castings. Just an idea.
 
D

Dioni

If you use them for amendment, wiggle worm will do fine, if you brew teas, fresh from your own worm bin can not be beat.
 

Biggobelly

Member
Worm casting brand

Worm casting brand

For my soil, I use Wiggle Worm castings and for my teas I use Soil Blend worm castings.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.

NWNR, I have been looking on craigslist and asking around but no luck so far. I'm running my own worm bin now so hopefully I will have some soon.

Dioni, Biggobelly, that sounds like a good way to go. I won't have enough castings to supply myself for use as an amendment any time soon, but I would have enough to use for teas.

From what I have read wiggle worm system uses controlled amounts of feed and bedding to ensure it is all processed completely to produce pure castings. Other companies use more diverse materials for feed, but might actually contain less castings because of unprocessed bedding. On the other hand more diverse feed might mean higher NPK.
 

KONY

Active member
Veteran
I often tell people if you cant find anything else, wiggle worm will work better than nothing, however if you can find anything else.... anything else will probably be higher quality.

One thing with wiggle worm, is they contract out all their farms to local/regionally worm farmers, I happened to meet the couple doing it about an hour west of here. As a result I negotiated a price of $13 a bag if i bought atleast 20 at a time.

However that was 4 years ago now, I used Big worm for a year, then last 2 years I used worm power, and now make my own.
 

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
I personally do not like wiggle worm castings

I use agrowinn castings

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

i found performance differences, i get worm from these castings which means the egg casings are not steamed, it is very biologically active

I also found that if i put mason jars with water side by side with an equal volume of both brands castings in each one cover and shake the wiggle worm has more sand

I have a nursery wholesaler who services commercial horticulturists and landscapers and get it in bulk pretty cheap no shipping costs.
 

bigtacofarmer

Well-known member
Veteran
My worms eat a mix of finished bokashi and coco coir that has been sittting at least a month. Next step is to start using the biodynamic accumulater chart to cater my bokashi for veg or flowering.
 

Truthful

Member
Vermaplex for the win, they have the best castings I have ever tried, it doesn't clump up at all. WiggleWorms is crap it turns into a heavy clumpy mudd when watered and I see a lot of sand in it. I like Roots Organics too but I got the gnats bad when using it.
 
I used worm power and it seemed like a premium product. But I couldn't resist starting a worm farm. Turns out my castings are most useful for my veggies because my flower garden soil is already overly high in K.

Commercially sold castings are best fresh and with a recent certified analysis. There can be wide variance in NPK according to diet of worms and bed materials.
 
I want to thank NWNR for giving me the heads up to check Craigslist for worm castings. Found 30 lb bags from a local mom and pop worm farm in my area for $10.00 a bag. They guarantee it to be pure worm castings. Saved me a ton of money, haven't ever seen castings at that price. I'm loading up for my outdoor grow this season.
 
I want to thank NWNR for giving me the heads up to check Craigslist for worm castings. Found 30 lb bags from a local mom and pop worm farm in my area for $10.00 a bag. They guarantee it to be pure worm castings. Saved me a ton of money, haven't ever seen castings at that price. I'm loading up for my outdoor grow this season.

You can confirm thats it's actually saving you a ton of money by sending it in for analysis. The quality of different castings products is wildly variable.
 

luvtogrow

Active member
I want to thank NWNR for giving me the heads up to check Craigslist for worm castings. Found 30 lb bags from a local mom and pop worm farm in my area for $10.00 a bag. They guarantee it to be pure worm castings. Saved me a ton of money, haven't ever seen castings at that price. I'm loading up for my outdoor grow this season.
Sounds like a mix at that price. Make sure it looks like coffee grounds.
 
I've been putting a layer of wiggle worm castings on top of my soil lately and the root growth has been amazing. I usually don't use castings but I can see they are working great. I have big fat white roots just popping out of the surface of already established plants that normally never put new roots at the top like that.

I also made some compost tea recently with wiggle worm and noticed a decent amount of sand left over in the barrel. I used about 1 gallon of worm castings and ended up with about 1/2 cup of sand separated out after pumping the tea off. I know the worms need sand for grit/digestion but was wondering, is it normal to have sand leftover with other brands of castings?
 
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