On Monday, Colin mentioned a really great product that will help benefit your plants both inside and out in the garden: worm castings!
A lot of people don’t so we brought in our friends from Annelida Casting Innovations to give us the low down on this incredible product.
We’re giving away some Annelida Earthworm Castings, and Annelida Earthworm Casting Liquid Extract on our Facebook!
If you want to try out Annelida Worm Castings for your growing projects, pop by Golden Acre Home & Garden or shop online!
“Annelida is a large scale worm casting company based out of Stony Plain, Alberta.
Annelida aims to provide a 100% natural, biologically diverse casting with the highest functionality available in an organic plant food. Annelida products are listed by OMRI for organic use and third-party tested to ensure consistency and quality. Our Premium Worm Castings are some of the most potent & nutrient rich in the market due to our diverse (9 ingredient) feedstock and utilizing our patented flow through digestors giving our 25 Million Red Wiggler worms 45-60 days to completely process the material. Typically our customers need use only 10-15% mixture ratio (with their growing media) compared to the competitors 20-25% giving a much better value while producing stronger yields. We are a few short weeks away from starting to harvest castings at our second facility in the Edmonton region making us one of the largest producers in Western Canada so we would be able to meet demand on a large scale.
We are more diverse than just offering worm castings as we have expanded to include such offerings a Supercharged Soil Activator, Inoculated Bio-Char, PetSpot repair kits for lawns, just to name a few and more coming online in the very near future.
Here are some highlights and significant attributes of utilizing Annelida Worm Castings
- They are rich in all essential plant nutrients in a water soluble slow release form that WILL NEVER BURN plants
- Loaded with beneficial microbes that contribute to a thriving soil environment – 100X more beneficial bacteria than your typical potting soil blend
- Act as a buffer helping plants where soil is PH unbalanced
- Castings hold 9X their own weight in water and increase the soil surface area adding to aeration and drainage.
- Form soil aggregates to help prevent erosion and soil compaction giving roots a stronger hold
- Contain Auxins – Plant growth Hormones increasing yields and flavour profiles
- Can act as a natural plant defence against disease as well as they contain the enzyme Chitinase which can act as an effective pest repellant.
- Shortens the seed germination cycle and will colonize the surface protecting the seed from infection.
Annelida Extract
Extract is created from earthworm castings by agitating castings suspended in water for several hours to “wash” off the biology present on the casting and dissolve any water-solublecomponents: calcium, magnesium, nitrate, sulfur, phosphate, Humics acid, fulvic acid. Calcium, magnesium, nitrate, sulfur, phosphate is readily available for use by plants. Calcium also helps restore soil texture through flocculation and is used by plants to build cellular structure. Humics and Fulvics help restore soil water holding capacity, improve CEC, reduce leaching, adsorb toxins, remain in the soil for several years.
Biology present: large diversity of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematode and flagellates.
Bacteria and fungi are the primary decomposers in the soil and are essential for healthy soil and healthy plants. They form root association that improve plant growth and development. Fight off disease and pests in plants by improving overall plant health so the plant can fight off disease and pests. They store carbon and they continue natural carbon and nitrogen cycles critical for all life.
Protozoa, Flagellates and Nematodes eat the bacteria and fungi, releasing plant available nutrients back into the soil.
By using extract, we are continually adding biology back into the soil, ensuring the continuation of critical nutrient cycling, as well as adding the nutrients plants require to develop healthy and strong. Using extract will also reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers.
Extract Key Points
- Adds essential nutrients
- Adds diverse biology
- Add Humics and Fulvics
- Can help rebuild soil structure
- Discourage pests and reduce disease
- Can be applied as a foliar spray
- Can be applied as a drench
- At least a 6-month shelf life
- Can be used with traditional fertilizer
- Improve cation exchange capacity
- Non-toxic
- Can be frozen – Don’t store above 40C
- Can be used in hydroponics
A big thanks to Peggy and Annelida Casting Innovations for sharing their expertise!! 🙂