Adding worm castings to your soil is the best amendment you can add for plant health as described in the article, Why Worm Castings are Like Garden Fairy Dust. Adding the castings couldn’t be any easier and we explain the simplicity of how to amend your soil with castings in the article How to Use Worm Castings. But what if your indoor or outdoor plant needs to see the plant doctor ASAP and needs a quick boost to bring it back to life? This is where worm tea can be highly beneficial and the ultimate prescription to health. Worm tea is known to be a greater booster for the soil’s condition. Just as our human gut loves a good probiotic, adding worm tea to your plant’s leaves acts as a probiotic full of liquified and concentrated microorganisms, vitamins and minerals.
There is worm tea and worm tea concentrate. Worm tea concentrate is quicker and easier to make, but won’t bring the added punch you get in worm tea. The benefit to having worm tea is the acting sugars in the tea feeds the microorganisms and then those sugars “stick” to the plant for longer life on the plant, which can lead to richer rewards.
Making worm tea concentrate is as simple as adding worm castings to a fine strainer. Believe it or not, lady’s pantyhose works great for this. Simply add some castings, ¼ cup or less will do, to the stockings and tie them in a knot so you have a sachet. Let the castings soak in about a quart of filtered or well water for a good hour. The castings will infuse the water and you now have worm tea concentrate! You can spray your leaves or water your plants with this.
Making the worm tea takes a bit more effort, but the results will leave you utterly amazed. If you’re going to go through the effort to make the tea, it is recommended to make more of the product. You’re going to want it! For the tea, you will need a 5 gallon bucket, lady’s stockings/pantyhose, an aeration pump like used in fish tanks, one cup or more of castings, ¼ cup of molasses, filtered water, and a watering can or spray bottle for application. It is very important to use filtered or well water when making your worm teas and concentrates. Chlorine in city water breaks down the natural and good bacteria and microbes in the castings. These are actually the important byproducts you want! Fill your bucket with the filtered or well water. Add the castings to thin stockings or pantyhose to use as a strainer. Tie the stockings up and add it to the bucket of water, along with the molasses and air pump. Turn the pump on and let the castings brew for about 24 hours. The tea is ready to use on your plants. If you do not use all the tea then continue the air flow or throw it out. Once you remove your tea from the air flow you will need to use it within 4 hours. You want your tea to be aerobic, meaning it has oxygen in it so the beneficial microbes and bacteria will live and thrive. If there is no air flow, the tea will become anaerobic and it will smell bad.
When used as a foliar spray, worm tea helps plants develop larger stems and more foliage. Worm tea is the best way to inoculate your plants and soils and get them out of the plant ER!