Make worm tea for your garden

Worm tea is the best natural fertiliser for your plants and with your own worm farm, you can easily make your own. It is far superior to chemical fertilisers, which contain pesticides and herbicides, that burn the soil and kill beneficial microbes. Worm tea adds beneficial microbes, and the microbes puts nitrogen back to the soil; making it available for plants to absorb. It’s a great way to boost your garden!

You can easily make worm tea using the worm castings from your worm farm. Start by harvesting the worm castings from your Hungry Bin worm farm following the instructions below.

How to harvest your worm castings

Removing worm castings from your Hungry Bin worm farm:

1. Remove the drip tray and pour any liquid there into a suitable container.

2. Release the latches securing the floor to the lower body.

3. Lower the floor from the bottom of the bin. The floor should be full of finished castings.

4. Tip the floor upside down and tap sharply to knock out finished castings.

5. If needed, clean the filter with a hose or some water.

6. Replace the floor over the lower body and secure in place with the latches.

How to make worm tea

You will need:

• A bucket of de-chlorinated water

• A handful or two of worm castings. No need to overthink the ratio.

Method:

1. Add worm castings to the bucket of water.

2. Dissolve the castings overnight in the bucket of water.

   • Optionally add a tbs of brown sugar, molasses or milk to feed the bacteria.

   • Optionally enhance the concoction by giving it more oxygen (aerobic method). This will encourage the bacteria to grow and increase microbial activity. Some people use a fish tank air pump to achieve this.

3. Your worm tea is great to use after a few days.

Want the easier method?
Simply, add your castings to a bucket of water, stir well to add oxygen and apply to your garden straight away! It’ll still be beneficial fertiliser.

How to apply worm tea to your garden

Pour straight from the bucket onto the garden and don’t worry about covering the plant including the leaves. It’s a natural unwanted insect repellent and will help make the plants more resistant to diseases.

Castings are pH neutral, so are very safe to use with all plants. Even a small amount of castings or liquid added to soil will improve the performance of plants. Plants have evolved to uptake the nutrients created by worms – their castings are one of the most beneficial fertilisers for plants.

If you don’t have a worm farm, or if you have one that isn’t operating optimally go to whywaste.co.nz/memberships. We have professionally serviced worm farms on subscription, keeping your worm farm running optimally with guaranteed success. This way, you can halve your waste to landfill and have this amazing worm tea fertiliser for your garden or pot plants!