Worm Farming Information
About the Earthworm
The Role of Micro-organisms
Vermicast
Vermicast is a biologically active fertiliser containing essential nutrients and trace elements, as well as millions of bacteria, enzymes and remnants of plant materials and animal manures.
Micro-organisms found within Vermicast play a huge role in soil fertility, they convert complex organic matter into simple soluble substances, which can be used by plants as food, therefore the essential minerals for plant growth are recycled in the soil.
On average Vermicast contains five times the available nitrogen, seven times the available potash and three times the available calcium, found in 15 centimetres of good top soil, also Vermicast holds three times its own weight in water.
The Vermicast comes out in a nutritious plant digestible balanced fertiliser.
We do not mix this Vermicast with anything. We leave the Vermicast in its natural state. This means no heating, which would kill the microbes and destroy a lot of the nutrients the plants uptake. After all, the worm has been doing very well for thousands of years with this mix and what better way to recycle our waste on earth.
There has been a lot of scientific research carried out on Vermicast and people are realising the benefits and the excellent results it is having on our soils.
Another advantage of Vermicast is that you don't need a lot of it to get a good result.
Happy Growing!
The earthworm has always been affiliated with healthy soils through their capacity to refine soil structure, increase fertility and overall improve conditions for strong growth and increased productivity. Micro-organisms found within Vermicast play a huge role in this fertility.
They carry out the decomposition of plant and animal wastes, converting complex organic matter into simple soluble substances, which can be used by plants as food. Thus the essential minerals for plant growth are recycled in the soil.
The end product of micro biological decomposition is the production of humus, which is a vital element in soil structure.
Microbes and enzymes are the catalysts which transfer nutrients from soil to plants. Soil bacteria are particularly important in the recycling of nitrogen in the soil. Inorganic nitrogen is taken up by plants and combined with other elements to form proteins. The result of bacterial decay of these plant and animal proteins is to bring that nitrogen back into the soil in the form of simpler nitrogen compounds.
Bacterial action of various kinds (nitrification and denitrification) converts these compounds to forms suitable for plant use. In addition, the soil micro-organisms are capable of nitrogen fixation either by free-living nitrogent fixing bacterial in the soil or by symbiotic bacteria in the mycorhrizal association in the root nodules of leguminous plants. The action of these soil micro-organisms reduces the need for nitrogen fertilisers.
The total number of soil micro-organisms is an indication of soil fertility.