Of late, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the abject greed in this country that pervades almost every facet of our lives. If asked what was the single characteristic that defines "The American Culture", I would have to answer, "Greed".

It seems we are obsessed with "get as much money as we can as fast as we can." Truth and any form of moral compass are inconveniences, useful only when, or if, they facilitate getting more money faster.

The unpleasant cynicism of the east coast is balanced only by the incessant belief (and sale) of "magic" on the west coast. I find it ironic that in an era unprecedented in human history for technology and science, we have the greatest number of snake-oil salesmen. ("Scientists" being among the greatest deceivers, being "for sale" even more than sexual prostitutes.)

Oy!

Paul

Thanks for posting this. There are some (apparent) facts in this video which allow me to say it is worth watching.

However:

It comes across as one long ad. The guy who does the most talking, Joe ?, has a strident voice I found irritating. After I learn how to spell the stuff that interested me, I'll attempt to summarize the (apparent) facts.

The cautious language is Respect to Paul. ; )

using Wikipedia:

Pythium is a genus of parasitic oomycotes. Most species are plant parasites, but Pythium insidiosum is an important pathogen of animals. They were formerly classified as fungi; the feet of the fungus gnat are frequently a vector for their transmission.[1

Chitin (C8H13O5N)n (/ÃÂkaêtèn/ KY-tin) is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world. It is the main component of the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods such as crustaceans (e.g., crabs, lobsters and shrimps) and insects, the radulas of mollusks, and the beaks and internal shells of cephalopods, including squid and octopuses. The structure of chitin is comparable to the polysaccharide cellulose, forming crystalline nanofibrils or whiskers. In terms of function, it may be compared to the protein keratin. Chitin has also proven useful for several medical and industrial purposes. Bird plumage and butterfly wing scales are often organized into stacks of nano-layers or nano-sticks made of chitin nanocrystals that produce various iridescent colors by thin-film interference.[1]

The engineer in the video is George Hahn.

The main point of the video is that the quality of the VC depends on what the worms have to eat.

CHITIN is in the shells of crustaceans such as crabs, crayfish and clams. It is like magic for your plants. Chitosans, as they are also sometimes called, help prevent plant disease to create healthier plants. One way that chitin helps plants is by encouraging the growth of chitin eating bacteria. Many harmful insects in the garden have lots of chitin in them. The prey of chitin eating bacteria include fungus and nematodes. The chitin eating bacteria will attack those pests that have a lot of chitin in them. Chitin also gives tolerance to heat and cold and other environmental extremes. Chitin can also help flowering plants to produce more flowers for a longer period of time. This includes vegetables that flower to produce food such as tomatoes. Use silicon and chitin together for maximum results.

OMG! Now we want the chitin to go after some fungi and bacteria .

There have been a few instances recently of double posts by me. "I didn't do it." "A big kid did it and ran away." I don't know why these are happening, especially one like this one where there were other posts in between.

Back on topic...

Thanks for the respect, barbararose. "Gentle-speak" is appreciated. However, please don't let my blunt, and occasional 'drum beating', opinions inhibit your postings. I would be sorry for that.

ALL snake-oil salesmen weave truth into their sales pitches. Such are the tools of the con artist. Tell enough truth that the listener is CONvinced that the rest is also true. AND add "facts" that are unsubstantiated and diffictult to disprove.

In MY OPINION, the above contains the classic example of "a little truth" to sell a LOT of nonsense. "Lies" - as usual, difficult to attach that label to this sales pitch. Deceitful - no problem at all - in the context of GETTING people to BUY something.

Paul

This post was edited by pskvorc on Wed, May 21, 14 at 12:28

Had nothing to do with worms, Paul, but loved your first post. ;)

It did however have 'something' to do with the Youtube video. At least that was my intent.

Paul

I subscribed to that guy's youtube channel a year or two ago. He has some good advice for home urban gardeners. I learned quite a bit from watching the guy, and I find him rather entertaining. I don't know if he makes money doing his show or if he just likes sharing his interest with the world. He could probably get his own show on one of those garden cable tv channels.
The old dude he interviewed might be a snake oil salesman (it's probably a safe assumption that anyone selling anything in a plastic bag claiming its organically alive is selling snakeoil(except maybe the carney selling beta fish in a plastic bag)), but I'm gonna start adding fingernails back to the food lineup for my worms.
If you use hair for food, cut it short. I put dog hair in mine once, and it got kinda spikey and nasty.

