Hi guys,

I just had an interesting interaction online with regards to someone suggesting that using leachate diluted 10:1 on your plants is a good idea because worms ‘wee’ in the garden anyway.

Hmmm… unfortunately this is incorrect guys and here’s why…

Worms don’t wee. They don’t have a bladder or urinary tract.

They produce castings (worm poop), which contains all the good stuff. This is why you’re better off making an extract or aerated tea with the castings.

After informing them of the above, they politely told me that they already knew that, but was of the opinion that most people they know called it… ‘worm wee’.

Okay, fair enough.

But why not just call it ‘worm poop’ instead of incorrectly naming the castings ‘worm wee’? 😕

Now the reason I make mention of this is because there’s now a fast growing trend for home worm farms, which is a great thing.

The more the merrier… I say! 😊👍

However, I also firmly believe that using the correct terminology is important, particularly for the benefit of newbies.

Why?

Because ‘worm wee’ naturally suggests a liquid of some sort.

This can easily confuse someone that’s new to worm farming, especially when a farm comes with a tap. That again suggests that a liquid should be flowing from it, when in fact you should be harvesting the solids (castings) from inside the farm.

There was also a reference made to the leachate being called ‘brown liquid gold’, which surprised me because I would be more inclined to call it… ‘potentially harmful acidic anaerobic phytotoxic rotten fruit and vegetable juice’ (aka bad sh*t).

So, if you see the term ‘Worm Wee’ please question what is meant by this, because it’s important to understand that ‘leachate’ can never be compared to the black gold goodness of quality castings derived from quality feed stock, which has been fully processed by a worm.

*Please note that’s it’s also impossible to get 100% pure worm castings from a worm farm. Unless you’re going to put a little nappy on every worm and only collect the contents of that nappy, then you can never guarantee you have 100% pure worm castings.

At best you will get high quality vermicompost (depending on the feed stock), which does contain plenty of worm castings after being put through an effective screening and curing process.

So, if high quality screened and cured vermicompost can’t even be guaranteed to be 100% pure… just imagine all of the unprocessed anaerobic rotten gunk flowing through a worm farm after a good soaking.

Look… some will say that it if you insist on using it, then it can be diluted right down to a 10:1 mix and carefully used as a soil drench only around ornamental plants or on a lawn etc.

And that’s a fair suggestion, but my question is…

Why would you want to work with an inferior and potentially harmful product in the first place?

It doesn’t really make a lot of sense in my humble opinion.

So nowadays I tend to say… Why risk it and why would you want to ruin all the good work your worms have done by destroying the friable fluffy textured castings, which contains all the best stuff to benefit your plants and garden anyway?

Some have argued that there’s already good / bad bacteria and pathogens in the soil and even our bodies contain all of these things… and yes they are 100% correct!

However, what they fail to acknowledge is they’re in balance and our bodies in particular, have very clever ways of maintaining that crucial balance to keep it in good working order.

This is also why we are encouraged to nourish our bodies with good nutrition and maintain a healthy diet / exercise etc. to support the correct and healthy functioning of our body because as soon as things get out of balance, it significantly increases our chance of becoming unwell.

This is also what happens within the diverse ecosystem of your worm farm.

So yes… leachate can be convenient and easy to use and there is ‘some’ benefit if used carefully, but that’s not really the point.

The point is to obtain the highest quality biological amendment and soil health medicine possible to feed, nourish and support your valuable plants and garden.

And it’s certainly not that difficult to make a simple extract or activated aerated worm cast tea to assist in that process.

I don’t know about you, but all of our ornamentals and edibles are worth a small fortune and I want to look after them with the very best high quality natural and organic medium I can get my hands on or ideally produce myself.

So this is why I ask…

How can feeding a highly inconsistent liquid initially created in an overly wet, acidic, anaerobic and phytotoxic inoculated environment, which also strives to out compete the good bacteria and intentionally put things out of balance be just as beneficial as the amazing soft, silky and friable black gold (aka castings) that have been processed by a worm?

The simple answer is… it can’t and is completely counter-intuitive to the initial purpose of creating a high quality product in the first place.

This also brings me to the point of those who claim to have been using leachate on edibles for 20+ years or however long is claimed.

Okay… well, to be perfectly frank, it doesn’t really matter because it simply indicates they’ve been doing it incorrectly for that period of time.

Now some will acknowledge this and have the humility to change the way they do things to ensure they get the best outcome, which is great!

Others will argue and insist there’s nothing to be concerned about even spouting off all sorts of fallacies, even when credible evidence has been provided clearly proving otherwise.

Unfortunately, these people just want to be ‘right’ no matter what and will never be convinced otherwise because they refuse to be taught anything and already… ‘know it all’.

The fact is… there’s always more to learn with new scientific research and evidence being released and being able to understand this and adapt is a good thing.

It’s how new discoveries are made and how we become more enlightened about them.

Remember, there was also a time when driving without seat belts was completely acceptable.

Nowadays… not so much! 🤔

Please understand that by having a worm farm and keeping them in captivity, we have made the choice to be in the animal husbandry game.

And whilst they are relatively simple and easy to care for, it’s our responsibility to ensure they’re being looked after to the best of our ability with the most up to date research and knowledge available.

Arrogance and ignorance has no place in that arena and the fascinating, quiet and hardworking humbleness of a worm is something we can all learn from.

So on that note guys… your worm farm should rarely (preferably never) produce ‘juice’ (leachate) and if you want to make a ‘worm tea’ or ‘extract’ then you’ll ALWAYS be better off using good quality castings, which if done correctly is chock-a-block full of natural beneficial goodness to help your plants and garden thrive.

Happy worm farming!

Chris 😊👍