Sustainable Worm Casting Seed Starting Mix -Indoor Garden Experiment CONCLUSION

[@Albopepper]

Read more: Vermi-composting ► link.albopepper.com/worms Read more: Composting: ► link.albopepper.com/compost For context, watch the INTRO: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWionJuZZ52kq5o Follow-up Test: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmnYop95a76LopI

[@TheChromePoet]

Please, Worm castings mixed with water experiment.

[@MIgardener]

Worm castings are definitely amazing, and I would completely agree with nitrogen draft in this case. Great experiment!

[@Albopepper]

+MIgardener | Simple Organic Gardening & Sustainable Living - Thanks for watching the video. I'm having interesting results in the follow-up experiment. I can't wait to share those results as well! ;-)

[@OneYardRevolution]

Great experiment, Al! I love the idea of creating a potting mix entirely from free resources. I've also grown in 100% worm castings with good results. The one downside I've noticed is that castings sometimes get compacted and hard over time. I think you're absolutely right about nitrogen draft. I look forward to your future experiments.

[@Albopepper]

+OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening - Thank-you for your feedback & for visiting my Channel. I've been cramming my brain with so much permaculture info that it feels like it's gonna burst! Every month I have to step back & reassess my thoughts & goals. Then I carry out real life testing & I have even more to assimilate!

[@jimkinson4975]

+OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening I also will be watching for more experiments. Dairy farming was so much part of my life and getting manure was never a problem, so my garden was never lacking nitrogen and some of the other nutrients. Thanks for your valuable informational videos and your helping others. Blessings.

[@jimkinson4975]

+AlboPepper Thanks for sharing with us. I have been watching a few of your videos and have picked up some things that will help me in my new way of gardening. I was really interested in your worm bin. Though I live in zone 4/5, I don't think I would try it out doors here in Maine, but in the basement with a small grow light for plants that I may grow. Thanks again and May the Lord bless you.

[@Albopepper]

Jim Kinson - Thank-you Jim! I appreciate it greatly. I've actually been looking at some samples of a peat moss substitute which is derived from manure. I look forward to sharing it with everyone!

[@jimkinson4975]

Look forward to hearing. Blessings.

[@mallika8359]

I like this experiment. Just a few weeks ago my science teacher asked us for our project proposals. I am doing around the same thing and I'm now very excited for results PS: This video and the last one were the only videos which matched with my search

[@Albopepper]

Thank-you very much! Something I want to share with you. I'm doing a new test this year with worm castings. I made a potting mix with 50% worm castings, 25% peat moss, 12.5% vermiculite & 12.5% perlite. I was not getting any germination. I suspect that this year's castings were more concentrated than last year's. I'm trying the test again with 25% castings instead. So just be careful about the concentration. Different batches of casting might yield very different results!

[@Idontwantachannel67]

Thank you for boiling it down to WORM CASTINGS are the BEST so quickly! Miss your videos of just the garden tour. Have a great day.

[@Albopepper]

Thanks for watching Danielle!

[@aj203]

Just subscribed, your videos are very informative and I just started the vermiculture with the red wigglers. I followed other subscribers on KZbin but I end up spending so much money with azomite and other stuff, when I can just concentrate on the worm castings, thanks this video confirms it. I really appreciate you sharing and thanks for helping me save a bunch of money!

[@Albopepper]

+AJ Ho - Hi AJ! Welcome to my Channel & thanks for subscribing! :D Yeah, there are lots of ways to garden. But if we examine the resources available to us, we can often find super inexpensive options that work great. I keep trying a variety of techniques & amendments. Some stuff might help out, but I don't think it's as necessary as people claim. I'm finding that the simpler, the better!

[@deakemarschall2992]

Amazing study. I love real world tests. As they say, "The proof is in the castings". Some folks balk at the price of worm castings but this show they can be a very good investment. Thanks for your efforts.

[@Albopepper]

+DW Marschall - That's so true! And since they are costly, that can justify going through the effort of raising worm on site. I'm so glad I did it!

[@deakemarschall2992]

Seeing your video has convinced me to start up my worm bin again after it went south 2 years ago.

[@BobMelsimpleliving.]

Thanks for sharing Al. Best wishes Bob.

[@ninjaraph]

I have been wondering about this very thing. Great video! Subbed

[@tlgardens7598]

Great vid! Thank you for sharing. Gonna be checking out your channel!!!

[@mixlix8909]

Bravo very informative and excellent presentation. I`m just starting with worm farming myself, I was thinking of mixing the worm casting with brown leafs, bark and pine needels too, no need now - but you beat me to it. :)

[@beverlypous9603]

Awesome experiment!!! I love your experiments! Keep up the great work.

[@Albopepper]

+Beverly Pous - Thanks Beverly. I keep learning with each new test. It's lots of fun! xD

[@thomasranjit7781]

Human urine 1: 20 with water excellent nitrogen for plants sister

[@alaskansourdoughwormsgarde4392]

Pretty good guess on my part. I am a wormer and am going to start some seeds using the castings and see what happens. I have had seeds sprout in the bins as well as some mushrooms from outdoors who's spores came in on leaves that I feed to my worms from my yard. They get no manures but do live in bins because I live in Alaska.