Paul,
I sort of share your cynicism, but I don't necessarily think the old guy selling dirt is out to get rich quick selling a "magic" product. I think everyone on this forum would agree that worm castings make a good fertilizer. The old dude has sucessfully marketed a product that is a good fertilizer. I wouldn't shun him for being evil and greedy because of that. We live in a civilization where people trade goods and services for silly worthless pieces of paper. He is just trading something that has an inherent value (makes food grow) for money so he can trade that money for other things that he either can't make himself or doesn't want to make himself.
I admire the guy. I'd still like to be able to one day be able to sell worm castings to people who want to use it as fertilizer but think the keeping worms is gross, so I can collect some silly pieces of paper and buy an airplane with a hot tub in it. I'd build it myself, but my engineering skills are kind of lacking. Does that make me evil and greedy? I suppose anyone that owns a flying hot tub could be considered evil and greedy, but it would be pretty cool.

this is to EQ

I've bit my fingers to the quick to prevent myself from writing this but I'm about to succumb:

I'll see your toenails and raise you the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag.

BR

Niivek: "I think everyone on this forum would agree that worm castings make a good fertilizer."

This isn't meant to be nitpicking, but we sometimes can give people wrong ideas about some of the qualities of this wonderful soil amendment that we coax from our wormies using ultra-healthy dietary parameters that we don't even think about adhering to our own selves.

Vermicompost is not a real high quality FERTILIZER. It's a wonderful soil amendment that will cause those soils to become so fertile that they don't NEED additional fertilizer properties.

It's also a seeker-out of all those nasty diseases and fungal infections and waste-laying critters that are partly enabled by all the chemicals that're used by chemo-heads (like way too many people on my street) who're used to putting a chemical product upon a poorly performing garden/lawn problem for INSTANT gratification.

When used properly and consistently....and exclusively, vermicompost and AVCT will eliminate the need for any of those things.

Anyway, peeps expecting INSTANT gratification with VC.... like they are accustomed to with chemo....ain't gonna get it, and when newbies don't, they give it up way too soon sometimes.

It takes a little while for a newby vermicomposter to get his mind right and forget about putting some chemical (designed by the corporate entity to aid that problem but also laying waste to ALL the bacteria causing the little problem plus all the good guys too) on a particular little problem on the lawn.

That strategy assures corporate chemo a loyal, steady-returning client base that'll keep coming back for something to help repair the destruction the previous chemo caused.

But outstanding fertilizer VC is not.

Chuckiebtoo

FWIW: I've posted lots of pics of before/after, and proof-positive results of VC and AVCT applications here in the past. A little search can erase a lot of doubts as to the viability of VC....and especially AVCT (which has been taking some poo-poo hits lately around here). That happens occasionally when climate-change-denial types rear up espousing doubt and speculation with iittle or no knowledge of the actual facts.

My name is Stephanie, and I used a chemical to kill snails last month.

*hangs head in shame*

If I only had a lab coat and some money to buy a youtuber...

I've seen a lot of videos from this guy already. He's always got some hot new product to endorse because he doesn't seem to have any urge to test the logic or check the facts of anyone he features. I have a rather fine-mesh filter for people like that.

On the topic of the video, Mr. Labcoat is saying whatever he thinks is going to sell more of his product. He bought his advertising spot and by-gosh he's going to fill it. He's concerned about outdoing his market competition, but not his moral integrity, or respect for his customers. There's really no reason to pay a premium or get his specific brand of dirt shipped from California.

Every single farmer on the planet is willing to invest in a product that quadruples his/her income, so if Labcoat was telling anything close to the truth, he would be too busy in his flying hot tub to do interviews with small-time youtube hustlers.

Also, the microbes that break down chitin in a worm bin are not usually going to be the same ones that are parasitically attacking living hosts.

I think it is pretty impressive he found a way to sell his old toenails.

"I think it is pretty impressive he found a way to sell his old toenails."
AMEN! And hats off to anyone that can sell used-up, cut off body parts.

Chuckiebtoo's comments regarding the quality of VC as "fertilizer" should be 'required reading'. "Elixir", and "Ambrosia", and "magic" are the words that come to mind all too often in the context of vermi-"x". ALL things need to be used as intended. Damn few - none that I know of - are likely to be the "wonder drug" that so many WANT to hawk or get.

Paul

I need to git me a white lab coat.