Can I Plant Seeds In 100% Worm Castings?

[Winter323]

I would tend to want to use little no worm castings in a seedling/clone mix but give them a nice tea now and again when they are asking for it.

 

[Jack og]

I would tend to want to use little no worm castings in a seedling/clone mix but give them a nice tea now and again when they are asking for it.

They respond very well post sprout and transplant!

 

[Rawkn]

Hello fellow farmers. I know this post is old, but I've seen many similar posts to this on many websites and forums so I had to reply. I've seen a lot people ask if they can grow in pure worm castings, or compost, or some type of manure and almost always there are many responses saying it's dumb, it won't work, if it worked everyone would do it, listen to science, try it and then use a REAL soil etc etc. The awful thing is almost none of these people have ever tried it, or know anyone "dumb enough" to try it.

I love to do experiments with things I enjoy. Growing plants is something I truly love doing experiments with, I just wish some tests didn't take so long hah. These days I constantly have some kind of test going on. Past, current, and soon to start tests include things like different growing mediums, cloning mediums, trying different amounts of amendments, growing with and without mycos, perlite, putting worms in pots, etc etc. BTW, i breed my own worms, and will soon be selling them, and their castings. This means I have unlimited free worm castings/vermicasts, and hot composted material at my disposal. For people paying for castings I'd recommend not using more than 20ish percent in your mix, or you can top dress, or make teas.

In the past I vegged cannabis plants in pure worm castings, and pure compost for 2 months. (I sift my compost, so I can have compost that's ready to use in 24-48 hours even if the compost is currently 130+ degrees Fahrenheit). Both Wc and compost created very nice plants. I never got to see how far into flower they'd make it because I had so much going on at the time, and I also couldn't afford the risk of losing any plants.

Currently I have plants growing in pure Wc, pure sifted compost, and pure aged cow manure. All are healthy and growing the same speed. On top of that I planted 10 seeds into 10 different mixes. Currently 6 have popped up. The ones in pure Wc, compost, and manure have all popped up normal. Mind you, these seeds are 3-4 years old, and were not kept in a fridge or freezer so I wasn't sure if theyd pop anyway. I do soak many of my seeds in water with a few drops of peroxide for 4-24 hours which for me speeds them up and increases germination rates slightly.

The point is, it CAN be done. I wasn't able to gather the best information before, but this time I'm going all in. I will be comparing health, speed of growth, and how many weeks they make it before they look like they need food. Later I'll also try mixes with manure in Wc in different ratios like 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75. Then different amounts of perlite, worms, Kelp, pelleted fertilizer, mycos etc.

While it's quite possible I'll never get around to posting the results here, I want people out there to know you can Sprout seeds in pretty much anything that's wet and has no serious toxins, you can grow in pure Wc, or compost. I say experiment with it! If you truly want to know the answer, test it and see. That's how gardeners get great crops. They try different things to see what works for them. All knowledge was gained from people trying things and seeing the results. Will pure anything grow the best plants? Most likely not. But if you're on a budget or like trying new things, I say have fun trying to grow with the fewest ingredients/amendments you can. It's a challenge in itself.

If you're the type of person who thinks it's bad, dumb, not worth trying, or everything I said was a lie, that is fine too. Go about growing the way people told you to grow, because someone told them how to grow, and someone told them. Information was lost, they may have never tried another method at all and it may work, but you can't say it's great if you haven't tried other methods. Maybe you just hate learning because it hurts your brain cell, I don't know.

TRY NEW THINGS. IT CAN BE FUN!

I should note, you may want perlite, vermiculite, rocks, shells, to use fabric pots, or something for drainage if you aren't good at knowing the exact time to water your plants, let the soil dry too much, or often have root problems. Also, all these tests are for potted plants. I haven't done any real tests for my plants in the ground. Another note, not all compost, castings, or manure are created equal. I can grow in my castings and compost, but maybe not in someone else's. It greatly depends on what was fed to the compost, worms, or animals.

I hope this little bit of information will help some people, shut some people up (doubtful), and especially I hope it encourages people to try new things! I do it for fun and knowledge I can use in the future. Maybe you want to discover some new miracle amendment. It doesn't matter your reasons, just try it and see what happens. If you know how to clone, and don't have seeds to spare, use clones for your tests. I'm going to have a test plant soon. It's only purpose in life is to be cut, cloned, and tested. Seeds are all genetically different, so many tests should be done with clones of the same plant, but even seeds and different plants will still give a general idea of what works.

Thank you to anyone who actually read all this, and happy gardening!