Food 4 me,

This is out of the Vermicomposting Survival Guide:

Using your Vermicompost

You can mulch it, spread it, mix it with soil or use it as a liquid compost "tea."

To do this take two tablespoons vermicompost and add it to one quart of water. Let it steep for a day, mixing occasionally. Then add it to your plants or spray it on their leaves. The odor is rather pleasant - like that of a forest after a rainstorm.

Please Note: Vermicompost tea is made by mixing finished compost with water. Compost tea is NOT the juice from the bottom of your bin. If you have that much liquid in your bin, it's too wet and likely a symptom of more serious problems.

Tea made from vermicompost will have approximately the same benefit to plant growth as the compost in your bin. To receive the full benefits of worm casting you will need to use worm tea or castings extract.

Worm tea is the leachate obtained from pure worm castings. It is the aerobic or facultative liquid made from castings that have been steeped in water to make a "tea." It has essentially the same benefits to plants as castings, but in liquid form.

Making worm tea is similar to making compost tea - but you'll need to use pure castings seeped in water that's oxygenated by a fish tank pump or similar device. Worm tea should be used within 24 hours of the time it's brewed.

Now sit back and watch your plants bloom like never before!

And Please Note: These teas are for plants  not humans. Don't try them on yourself!

I had forgotton about that publication, Tcdutch! While it contains some good info I would disagree that tea delivers anything near the benefits of castings themselves, however. While many good things can be delivered to plants by making a tea, tea does not replace castings/vermicompost use! The tea delivers only the soluble compounds that were present in the solid matter and only some of the microorganisms, whether or not it is made using an air stone. It is not a significant source of OM, does not contain a complete compliment of the microbial community present in the castings, and compared to castings has a very short term impact. We've done many growth trials, as has Ohio State U, Mississippi State U, Colorado State U, Cornell and other universities, and all have demonstrated that the use of compost or earthworm castings tthemselves produces better plant growth response, often far better, than does tea made from those same materials.

As to how to make tea, there is no one right way. I've seen folks use the two tablespoons per quart method, and I've seen them make tea using equal parts water and worm castings. There is no scientific proof that one is necessarily better than another, but anecdotal evidence suggests that teas made with more castings produce better results. My trials bear that out, but you will find folks who have used lower castings concentrations and gotten excellent plant growth stimulus, so take my comments as just one voice among many. Experimentation is encouraged!

As to the air stone, or aerating of teas, know that it is one way that many folks make tea, but that it is by no means required. There is no research anywhere suggesting that aerating tea produces a better tea, but some significant research demonstrating that Non-aerated teas produce excellent plant grwoth response.

Try what feels right to you; let yourself be intuitive!

Kelly S

Concerning the ACT/CT comparisons, I have always considered ACT useful strictly as a foliant application where, as the proponents proclaim, the LIVING critters spread over the foliage to protect it from..... That said, teas without aeration would seem to have no advantages over compost/worm castings with the possible exception of ease of application. (As an experiment, I am using ACT to treat and water an area of my lawn using a low-pressure hose-end sprayer. Hence the ease of application statement) I would be hard-pressed to apply compost as evenly, and easily with a spreader.

Any comments, recommendations, outrageous rebuttals?

Chuckiebtoo

I am intrested to use vermicompost tea for aphid control. Do any one have experiments in this respect? Is it possible to reduce the aphid populations by using vermicompost? My friends tell me that vermicompost spreaying on foliage will cause to leaf burn and I am afraid. Can we use foliage application of vermicompost for better growth and aphid managment? It would be highly appreciated if some body can help me. Thanks pourrahim@yahoo.com

Could brown or unrefined sugar replace molasses in making vermicast tea? If so, how much sugar/vermicast/water ratio? Thank you :)

Although it is not necessary in making the tea a heater can help. I have done both. Recently I added a submergable heater to my 5gal brew which kept the mix at 76° F. By doing this Im thinking it increased the microbe multiplication in the mix, it only makes sense that it would. The thing that Im not sure about is the amount of castings to add--- Ive seen anywhere from 1 cup to 1 gal in a 5 gal bucket and still dont know what is the best mix. Im guessing it may not matter as long its as its a good quality castings.

I forgot to add that I also have a digital temp probe along with the heater. I do tend to keep my house cool in winter 65 and lower at times. So in checking the 5gal bucket of water even after the chlorine dispell before adding the heater I was seeing readings of 57-58° F. thats quite a difference when you raise the temp to 76°. I did a lot of research online as some heaters got bad reviews from users, so anyway I went with the AQUEON Pro Heater 100w.

One consideration about tea brewed in colder winter climates is what's gonna happen to the critters in that brew when exposed to those harsh climes.

What's gonna happen is a large part of that population is gonna at worst, freeze...and at best, not thrive.

I prefer "teaing" when the temps where the tea will make its new home are conducive to all that tender new life's successfulness.

chuckiebtoo

This time of year that I make a brew goes into my inside cuttings not outside, sorry I didnt make that clear.

I use 1 ounce of castings per gallon. A cup of castings will weigh about 3 ounces. This has produced good results for me. I aerate and use molasses. Brew for at least 24 hours. Be sure to use your tea within 24 hours. Vermitea has a short shelf-life.

You can use brown sugar. I throw in a handful in a five gal. Brew. And then only if I think it might be on the cool side,outside.

Ive come to the conclusion how much you add to make your tea is directly related to how much available casting you have. Ive seen where people have added anywhere from 1 cup to 1 gal. to their brew. I have read that steeped tea and aerated teas are entirely two different beasts. That you should not use steeped tea as a foliar spray just add it to the soil, but aerated tea can be used as a foliar spray. Recently I made some AACT with a heater which kept the brew at 76 degrees F. and this tea seemed stronger than previous brews.

Yeah, steeped tea just doesn't infuse oxygen that, along with a foodstuff (molasses?), maximizes growth and expanion of all those beneficial critters that do good things ON the plants surfaces in addition to the less beneficial (IMHO) results provided to the roots.

Strange that my 360 guide book does not ever give a dosage amount but it does talk about the science of it what to add but sure skirts around the amount to add . So according to the vc survival guide listed above I did a measure using the 2 tbls per qt. Using fairly level tbls 8 tbls came to about 3/4 cup which equates to 3 cups when using 4 gal of water in a 5 gal bucket of AACT. I think my personal normal dose is about 4 cups so still in a good range. I have seen where some people have used up to a gal of the vc in a bucket. This of course will be related to how much a person has to spare. But my experience using the heater on the last batch convenced me that the brew of microbes vastly improved over previous brews and will continue in this method.