Worm Juice ??

[senseijames]

G'evening , does anyone use worm juice on their Bonsai ?? and if so what is your opinion on it ??
James

[simo_5]

yeah i use it occasionally watered down, out of my worm farm, its potent stuff so make sure its watered down. i call it liquid golg. cheers

[Naym]

Sure do and I've had good results, when I combine it into a fertiliser regime (a 1+1 > 2 type interaction). Like Simo I water it down. I also let it sit in the bucket for a half a day or so after diluting it. This lets the worst of the silt settle out so it doesn't clog up your soil. Because worms won't eat a lot of nitrogen I think it's probably providing trace nutrients and microbes to work the soil/nutrients.

[Watto]

I use it too and although I don't have any science to back up my thoughts, I think it works great in combination with other fertilizers.

[anttal63]

Its all good!!! Especially for conifers. They prefer organic ferts!

[Bretts]

Worm Juice is not a NPK fertiliser. Whilst it contains some Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium it’s major strength lays in it biological activity and complex range of other nutrients and minerals.

Worm juice is great stuff but not really a fertiliser. It would be classed as a soil conditioner!

[nealweb]

Worm Juice is not a NPK fertiliser. Whilst it contains some Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium it’s major strength lays in it biological activity and complex range of other nutrients and minerals.

Worm juice is great stuff but not really a fertiliser. It would be classed as a soil conditioner!

So then is a 'soil conditioner' of any use with our modern soil-less media like kanuma, akadama etc. We aren't really needing to break down organic matter, create humus and improve soil structure etc...but i guess the micronutrients and minerals are still required by our plants, in small quantities. So could worm wee be used not as a fert but more as a tonic for plant health then?

[Bretts]

I think so.
Humic Acid has been reported as being a great additive to inorganic soils. Suggesting that it creates the organic component that can be missing so I would think worm juice would be of benifet in a somewhat similar way.

[Matt Jermy]

Gotta give a big thumbs up to worm wee... its fantastic stuff!!
Its gotta be diluted 10:1 minimum and 20:1 if used as a foliar spray...

I have two worm farms and produce far more worm juice than i can use....and thats with 1/2 dozen fruit trees and god
knows how many bonsai !!
So much to fertilising - uptake of nutrients can vary due to ph, temperatures, microbial activity etc.... it certainly doesnt
hurt to use other fertilizer options, however i have found worm juice pretty complete...
how fast do we want them to grow anyhoo? - I mean we are growing bonsai ....

FYI:
A typical WORM JUICE sample analysed:

Healthy bacteria 100,000 CFU/ml
Nitrogen(N) 64 mg/L
Phosphorus(P) 21 mg/L
Potassium(K) 940 mg/L
Sulphate 82 mg/L
Calcium 62 mg/L
Magnesium 150 mg/L
Sodium 120 mg/L
Copper 276 ug/L
Zinc 105 ug/L
Manganese .26 mg/L
Iron 1.5 mg/L
Boron .41 mg/L
(source-wormsloos.com.au)

[Jamie]

that break down looks good mate!

I dont personally have a worm farm but has anyone tried to do a test on it? even just two trees at the same growth stage, in the same soil, and then on using worm tea and the other normal fertilising?

[Bretts]

Putting the above typical WORM JUICE sample analysed into the format most of us are used to shows the real story here.
I think work juice is great stuff but most need to see the analysis in % form to understand as that is what we are most used to. The ppm or mg/L is often used by soil conditioners. You can call me paranoid if you like but the only reason I can see for them to do this is to confuse the consumer.
The above analyses in % form.
N = 0.0064%
P = 0.0021%
K = 0.0941%
Sulphate 0.0082%
And so on.
I think that is around 2000 times less nutrients than our normal 10-10-10 Fertiliser.
http://wormsloos.com.au/PDF/LiquidCast.pdf

[Pup]

Organic fertilisers need an organic soil, that contains the bacteria needed to break it down so the plant can use it. It also needs the SOIL temperature to be 18% Celsius or above.
The bacteria go dormant under that. Therefor using organic fertilisers, is wasting time and money.

If you have an inorganic soil mix, it will take time to have enough organics before it will be able to absorb the organic material to benefit the plant.

I find that Seasol does the same, it gives you a tonic that helps with transplanting shock, similar to the dreaded Superthrive .

If you have worm farms, it is a by product and it works for you, that is what matter's, regardless of the scientific breakdown.

Just my opinion only. Cheers Pup

[Matt Jermy]

RE: soil temperature... pretty sure most gardeners and bonsai nuts will reduce feeding regime in winter. (ie when temp. drops)
Trees dont access nutrients outside certain temp. ranges, so if it is under 18 deg. (ie when bacteria in organic ferts slow..) ur tree most likely
will 'shut-down' (dormancy) anyhoo.
The enzyme in worm juice makes nutrients soluble in water, so ur tree can access the elements//nutrients immediately, or just as quick as chemical
ferts.
Having said all that - I do swear by using a combination of both; Osmocote & worm juice, (with an occasional 'hit' of trace elements or potash if//as needed etc...)
I challenge anyones growth rate to match what i can derive from the 'juice'!!!!

[Guy]

couldn't hoit!

[krittas]

my understanding of worm juice is that it is a "tonic" not a fert....alot like seasol....it helps the plants to be able to use the fert that you supply it....
Another advantage to it is its pretty much free to produce....so why not give it a go....2000 worms which would cost you less then $200 to set up including there house would produce enough worm juice and castings to supply your average homes garden and probally your neighbours every year just using house hold scraps,paper and the like...think what it would cost you for seasol...i think its well worth it...