This is one of the big benefits of having a worm farm, you can make one of natures best defences against plant disease. Making worm tea is very easy and not that expensive, all you need are a few items that are easy to find. You will need a large bucket with a lid,un sulfured molasses, an aeration device ie fishpond blower, some air stones and tubing, a fragiles washing bag is also handy, last but not least worm castings. Picture below is my setup it works very well.
For my setup I am using a single outlet blower that feeds a manifold distributing the air to the 4 air stones. I have two 4 inch air stones and two one inch air stones, the larger stones are in the bucket on either side. The smaller two are in the washing bag with the worm castings. I have drilled two small holes on opposite sides of the bucket to stop the large stones from tangling. The bag containing the castings and smaller air stones is held off the bottom of the bucket with the use of the lid. You can also see the blue beverage tube coming from the manifold and the going around the bucket through the hole too the large air stone, it is just off the bottom of the bucket, same on the side not shown in the picture.
You can see the washing bag is tucked under the manifold and the two tubes on the right have the small air stones on the end of them. They go into the bag along with the castings to help diffuse the tea, you can vary the amount of air to each stone through the taps. The pump I use has only one outlet but you could use a two outlet model and a tee piece so that both outlets supply air to the tea.
The tea shown above has been brewing for about 30hrs and is nearly ready for application.
Method for brewing your Worm Casting Tea.
first you will need non chlorinated water ie rain water is best. Chlorine will kill all the beneficial microbes in you tea and render it useless.
If you do not have access to rain water then you can remove the chlorine from tap water as follows.
You can aerate the water in your tea brewer for a day prior to using it for the tea brewing process. Alternately you can leave the water in the sun, just like a pool the chlorine will dissipate slowly.
Now that you have your water ready for use you can place 400 to 500 grams of worm casting from your farm or purchased if you like, into the bag don't forget to put the two smaller air stones in with the castings. You can tie the bag off if you like or just clamp it with the lid later. Add the water if you have not all ready done so and start your air pump. Now for the un sulfured molasses you will need about a table spoon to be mixed into the tea with a large stick or similar. Molasses feeds the microbes in the tea and causes mass production of the good bacteria plants need to fight off the bad bacteria. That is about it now if your happy with the bubbles coming from each stone you are right to place the lid on an let it brew for 24hrs. After 24hrs you can add another lot of molasses and brew for a further 24hrs or go ahead and apply it to the leaves on your plants as a
spray.
Be sure to sieve the tea through a stocking to stop your sprayer from blocking, spray all plants and vegetables alike on both the top and undersides of the leaves. You can apply the tea every couple of weeks or after a rain.
Sit back and watch the new healthier growth on your plants.
Happy Gardening
Woody
