“Are dried castings as good as fresh moist castings? That is the question, more specifically we take castings and dry them out to make tea bags, if you don’t dry the worm castings, they rot or decompose the biodegradable tea bags that we package them in before you can use them. Thanks” ~ Rick from Wisconsin
Hi Rick,
To dry or not to dry, that is the question.
Unfortunately for the packing of the worm cast in tea bags you will need to dry them out completely. The tea bag material will definitely grow mold and rot if its wet or even slightly damp.
For your purpose, what you are trying to do is package the worm cast for long term storage. The tea bags let water seep in for the nutrients to diffuse out, where then the liquid is used as a fertilizer for pot plants. You have then created a ‘worm tea’ which is a very safe and organic way of providing nutrients for your plants.
Why is it unfortunate then?
Besides having to take the time and effort to dry the worm cast, the drying process removes a huge population of micro-organisms within the cast which makes it such a good product.
Fresh and moist castings are definitely better because of the rich microbial life within the casts. When these microbes are transferred to the soil in the garden, it rebuilds the building blocks of the soil and creates natural nutrients for your plants.
The process of drying kills off most of these micro-organisms since microbes need water to survive.
That is why when worm cast are packaged in bags, they need to be relatively dry but not completely. You know when it is completely dry when the casts are as solid as rock. The consistency of good packaged worm cast should look like solid pellets, but when pressed together it should be soft enough to break down into a powdery consistency. [Click Here To Continue…]
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