The compost worms in your Balkonton or worm bin digest your organic waste. What remains is ‘vermicompost’. A mixture of worm droppings, fungi, bacteria, and organic matter. This worm droppings can be used as fertilizer. Worm compost has many advantages over other fertilizers. To name a few:
1: Your plants grow faster
Worm droppings contain traces of the natural hormones of your compost worms. These hormones promote the growth process of your plants, and are not present in fertilizer.
2: Your plants are healthier
Plants that are fertilized with vermicompost appear to be less sensitive to fungi and diseases. This is due to the microorganisms in the worm droppings.
3: Groundwater is not polluted
Like fertilizer, vermicompost contains the important minerals N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (Potassium). But in much lower doses. This is not a bad thing. When fertilizing with fertilizer, you add an extreme amount of NPK, most of which washes away into the groundwater. In worm droppings, the minerals are bound and are slowly released. This is much better and eventually the plants absorb more.
4: Worm droppings prevent dehydration
Vermicompost can hold 9 times its weight in water. This is a nice buffer for dry periods.
5: Vermicompost promotes germination and root growth
The enzymes and hormones in the worm droppings ensure that seeds germinate more easily and roots grow faster and better.
6: pest control
Do you suffer from white flies or aphids? Plants fed with vermicompost are less susceptible to these pests.
7: higher yield
In various studies, plants appear to give more yield after fertilization with worm droppings. No wonder vermicompost has been very popular with home growers of weed for years 😉
Remember that the quality of your worm droppings also depends heavily on what you feed your worms. More about that in a future blog. A tip of the veil: In any case, add some manure from vegetarian animals (rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens) to your worm bin. This ensures the best ratio of minerals in your vermicompost.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicompost
http://jnasci.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/883-885.pdf
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/7-benefits-of-vermicomposting#b
http://vermicomposters.ning.com/video/reduce-or-eliminate-whitefly-and-aphids-with-worm-castings
http://www.gardenguides.com/89719-compost-rose-plants.html
http://webs.uvigo.es/jdguez/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/the-use-of-vermicompost.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730804/
http://www.royalqueenseeds.nl/blog-creeer-je-eigen-grondmengsel-voor-cannabis-n75
Want to know more about worm composting? Go to the knowledge base.