Worm tea, also known as vermicompost tea or worm casting tea, is a natural and effective way to improve soil health, plant growth, and ward off pests and diseases. It can be made at home using a simple recipe, starting with a 5-gallon bucket of water. Rainwater or unprocessed water is ideal for immediate use.
Worm tea is a non-toxic, cheap, and easy way to naturally fertilize your yard, garden, or houseplants. It is made by steeping worm manure in water for 24 hours, working similarly to vermicompost. Research shows that using worm castings can increase plant growth by up to 25 compared to conventional fertilizers. Learning how to make worm tea should be required for anyone with worm farm access to worm castings.
In this guide, Angus Stewart guides readers through an easy way of harvesting worm tea from your worm farm. Worm tea is a miracle elixir that will infuse your soil with beneficial microbes, prevent and treat plant diseases, ward off pests, improve soil structure, and increase soil’s fertility.
To prepare worm tea, fill socks or stockings with vermicast, add rainwater into the container, then suspend the castings. Pre-oxygenate 5 gallons of tap water to remove any chlorine and chloramine. Add 2 tbsp molasses and 1-2 cups of worm, and mix with warm water to dissolve it. Collect 2 to 3 pounds of castings (or buy them from us) and pack them in a porous cloth to make a jumbo tea bag.
In summary, worm tea is a cost-effective and easy way to improve soil health, plant growth, and ward off pests and diseases.
📹 Make Worm Tea – The product that everyone needs!
Captain Matt loves teaching people how to raise worms, where do-it yourself makes sense, and where to source the best supplies.
Is it OK to have maggots in my worm farm?
Maggots, often mistaken for black soldier fly larvae, are smaller, lighter-colored, and less segmented than black soldier fly larvae. They suggest the presence of meat or dairy in your worm farm, which should not be added. To get rid of blow fly maggots, place a piece of bread soaked in milk inside the worm farm overnight and pull them out in the morning. Pot worms are small, white worms that are not invaded by alien worms and do not grow larger than baby red wriggler worms.
Can you over fertilize with worm tea?
Worm castings can be used as a liquid fertilizer for planting perennials, potted plants, and hanging baskets. For older plants, use the exact equivalent or higher. Worm casting tea spreads the reach of a handful of castings in the plants’ planting hole and exterior. All plants, including those susceptible to acid, benefit from worm castings nutrients. Acidic amendments can also benefit plants, making them resistant to acid and drawing nutrients from the castings and fertilizers, promoting healthy plant growth.
Does worm tea go bad?
While worm tea is beneficial for gardens, it has a limited shelf life, particularly during warmer months. The optimal storage period is two to three months. To ensure optimal storage conditions, it is recommended to keep the tea in a dark, cool area to prevent UV damage.
What are the 5 mistakes that people commonly make when composting with worms?
Vermicomposting is a method that transforms kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost, reducing household waste and enriching soil. However, it can be challenging to avoid common mistakes. Overfeeding worms is a common mistake, as it can overwhelm the bin, leading to unpleasant odors, pest invasions, and a harmful environment. To avoid this, feed worms in small quantities, allowing them to consume most of the food before adding more. This approach keeps worms healthy and ensures efficient breakdown of scraps into nutrient-rich compost.
Using the wrong type of food, ignoring the moisture level, forgetting to balance the pH, and neglecting the bin’s environment are also common mistakes in vermicomposting. By avoiding these mistakes, you can enjoy the benefits of your worm bin without stress. By focusing on moderation and allowing worms to consume most of the food before adding more, you can ensure a thriving worm bin that can be used for composting.
What Cannot go in a worm farm?
Worm farms are a great solution for those who don’t have a compost system or have limited space to dispose of food scraps. Tiger worms eat food waste and organic matter, such as leaves and paper, and their byproducts, known as castings and liquid tea, can be used as fertilizer in gardens. Worm farming is less technical than composting, but requires a little care and time to build up their population for large amounts of food scraps. Worm farms are ideal for those who have limited space or don’t have a garden, as they can be kept inside.
Do worm farms attract rats?
When properly maintained, worm bins do not emit any odors and do not attract pests. This is due to the worms’ consumption of food scraps within the bin, which prevents rotting and the subsequent emission of unpleasant odors that may attract pests.
Can I use tap water for worm tea?
The worm tea can be diluted up to a 10-1 ratio with rain or pond water, tap water, or full strength, provided that the solution is degassed prior to use. This information is beneficial for those wishing to produce worm tea at home and can be used to enhance the growth and vitality of plants and gardens.
How do you make worm tea?
