8 Reasons to Use Worm Castings
The benefits of using worm castings in a garden are unbelievable.When you look at them all together, there’s a good chance you’ll start to think “Why would I want to use anything else?”
- Plants grow faster – Seeds germinate faster in worm castings than in regular soil. In addition to speeding up the germination process, plants will also sprout up faster with worm castings.
- Soil aeration – Due to the physical structure of the castings, they’re extremely difficult to pack down like regular dirt. This means oxygen will be able to make its way through the soil to the roots of your plants, which improves growth.
- Water retention – When mixed with castings, soils have a better chance of holding onto essential water. This makes it possible to use 50-75% less water in some situations.
- All-natural – Worm castings are chemical-free, contain no artificial pesticides, and can be used in growing organic produce.
- No heavy metals – One of the big problems that many gardeners and farmers are dealing with is high concentrations of heavy metals in the soil and in fertilizers. Worms actually have the ability to absorb heavy metals like copper, lead, and cadmium from soil. This means that by the time they produce castings, they’re heavy metal free. This reduces the likelihood that those metals will make it into food sources grown in worm castings.
- Burn-proof – One common problem with a lot of fertilizers is that they are too high in nitrogen. This makes it easy to burn the roots of your plants if you put too much on. Castings will never burn your plants.
- Natural pesticide – You’ll get natural pest-resistance with plants grown in castings. This allows you to save money on pesticides while also avoiding the need to spray chemicals on your crops.
- Increased yield – A study by Nature Research showed that crops grown in worm castings produced 25% more yield on average. That’s a lot of extra crops!