Are Worm Castings An Alternative or Supplement to Compost?

I've got access to a good horse manure based compost. Wondering if I should spend the extra on worm castings as well? Any thoughts out there?

Freemanintexas..... Compost can be a supplement, or a major component in building a good quality soil.
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Worm Castings are a supplement, valued for the gentle source of N they add, trace minerals, and most importantly -> beneficial bacteria & fungi.
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That being said, if your horse manure based compost is at least a few months old, you wouldn't have to pick up the worm castings.
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If it's not at least a few months old, adding 10 to 20 % worm castings to it by volume, keeping it slightly moist and turning it every three days for 3 weeks will help process it into a useable compost (quicker).
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For my own personal soil mix, I use 50 % well aged compost, 20 % Perlite, 10 % Worm Castings, and 20 % Peat Moss or well rinsed Coco Fiber.
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IMHO having some Worm Castings, High N Bat Guano and High P Bat Guano available to use, is always a good thing. You can also substitute Rabbit Manure (fresh or aged), or Composted Chicken Manure for the High N Bat Guano.
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Plan ahead, and have a Nitrogen source for when what was available in the Horse Manure Compost starts to run out.
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Also adding the High P Bat Guano, just prior to flowering, will ensure it has plenty of time to breakdown, and become completely available to your plants. That way you'll reap all it's benefits in flowering.
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Or get yourself some quality bottled nutes if using dry ammendents or making teas is not your thing. Like Earth Juice, Age Old, or Blue Mountain Organics....
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Hope that helps......
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thanks for taking the time
really - you've earned a mitzvah
may I ask you to thumbs up or thumbs down wet vs dry nutrients?
I'm indoor with dirt
my thinking was wet gives one more control over dosing
start slow
plus I don't have time to age my dirt this go around
I have bone, blood, greensand, kelp meal and aged horse manure/oak leaves/kitchen scrap/garden detrius compost and perlite
bags of non-fertilized peat moss based ph balanced dirt from local greenhouse
I was going to buy some texas-based liquid concentrate nutrient tea made from fish-kelp
and I don't mind making a tea from my compost as well
would that give me the fungi I need?
I know - I need to read more but the more I read the more I need to read - it's like a Mobius Strip - I never did that well in math.

figure each plant's like a snowflake - or human being

RE: your recipe
I don't see dolomite lime
how do you deal with the acidity from so much organic matter?
unfortunately bat guano is out of my price range
and not available locally unless I want to follow one around for days and collect his or hers at night.
nor is coco fiber even in my vocabulary and I need to read more about as I see it mentioned all the time
any help is greatly appreciated
yes - I'll be your friend
long as we don't have to hug
best,
Tex

Horse manure is great if it's composted. If it's fresh and smells like shit, then it still has pathogens in it and the heat that it will generate can burn your plants. If you have lots of well composted horse manure available, absolutely take it. Don't waste any money on buying worm castings or guano.

As for lime, I don't use it and I don't do anything to adjust the pH of my soil or water, but I'm outdoors in raised beds and in the ground. Now if I'm in containers and feeding crap like AN's "organic" iguana juice then sure I might want something to stabilize my pH. Gorilla growers, if they can't properly cultivate the soil and have to rely on concentrated fertilizers, might also need to worry about their soil's pH.

I like dry because I want something that won't wash away when when I water and it releases slowly and evenly. The weekly feedings you have to do with the hydro nutrients is ridiculous. So much easier to let organisms break down the compost and meals and feed your plants for you. Again I use raised beds, but really, a bed is just a big container, so the same rules apply.

If you don't have time to compost it yourself, buy it bagged. You can get ready to use compost at Home Depot and Lowes. It's cheaper to buy compost then it is to spend the money on "nutrients" at the hydro store.

freemanintexas said:

thanks for taking the time
really - you've earned a mitzvah
may I ask you to thumbs up or thumbs down wet vs dry nutrients?
I'm indoor with dirt
my thinking was wet gives one more control over dosing
start slow
plus I don't have time to age my dirt this go around
I have bone, blood, greensand, kelp meal and aged horse manure/oak leaves/kitchen scrap/garden detrius compost and perlite
bags of non-fertilized peat moss based ph balanced dirt from local greenhouse
I was going to buy some texas-based liquid concentrate nutrient tea made from fish-kelp
and I don't mind making a tea from my compost as well
would that give me the fungi I need?
I know - I need to read more but the more I read the more I need to read - it's like a Mobius Strip - I never did that well in math.

figure each plant's like a snowflake - or human being

RE: your recipe
I don't see dolomite lime
how do you deal with the acidity from so much organic matter?
unfortunately bat guano is out of my price range
and not available locally unless I want to follow one around for days and collect his or hers at night.
nor is coco fiber even in my vocabulary and I need to read more about as I see it mentioned all the time
any help is greatly appreciated
yes - I'll be your friend
long as we don't have to hug
best,
Tex

Click to expand...

You got some good advice from some some fine growers right outta the gate here.

Aging the soil is pretty important, as it allows the micro colony to establish, and break down the organic matter into a plant usable form, but not an absolute necessity. Myself, I prefer dry nutes mixed at the beginning. Sounds like you have pretty much everything you need to get thru a grow. Just make sure that the horse manure is WELL composted before you use it. If your budget is that tight, you may wanna look at the Espoma line of organic nutes www.espoma.com VERY reasonably priced, and they'll get you thru an entire grow by themselves. The bat/bird guanos (well composted) are great to have on hand, but not an absolute necessity. I am a firm believer in worm and rabbit poo. Rabbit manure can be used right out of the rabbit, and has the highest NPK of all the manures. The kelp preparations are indispensible. So many uses and ways to apply. Dont overlook the benefits of foliar feeding teas.
Mostt nurseries/garden centers will have a good "house brand" potting soil with no added nutes. My local nursery has a good one that I use as my base more often than not. Structure is what you look for in a base soil. Good drainage yet able to retain water. I use mostly my own compost at this point, but a good store bought mushroom compost is good as well. You will need to adjust the pH of your soil mix at the begining (with lime) but after that, pH will remain stable for the entire grow. Lots of folks use coco with great success, I have personally never used straight coco, why fix what aint broke? Over-engineering is the biggest downfall of most new(er) growers.
Next go, recycle as much of your soil as you can reclaim, adding only as much new soil as needed. Mycorrhizae and bacteria are already present there, and will give you a good start each time.
There is SO much more to learn about organics, but sounds like you're off to a good start. Good luck!!

JH

I keep several colonies of worms, mostly red wrigglers but also european nightcrawlers. I compost first, then feed to worms, then use castings for soil amendment, or as a tea. not sure on all the science behind any of it but this method works best for me, my plants thank me for it