To create worm castings tea, fill a bucket with water, either tap or distilled water, and let it sit overnight to evaporate chlorine. If you don’t have time, use distilled or rain water. Add 2 tablespoons of unsulphured molasses to the bucket and stir to dissolve. Make a worm castings “teabag” out of pantyhose or other sheer material by filling it with 2/3 cup of worm castings and knotting it closed. Suspend the tea bag in the water and let it soak for several hours or overnight.
Use the tea on plants with a watering can or a sprayer, avoiding sun and heat as they are harmful to worm castings. The leftover castings can be scraped off onto the soil. Rinse the tea bag and let it dry before using it for the next batch. Worm castings tea fertilizer can be used indoors or outdoors, and can be applied to plants directly or mist them with a sprayer.
How do you make a homemade worm farm?
To set up a worm bin, follow these six steps: 1) Acquire a bin, 2) Prepare the bedding, 3) Add worms, 4) Bury food scraps under bedding, 5) Place a dry newspaper sheet on top of the bedding, and 6) Cover and choose a spot for the bin.
Acquire a clean bin, either from an old dresser drawer or fish tank, or a plastic bin. Clean the bin by rinsing it with tap water to remove harmful residues. For wooden bins, line the bottom and sides with plastic.
Prepare the bedding, like soil, by placing moist newspaper strips on top of the bedding. This provides air, water, and food for the worms.
What is the ratio of worm casting tea to water?
To make worm compost tea, combine 4 to 6 cups of finished worm castings with 4 gallons of water, 1 ounce of unsulfured molasses, and a bubbler (airstone) end of an aquarium aerator. Allow the tea to brew for about 3 days, stirring occasionally. Strain the tea before use and use it immediately. For even better results, add 2 cups of alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) for extra nitrogen.
To use worm compost tea in your garden or home, dilute it with water to cover more area. Use it to water your garden, houseplants, seedlings or baby plants, and cover a whole plant with worm compost tea, including the leaves. The beneficial microbes in worm compost tea help protect plants from diseases. A sprayer or spray bottle can also be used, but strain the tea before adding it. Serve worm compost tea at your next tea party.
Can you give too much worm tea?
Worm tea should be applied to plants and soil once every two weeks, as it is safe and doesn’t harm the environment. However, it’s important to avoid over-watering your garden to ensure plants receive adequate nutrients. Worm castings, an organic fertilizer, can be added to soil or compost piles without negatively impacting plants. Unlike chemical fertilizers, worm castings won’t burn the roots of plants.
Making compost tea fertilizer is better for plant life, the environment, and your well-being as it avoids exposure to harmful chemicals. Organic versions of worm castings tea like Simple Grow are even better.
📹 WORM CASTINGS TEA RECIPE: Step-by-Step Directions
Learn how to make nutrient-rich organic worm castings tea for bigger harvests, healthier trees & pest-free gardens. Zach from …
Great information! I haven’t missed one of your articles yet…My garden is 5 thousand sq. feet and it is now a huge worm bin. I keep 12 inches of compost and tree chips on top year around and it is getting better every year. God’s little garden tillers have turned my lawn into a wonderful garden that produces thousands of pounds of produce.
Hey Captain 🙂 you have inspired me greatly. I was perusal along, and I might have a helpful little tip to help. Instead kf emptying your tea into your strainer bag, and then bouncing it in a bucket, why not drill some holes in the bottom of one bucket, put your strainer bag in our “strainer” bucket, stack the strainer bucket on another bucket without hole, and pour into the strainer bucket. No more bending over bouncing that bag!
Hi Captain Matt, I got a question as you said you can store the worm tea after it is brewed for the summer in a bottle with the cap off to let it breathe and add a few drops of molasses periodically and shake well and remove the cap to let it breathe. My question is how often do you have to add a few drops of molasses to feed the microbe while in storage with the cap off and how many months can it stay alive by adding molasses periodically. Thank you for a great article on how to make worm tea.n
Great info about making worm tea. My favorite part is how you “bit the bullet” in a few cases. I have met so many people that refuse to “bite the bullet” and then they wonder why they aren’t successful in business or life. They refuse to spend $1 to make $5. It is so important to take responsibility and admit mistakes to learn and improve. Your articles are good for worms and good for people.
