Worm tea may not be what you think it is. Is it putting some worms in a bag and letting them steep in hot water for a few minutes? Or is it collecting the liquid run-off from the bottom of a compost bin? Well, if you said, "Yes" to either of these, then you're absolutelywrong!
The picture to the left is not how you brew tea nor, to say the least, are the pictures above.
Many people think that the tea-like liquid that's at the bottom of the bin is vermitea. This is actually called leachate (leech-ate). Vermi-tea is made from a combination of highly oxygenated water and worm castings. Not the smelly run-off at the bottom of the bin.
The
leachate itself is not as nutritious as some may think. it's actually
highly acidic, anaerobic (lack of oxygen), and lacking in the beneficial
microbes and nutrients that plants depend on. As a matter of fact, it
contains the bad microbes that can thrive and multiply in an anaerobic
environment.
Note: If you are constantly having smelly run-off, then your compost is too wet.
Learn the difference of Leachate vs Worm Tea.
The tea consists of a very complex community of organisms such as:
-
Bacteria
-
Protozoa
-
Fungi
-
Nematodes (not the bad ones that attack the roots)
The
plant feeds on these microbes which give it the ability to build a
strong defense system. Some plants contain a hormone called Jasmonic
acid. This hormone is used as a defense against many insects and
parasites. Vermicastings are wonderful but the tea works a little bit
differently. Unlike the vermicastings
time-release process, the "tea" is readily absorbed into the plant
giving it, if you will, a power drink (without the crash, followed by a
migraine). Just like, when we eat our food, our body slowly absorbs the
nutrition. But if we liquefy it, it is readily absorbed into our body.
change, we insist on changing nature, but it is completely opposite. When we change nature, nature insists on changing us (for the worse of course).
Nature always has a way of telling us that what we are doing is wrong. Our bodies weren't designed to store synthetic chemicals. True, our bodies can filter out these harmful toxins, but the problem is that we keep filling our bodies with the harmful toxins and we never get them completely out of our system. The toxins or chemicals harm the beneficial organisms in our body enabling the bad ones to take over. It is a fact that cancer cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment and when our body is deprived of the oxygen, the bad cancer cells will multiply and take over.
The tea builds the good microbial community within the soil, out numbering the bad microbes. The more you put in, the more good microbes will multiply until the good microbes are in control through numbers.
There are two ways the worm tea can be used:
A soil application
A foliar spray
Soil application
As I already mentioned the tea builds a community of good microbes through the oxidized process. It protects the roots as well as nourishes and feeds the plant. Studies have proven that there is increased speeds of plant growth, increased size of plants and blooms, and increased yields. Root systems go deeper and wider.
Also studies have shown that using the tea not only improves the soil for short term affects, but the year after as well. The reason being, is that once you start the microbial community, then after just a few applications the community begins to grow exponentially crowding out unbeneficial microbes. Here is a link that demonstrates the outcomes of vermicompost and vermicompost tea performed by Clive A. Edwards professor at Ohio State University.
Foliar Spray
When the worm tea is sprayed on the plants the microbes attach to the leaf and out compete the harmful disease causing microbes like black rot, mildew, early blight and also become food for the leaf.
