Liquid Vermicast

Why buy vermiliquid when I can buy cheap stuff or make my own?

Do you have it bubbling in a drum 24/7?

Is it produced in a highly aerated manner in the first place (see the 10 sec video) Img_0738 Has it been tested to ensure its safe ? Does it have small amounts of other organic substances added to turbocharge the solution and hence the result?
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An important consideration is whether your liquid is leachate or worm caste extract. Leachate refers to what commonly runs out of over saturated worm farms, many of which will contain rotting food scraps and/or uneaten animal manures. Worm caste extract is produced by starting with mature worm castings and dissolving it in water. Various producers will have some additives and tricks to increase the bacterial population, and possibly the fungal population as well.

A good worm juice will contain billions of bacteria, fungi spores, archea and even beneficial nematodes. There is considerable research now showing that plants and microbes have a symbiotic relationship, with plants supplying microbes with exudates including sugars and nutrients. Microbes in turn supply plants with basic nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus etc. Further plants can modify the chemical components of their exudates in order to promote certain species of microbes whose function is to supply a certain type of nutrient the plant requires in quantity at that time.

Beneficial microbes tend to form biological barriers around the fine roots of plants which can help prevent root diseases caused by non-beneficial organisms. The disease-causing organisms cannot find infection sites to enter the plants and can also be outcompeted for food sources by the beneficials. This can be true on the leaves or in the root zones hence use your microbial solution as a soil drench or as a foliar spray (we recommend diluting for foliar sprays, and apply after the Sun goes down). A reduction in pesticide use often results.

Since the solution is produced from worm castings, which in turn came initially as worm food then the elements are in simple forms. When plant matter is attacked by bacteria in worm beds the complex compounds are broken down into smaller, simpler radicals such as Nitrates which tend to be water soluble. This enables these simple compounds to be absorbed by osmosis directly by plants. In summary the microbe solution contains plant available nutrients as well as a host of organisms that will co-exist and support plant growth by decomposing organic matter in the soil.

The scientific and general community are now realising the enormous benefits in biodiversity, whether we are talking gut microbes, cropping with multiple plant species, all ecosystems or organisms in healthy soil. The gardening market is starting to become inundated with products that contain a few species of bacteria or fungi, rarely both. While there is no doubting these products are useful and beneficial, they rarely address the issue of increasing biodiversity in the soil. This is where liquid brewed from worm castings has an enormous advantage.

It has been estimated that a teaspoonful of good vermiliquid could contain more organisms than there are people on Earth ie 7 billion and could contain more than 20 000 different species of bacteria and fungi. A great many of the species have not been identified yet, and what they actually do is unknown. Furthermore many are not able to be cultured in a laboratory to be studied.
So if you believe in the virtues biodiversity brings to life cycles, then well brewed vermiliquid is a great option for you and your garden.