Just came across you today – EXACTLY what I’m looking for! I’ve had my kitchen worm composter for 8 weeks now & it unfortunately didn’t come with many instructions. Yesterday was the first day I put some casting on my cucumber & tomato plants & was wondering what the heck to do next! How do we make the ‘worm tea’ stuff?!? And how to separate the casting properly & what the cocoons look like and how to stop the little boogers escaping during the night – Duh, leave a light on🤦♀. So I think I’m now in the right place, just some items to order and worm tea here we come – I can hear my poor house plants rejoicing already🥰
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this article!…..now I lost your article and I spent over 2 weeks looking for you and your helper…I searched and searched….I was so frustrated…I must have found so many articles about worms but they were not yours…I got to the point I was so a grey with myself for not marking your article but I’ve got you now…lol…and I have you saved…you covered all aspects of worming……I hope you take this comment serious….you did a great Job and I even told my hubby and my garden friends about you…you have a great day and May all your worms be happy, healthy and breeding…lol…Chris…The worm lady of the future…lol
Ive really enjoyed this vid of yours. Ive been developing worm casting for over 10 yrs but on a small scale having enough for myself, sister and brother. I usually give each of them a 5 gal bucket of castings which they are happy to get. So this does give me thoughts on what I might do financially. Like I said I dont have room to expand as I raise my worms in a large walk in closet using a factory 360 setup.
WOW! So grateful to have found your website! You are being so generous with the information that you’re offering people, thank you so much! I thought about the labels that you ordered that we’re not showing it to be plant food, perhaps you could use those labels and put a sticker on top of it that specified plant food? I don’t know if that would be enough or appropriate but a thought for you to consider. I am anxious to start a worm farm from my gardening needs, thank you so much.
Great info, love the energy. On a small note bubbling your water no longer works for getting rid of chlorine, i used a cheap carbon filter i hooked up underneath my sink to filter out the chlorine. Look up under sink filters the kind that let minerals pass through. If you cant filter your water adding kelp will at least neutralize some of the chlorine
Good info Captain. I make my batches with 4. 5 gal of chlorine neutralized water, 4 cups castings, 4oz Liquid Kelp for microbial nutrition, 5ml of liquid humic/fulvic acid. My castings going in a worm tea bag that I hang from my Bubblesnake aerator and connected to my 970L/Hr air pump. 24 to 36 hours later depending on the ambient air and then I just use that full amount to spread around the garden as a root drench. I believe that the more bubbles the better and I do not save my brew more that 12 to 24 hours as the microbial life in the tea will start to die as they use up the oxygen in the water. So, in my book fresher is better and the plants drink it up like crazy. Hey, keep doing what you’re doing. Heck you may have inspired me to bottle my brew and head to our local certified farmers market.
Thank you very much for telling us how to feed plants, instead of giving them chemicals that affect us like plants, you are a good person and you give good advice and no one tells us about this, how do you do it, how can I get from you the worms to make a small 4 x 12 compost bin for my garden thank you once again may my god multiply you in everything you do and bless you very much,
Captain Matt, thank-you so very much for sharing your information! I am a beginning farmer and love the idea of using worm castings/tea for my veggies and flowers. I have planned to grow cover crops in both my outdoor garden and my high tunnel, in which I would till in the green organic matter at the beginning of spring. Once I have harvesting my worm castings, Would you recommend tilling it into the soil, as well, or should I lay a 6″ layer on top of the tilled soil, then plant the seeds or plants? I really only intend on tilling once per year of the cover crops into the garden. Thank you again!
I just found your website. A fantastic source of all things worm related Could just print small stickers and add them to the unmarked labels? Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm, advice, and straightforward information. The way you explain things makes it seem like I can make a successful go at raising worms
Thank you, Captain Matt and Josh for sharing such wonderful information and encouraging questions! I am an old lady and you have inspired me to give it a try! ☺️ With that in mind, how often should we feed the microbials, that pinch of sugar or molasses, to extend the life potency of the cap off bottled tea? Thank you for your time!
Great instruction. I am about to build a scaled down version of these continuous flow bins. But I wonder about the math with the tea. The bottle looks larger than 16 ounces and you said your yield is about 24 bottles. For 5 gallons that doesn’t actually work out. One gallon is 128 ounces. Divided by 16 you get 8 bottles which means 40 bottles per 5 gallon batch. I’m thinking your count is right but the bottles are actually 24 ounce. That would give a yield of 26 bottles per 5 gallons. No matter what the actual volume is, it is a great product. Love these very straight forward articles.
Captain: mind if I make a special request? myself and another of your subscribers wanted to see if you’d be willing to make a quick article start to end on how to make those breeder buckets you used to use before you went to the 55 gallon setup. Trying to recreate your ability to get cocoons and baby worms in the 2-3 week timeframe you mentioned in your previous article. Thanks sir!
