Enjoy a partial reprint of the article on the benefits of worm castings we wrote for the Connecticut Horticultural Society this summer! :)

Vermicompost (composted wood or food waste mixed with worm castings) & worm castings (defined as pure worm castings refined to 1/8" of an inch and much more concentrated & beneficial than vermicompost in the organic garden) are super-packed with macro & micro-nutrients, natural plant food minerals and beneficial plant root microbes in plant-ready form that your garden is going to love, giving YOU the gardener the healthiest and most beautiful plants and flowers in the neighborhood...all without using chemicals that are bad for your children, pets and the environment.  

Concentrate on strengthening your soil which in turn feeds plant / flower roots and you will be pleasantly rewarded! The benefits of worm castings even greatly outweigh the benefits of compost, aged manure and conventional fertilizers…Why?

Fertile soil (most of us don’t even minimally have that anymore due to the overuse of chemical-based fertilizer products that are stuffed with high amounts of NPK that can actually kill your plant instead of help it if not use cautiously...and let's be honest most people barely read the label!) has approximately 5 million beneficial microbes per gram (imagine about of the weight of a paperclip), however, worm castings have been found to contain up to 100 million beneficial plant root microbes per gram, up to 20 times more than the surrounding soil.   Purdue University has reported that earthworms also leave soil 5-11% richer in essential plant-available NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) nutrients without even considering the vast amounts of micro-nutrients and beneficial microbes they also add to the mix that are responsible for robust plant growth and flower blooms.  

Worm castings (which look just like refined black coffee and smell like rich earth when made & harvested properly), due to the worms’ enzymes, also release micro and macro nutrients slowly throughout the season (sort of a natural time-released formula...so no wasted resources or leaching). Chemical fertilizers generally contain a high NPK content that aren't even in optimal form for plant roots to absorb so most of it leaches (runs off into our waterways) where it pollutes our water systems causing nasty things like algae blooms. In other words, you really have to watch how much you use or you’ll actually kill your plants. Not so with worm castings though!  

Here’s a more technical list of additional benefits of worm castings:

1. Worm castings improve soil structure and porosity – creating a better plant root environment
2. Worm castings increase moisture infiltration and permeability, and reduces bulk density of heavy soils – improving moisture infiltration rates, reducing erosion and runoff
3. Worm castings improve the moisture holding capacity of light soils – reducing water loss and nutrient leaching
4. Worm castings improve the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soils (this is a measure of the soil’s ability to hold and release various elements and compounds, for example: plant nutrients)
5. Worm castings supply organic matter
6. Worm castings aid the proliferation of soil microbes that benefit plant and flower growth
7. Worm castings supply beneficial microorganisms to soils and growing media
8. Worm castings encourage vigorous root growth
9. Worm castings allow plants to more effectively utilize nutrients
10. Worm castings enable soils to retain nutrients longer
11. Worm castings contain humus – assisting in soil aggregation and making nutrients more available for plant uptake
12. and finally, high quality worm castings buffer soil pH since they tend to run pH neutral

Worm castings are literally the best and only thing you'll ever need for all your indoor and outdoor gardening needs...but don't forget, just like any product in the market not all worm castings products are created equal! There is an in-depth process to creating premium worm castings and a lot of companies just throw some worms in buckets of peat (which is also a non-sustainable resource by the way). Picture an athlete that eats junk food instead of a protein and carbohydrate balanced diet to fuel his body. Junk in gets junk out and the same goes with the worm castings that come out of worms. You will only maximize the benefits of worm castings we listed when you use high-quality worm castings...So make sure you buy from trustworthy sources.  

Our natural organic plant food products include ultra-refined worm castings (we're the only company that triple refines our worm castings to less than 1/8" for purity) that are made with a high quality controlled process using many sources of fruit & vegetable scraps in a predefined ratio for maximum variety of minerals & nutrients. We then fortify the resulting mixture with our own proprietary combination of additional earth and sea minerals for a premium & balanced formula in all-natural form that makes all your plants and flowers thrive! Our plant food product results speak for themselves with 5-star customer ratings on all our products and a loyal customer base made up of 90% recurring sales.  

Happy organic gardening everyone!

For more in-depth organic gardening tips, please visit the Earthworm Technologies organic gardening blog: https://earthwormtechnologies.com/blogs/  

Earthworm Technologies, LLC is an eco-organic gardening company based in Stamford, CT that sells innovative high-quality natural plant & flower food fertilizer products. The company was founded by Steven Devloo who is also the CEO and creator of BloomPucks^®Flower Garden Seed Starters, EarthPods^®Natural Flower & Plant Food Capsules & TeaDrops^®Natural Plant & Flower Food Steeping Packets. Earthworm Technologies' products are all organic, eco-friendly, child-friendly, pet-friendly and made sustainably directly by the company in the U.S.A. The Company's process also helps fight against the tons of food waste the U.S.A. throws into landfills every day. The Company's product packaging is made from recycled paper sources and printed with soy inks, making it compostable. The Company has won design awards for its sustainable, eco-friendly packaging design. You can find Earthworm Technologies natural plant & flower food products in premium gardening nurseries across the U.S.A. or you can order directly from the Company via its website: https://earthwormtechnologies.com  

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