[@gardeningwithaloha5573]

That is wonderful!! I ❤️ worm castings so soft & fluffy great for the garden! Thanks for proof of the worm castings awesome experiment!👍🏼🌻

[@Albopepper]

+Cheryl cummings - Thanks Cheryl! Yes, my little worms are amazing helpers. And since my box is bottomless, some of the worms have traveled to various spot throughout the whole property, benefiting my perennials. ;-)

[@sheplaysguitarwell]

Solient Green- brings back Charlton Heston memories. Love your channel Albo:)

[@awwentyrsson150]

Great experiment! Noting the Nitrogen draft, I would really be curious to see how this experiment replicated with the addition of a couple of clover seeds in each pot...to see if growing a nitrogen fixating plant would increase the seedlings success?!?! Let me know if you ever do this additional experiment.

[@allenedvideo]

AL! Where you been all my life. I love LOVE your experiments and clear videos. THANKS A MILLION for educating us. Fascinating stuff. Please show a link to your vermicomposting techniques and the most effective method. Again, thank you thank you and thank you :)

[@Albopepper]

I appreciate your positive feedback Ed! I'm always trying to learn new things & I enjoy sharing that with others. I'm glad my videos have been able help out. For vermicomposting, there are several different methods. Each has its unique advantages. Here is the system that I'm using: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIaXmHSEjJpqiZY :-D

[@growalicious5167]

great test

[@markbrock9020]

Fantastic video, I actually learned some things! :)

[@andresdiagama3653]

Great vid

[@SudeeshSubramanian]

I love experiments :) Good work man !!

[@Albopepper]

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. xD

[@SudeeshSubramanian]

Do you think that the vermicompost that we make in a bin are same as worm castings found on top soil??

[@Albopepper]

I think that vermicompost from an enclosed bin or container might be a little more potent than castings that are scooped off of the ground. Mine come from a bottomless box, stored outdoors on the ground. So all those juices (worm tea) just seep into the ground. Also, when it rains a portion of the nutes (including salts) is able to wash into the soil. That might be one of the reasons that I can grow things in pure castings. Getting an NPK analysis would probably be interesting as a basis for comparison. I just don't know if I'll ever do it.

[@SudeeshSubramanian]

AlboPepper - Drought Proof Urban Gardening Yeah, I know about your "worm-free-country-bottomless-wormbin" ;)

[@HighDesertGarden]

It's nice to see the results with the pure worm castings. I'm so thankful for my worms!

[@sarcasmo57]

So interesting, great job!

[@Albopepper]

Thank-you! :-D

[@slyplaymike1]

Thank you...very informative

[@Albopepper]

Thanks for watching!

[@TomPalissade]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[@carolallison9685]

It could also just be that the worm castings are light and fluffy while the other stuff tends to compact down. It looks more like the roots are suffocating. Theres no way youve had those in the pots long enough for nitrogen to be locked up due to bacterial activity. Im an ecologist, trust me. The one planted in the pine needles looks like an iron deficiency as well. This happens because most plants cant handle the high acid content and it will actually block the up take of iron. Youre best bet is a good seed starting mix mixed with worm casting. Just straight worm castings is a waste of money because a small plant simply wont use all of it. If your only doing a few plants, or have the money to blow, sure use just worm castings, but for someone like me who starts over 1000 seedlings every year, i would go bankrupt lol.

[@Albopepper]

The premise for the experiment was discussed here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWionJuZZ52kq5o I've had PLENTY of FREE worms castings to use, as highlighted here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKa6aHx3e9CNbZo

[@VOTE4TAJ]

Excellent video, thank you for showing the results. Curious to know what's the growth rate out in the yard or greenhouse. I have personally noticed once the plants are transferred they go into a total new setup.

[@Albopepper]

Thanks for checking out my video! I'm not sure what you mean. Are you asking if the plants grow faster after being transferred outdoors?

[@VOTE4TAJ]

+AlboPepper - Drought Proof Urban Gardening Yes, that's exactly I would like to know. In greenhouse and actual growing bed/container have the atmosphere, soil structure and environment could entirely be opposite. Tomatoes from store thrived while green pepper did not.

[@jabohabo3821]

They pack down over time though. Id mix with leaf fluf or degraded bark

[@VeganChiefWarrior]

i just did this with fine sifted compost and now am going for wormcastings as i believe thats where the nitrogen comes from basically

[@juangracian4756]

whooaaa, i didn't expect the needles to work as a mixture medium as well as they had. WCFTW! (worm castings for the win)

[@Albopepper]

+Juan Gracian xD

[@thetinku72]

would rice husk be better at aerating compost? carbon content in rice husk is just slightly higher than its nitrogen content

[@ohhowhappygardener]

Great job!

[@alaskansourdoughwormsgarde4392]

What is the plant that you grew there, almost looks like bok choy?