Compost tea makers, let’s discuss an important aspect of creating high-quality compost tea—oxygen exchange. These thoughts came to me because of my experience in the reef fish tank hobby. (I used AI to aid in this information). Oxygenation plays a crucial role in providing an optimal environment for beneficial microorganisms to thrive and effectively break down organic matter. While bubbles created by a bubbler or air stone can contribute to some degree of aeration, it’s important to note that maximizing oxygen exchange requires more than just bubbles. The key lies in creating vigorous surface movement or circulation within the water. Imagine the natural process of oxygenation in freshwater lakes—wind-driven waves or currents create surface disturbance, allowing for efficient gas exchange at the water’s surface. Similarly, in compost tea production, enhancing surface movement or circulation is essential to improve oxygen exchange. To achieve this, consider incorporating methods that provide strong water movement or circulation in your compost tea setup. Utilizing a pump, stirring device, or any mechanism that can generate substantial surface disturbance can greatly enhance oxygenation. By prioritizing effective oxygen exchange, you provide an oxygen-rich environment for the microorganisms responsible for decomposition and nutrient release. This, in turn, leads to higher-quality compost tea with increased microbial activity and nutrient availability. Experiment with different techniques to generate vigorous surface movement or circulation in your compost tea production.
This was exactly what I was looking for – you are the man! Thank you sooo much…. I am a fan for sure! I have/live on a property with an artesian well. Do I still need to use an arerator before the castings? I’m getting ready to add/start a bin with Euros and a few red wigglers. I already have a few red wiggler bins going. Do you use primarily red wigglers?
Fantastic info! I love the simplicity, fun & profitability you offer in your articles. Thank you for providing us all with short- cuts from your own learning experiences!! On the back labels – would the information be dilution ratios/plant feeding schedules, etc? Regarding your labels that you cannot use – would it be feasible to add a small sticker on it that says “Plant Food ONLY”? (Just a thought). Keep up the good work-outs Jude!!👍
Captain Matt, top article. Q. If the worm tea is full of enzymes and bio-nitrients do they need a air-burp valve to exchange the air and if not, what is the use-by date or shelf-life of the worm tea inside a plastic bottle. I am assuming that it is designed to be used by the patron immediately after purchase? Keep up the good work.
I exclusively pour rainwater in my 3 worm bins (Can of Worms from Australia) and when the drain liquid is rich black I either bottle it in the winter or pour it directly in rain barrels for watering plants in the summer. Am I missing a lot of microbial component if I do not bubble, strain or add molasses?
People may not care about the fact that it’s biodegradable, but atleats you know that the stuff isn’t winding up plugging a hole in some landfill for the next 10,000 years. So either way I think ya did a good thing even if people didn’t appreciate it. I GURANTEE nature appreciates it! So I feel like you did a great thing that more people should take more seriously……👍✌️
A couple questions on the outstanding article. You’re using 5 lbs of castings in 5 gallons of water. What is the moisture consistency of the castings you are starting with? 5 lbs of very dry castings will be a lot more in volume than 5 lbs of very wet castings. Wet castings are more compact whereas the dry castings are fluffy. I know you’re going by weight, just trying to get an eyeball of what 5 lb is dry volume? I appreciate you explaining and showing how the filtration allows for the product to not go bad. That solved a missing link for me. What is the shelf life of the unopened bottle, and what is the optimal temperature range to store the unopened bottle at? Similarly, what is the shelf life once the bottle is opened assuming that it is maintained as you explained by feeding it a bit of sugar (and on that note how often should it be fed?) I found this article incredibly helpful and useful. You may or may not be aware of a company called Elm Dirt. They’re s young company maybe 3 years old now and make and sell a shelf stable worm tea that they call bloom booster with lactobacillus that also is shelf stable and claim the product never goes bad. They gifted me a bottle as a sample and while it sure did smell like the worm tea I’m used to making myself, I was not impressed with the results. I even did a article series showing how the plant looked prior to applying the solution at their recommended mixing guidelines and continued to feed the plant every two weeks until the bottle was empty and honestly the plant didn’t look a bit better.
Looking for input from worm compost tea makers regarding the air pump, and BUBBLER specifically: there’s controversy over the porous nature of the Aeration stones and whether we should be using them for this purpose as the microbes will remain in the stones after use. Many of us make our tea periodically and wouldn’t be running the system continuously as you do. Do you use the bubbler stone, or use the system a different way with an alternative air ‘dispenser’ or …? Thanks much
Great article. Outstanding actually. I have a couple questions but before I ask them I want to make one comment. You are very passionate when you emphasize how recycling and composting in your area is a big problem and that you went with the 98% recyclable bottle. Later on you said you use that as a selling pitch at the farmers market and people just didn’t really seem to care and for that reason you won’t spend the buck a bottle on the recyclable plastic again. Maybe people don’t care, but you know who does, my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren who have to live on this earth that were handing down to them that is absolutely polluted with plastic. I’m sure many people were not at all persuaded by the fact that it was in a recyclable bottle, but the planet is. Mother nature is. Right now The great Pacific garbage patch covers 1.6 MILLIONS SQUARE KILOMETERS That’s an area of the ocean the size of France where plastic is being ingested by fish, polluting water supplies, killing off coral and other fish and marine species, damaging boats, and the scariest thing is a recent report showing that people living in the area have pieces of microplastic in their bloodstream. Links below THAT’S WHY YOU SHOULD SPEND THE DOLLAR A BOTTLE. The fact that people don’t care is why the world is in the trouble It’s in already. If people cared we wouldn’t have a planet covered with one use non-recyclable plastic. Everything each one of us does from this point forward determines how we leave this planet for future generations.
“Dont drink it” Good to know. Tasted like shit anyways… lol. Imi having a hard time finding ingredients list for “sulfur” in my Black Strap Molasses and the other molasses in my local grocery store. It only lists energy content. Ive seen people saying Organic, I cant find it in my local grocer or I wouldve bought it. Im kinda at a loss. Im gonna look for a fone number maybe to call them and find out.
Been brewing worm tea for a couple years now, only because I bought a microscope to check it. Without a microscope you have no idea what you are spraying on your plants. Another point that is very important is to sanitize your equipment after each use. Along with beneficial microbes, there are microbes that can get you sick or kill your plants. Another good way to use worm castings is just to make an extract. All I do is put a few handfuls in a paint strainer bag, agitate in a 5 gal bucket with dechlorinated water and apply as a soil drench or foliar feed. Going on 5 years raising worms, the garden definitely benefits. Stay Well!!!
WOW AWESOME! I have seen many articles that talk about this concept. But this the first article that actually gives you the recipe in a straight forward and easy way to understand. Thank You for taking the time to make this article. Very grateful, and I am pretty sure there will be many people that will agree. I have shared this article with family, friends and neighbours. Much love from South Africa 🌍🇿🇦 ❤️🤗👍👍💚 .
few things, first, vegetative tea and fruiting teas are different. To get Veg Tea you only need molasses and you can mix it directly into the recipe and start bubbling. To get a fruiting tea you want fungal dominant tea, so you need to replace about 60% of the sugar with starchy carbs (baby oatmeal is fantastic and free of harmful chemicals). And this needs to be mixed into the castings and the mix needs to be laid out about 2 inches deep and flat in a cool dark place, partially covered until it develops an earthy smell and visible fungal growth on the surface. This can take 24 hours to 5 days depending on the temperature and light exposure. Once the fungus as become highly active you can then add the castings mix to water and aerate it for 12 to 16 hours. second, all the extra amendments aren’t necessary unless you are preparing dead soil for new microbes and need the plant to continue to get concentrated fertilizer until the microbe activity can support a full yield of whatever you are producing. The tea is meant to rapidly develop a colony of microbes. Not to act as a refined fertilizer. And for the tea to work, you need organics in the soil to break down for all your little microbe babies to eat. Castings and/or Frass with sugar and/or starch are all that is required. And lastly, a proper AACT can be mixed 10 – 1 with water to get 100% of the benefit of leaf spraying. Also, when your tea is properly aerated to maximum microbial density, the bits of solid organics left in the tea will appear suspended, and that AACT will last a week if kept at 60 degrees or below before going dormant.
you’re recommending a hose end sprayer to spray the finished brewed tea which would be an easy way to spray but if the brewed tea comes incontact with my city water (because it wouldn’t be possible to dechlorinate what’s in the hose), will there be any chance for chlorine to come incontact with the good bacteria and kill them. Please ask Zach on what he recommends here
I alternately get excited at the giant worms in my soil, and dismayed to see various birds mostly crows, devouring them each time the weather warms up and it rains. Well I’m assuming that’s what’s on the menu at the apparent smorgasbord going on out there. Any advice you have on encouraging worm reproduction would be helpful.
Vermicompost and compost contain humic acid. You need to decide whether you are making fungi dominant tea or bacteria dominant one. Different plants prefer different teas and you need to decide which one you are going to feed, because either the bacteria or the fungus will take over at some point anyway. Know the needs of your plant. Also you shouldn’t need to replace the compost and worm castings half way through. After all you just multiplied the organisms exponentially that were in the original material by feeding and aerating, so adding more shouldn’t be necessary. That’s the whole point of aerating and feeding and brewing the tea.