[@Albopepper]

Hi Catherine! I have a link to the seeds in the description. Thanks for watching. :-)

[@HiBuzz52]

How much worm casting do you put in a 4" pot?

[@twa2europe1]

How do you process your worm castings? It looks like you dry and sift them. How do you get small seeds out?

[@Albopepper]

+twa2europe2 - Hi! Check out this video for how I handle my worms, which includes sifting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIaXmHSEjJpqiZY I use a regular screen from a storm door. For tiny seeds, I've come to realize that the key is prevention. I compost my seedy materials in my tumbler. I don't put 'em in my worm bin. I am still finding random ground cherry seedlings that pop up from 2 years ago. But I've since learned my lesson! ;-)

[@petezahutt5174]

sure , any seeds that get in my worm bin germinate like crazy, just need to look out for fungus gnats.

[@Colyz93]

nice job, i wonder if i can keep my plants vegetables/houseplants growing in potted pure worm castings as i searched online i found people say that nitrogen exists in worm castings can and will burn plants roots, it is hard for me to set worm pin so i need to be sure before i decide if it is worth it, so what do you think?

[@Albopepper]

Thanks! :) I think that each batch of castings can be different. Some retail bags might have NPK values. But buying castings can get costly. It depends on what the worms were fed and how they were raised. My castings are probably on the weaker side because my box freely drains into the soil and also receives outside rainfall. I don't feed manure to my worms either. So my advice is to try a small-scale test. With stronger castings, some people stick with 25% castings. This year, I'm growing my pepper seedlings in 50% Castings, 12.5% Coir, 12.5% Peat Moss, 12.5% Perlite & 12.5% Vermiculite. It has made for a nice texture. I even dropped in a little organic fertilizer to give it a boost.

[@kli8806]

I suspect watering with diluted urine would make up for the nitrogen deficit from nitrogen draft.

[@grantmara769]

Hows bat guano and worm casting mix would do?

[@Albopepper]

Those are both good sources of fertility! It might be good to combine them with other components for improved structure. Peat moss, coir, composted bark, rice hulls, perlite, vermiculite, etc.

[@rudraagnihotri725]

good job

[@Albopepper]

Thanks! :-D

[@truegrit8280]

Hi, Just subscribed, , Q .how do I keep red worms alive in Z5,, winters ?? This year I bought a small bag of castings ((10.00 )) and they were dehydrated but I suppose after mixed with dirt and watered , it'll be o.k. ?

[@Albopepper]

+Richard Bushy - Hi Richard. In Zone 6 I was able to keep them in the box featured in this playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2K4Y4KeYqubq7s For Zone 5, you could devise a box that is partially buried in the ground, with thicker walls. In the Winter, you could cover them with a thick layer of Autumn leaves and possibly even cover the box with a sheet of insulation. I'm sure the worm castings you bought will be ok. Just don't use them at full strength, in case they are high in nutrients or salts. A couple small scale tests could help to see what ratios work best. When in doubt, try 25% castings.

[@ciclobasicodominado3298]

Which lights do you use to start your seeds?

[@Albopepper]

Hi Pedro, I use a variety of lights depending on what I'm doing. But my 2 favorite systems that I most often use are my 2 foot, 4 bulb T5 and my Apollo UFO LED 180.

[@karmatraining]

Some of those are definitely suffering from chlorosis, classic yellowed leaf symptoms - they don't have enough iron to build chlorophyllic bodies...very good video. What did you feed your worms? I have to get my worm farm going again. Worms are amazing little creatures.

[@Albopepper]

+Derek Van Tonder - Hi Derek, that's a good insight. Thanks for sharing. I feed my worms cardboard, coffee grounds, Autumn leaves, fresh plant material that is non woody & seed free. Also I like to shred my corn stalks and feed them that too! I try to layer lots of browns with occasional greens. Oh & all of the root masses that I pull out of my annual beds.

[@karmatraining]

+AlboPepper Sounds like you got things under control! I worry about chlorosis, young seedlings are especially prone to it because they grow fast in a short period of time and need heaps of iron, so I apply some liquid seaweed solution to prevent it. It is also absolutely amazing what the seaweed does for my geraniums, they need iron to make their flowers go bright red. Sounds like your worms have a great diet.

[@TheOneLifeRider]

when you add these materials to the worm casts, the microbes are busy decomposing them, and sucking up nutrients needed to grow their population, hence less is available for the plant.

[@whatinspiresu]

Am i crazy, or is this growth 10 days after germination? I see your intro was published 10 days prior to this with tiny seedlings. IF SO.... what do you FEED your WORMS?

[@rc7435]

Kick ass video...

[@Albopepper]

Thanks for watching man!

[@kenknutson1598]

You might get better results adding coffee grounds with the high carbon bulk fillers.

[@gillenzfluff8380]

I collect worm castings from round my garden while killing slugs and snails with a fork!

[@TheBeardedGardener]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@barbarawalker3620]

😊

[@tegrity-farms9842]

carbon sucking up the nitro