Terracycle Challenge
Cross-posted at RedWormComposting.com
Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you are enjoying similar (gorgeous) weather as us! As the name of the post implies, I’ve decided to put Terracycle liquid fertilizer to the test, in a semi-informal (but full o’ FUN!) challenge!
One of the things that’s helped maintain my levels of enthusiasm for worm composting over the years is my firsthand experience with using vermicompost as a fertilizer. I’ve been blown away by the positive effect even small amounts can have on plants.
There is plenty of academic evidence to indicate that worm compost has a little something extra that helps boost plant growth significantly!
Here are just a few examples of the studies, in case you are curious:
Atiyeh, R.M., N.Q. Arancon, C.A. Edwards, and J.D. Metzger. 2002. The influence of earthworm-processed pig manure on the growth and productivity of marigolds. Bioresource Technology, 81, 103-108.
Atiyeh, R.M., S. Lee, C.A. Edwards N.Q. Arancon, and J.D. Metzger. 2002. The influence of humic acids derived from earthworm-processed organic wastes on plant growth. Bioresource Technology, 84, 7-14.
Atiyeh, R.M., C.A. Edwards, S. Subler, and J.D. Metzger. 2001. Pig manure vermicompost as a component of a horticultural bedding plant medium: effects on physiochemical properties and plant growth. Bioresource Technology, 78, 11-20.
Atiyeh, R.M., Subler, S., Edwards, C.A., Bachman, G., Metzger, J.D. and Shuster, W. 2000. Effects of vermicomposts and composts on plant growth in horticulture container media and soil. Pedobiologia 44, 579-590.
As I’m sure most of you know by now - Terracycle is essentially ‘liquid worm poop” (or vermicompost tea if you prefer). I haven’t yet experimented with worm tea myself, but I’m definitely curious to see how well it works!
OK - so back to the challenge!
While I’ll be the first to admit that I won’t be conducting a rigorous scientific investigation, and therefore the results are really only for entertainment purposes (my lawyer made me say that - LoL!), but I thinks its going to be a lot of fun nevertheless!
I included a pack of green bean seeds in the above photo. Truth be told I am still not 100% sure what plants I am going to use, but rest assured I will be providing you with all the details next week!
As far as treatments go, here is a rough idea (all post will contain potting soil and seeds):
Pot 1 - water
Pot 2 - worm compost + water
Pot 3 - worm compost + fertilizer stick + water
Pot 4 - Terracycle only
Pot 5 - Terracycle + fertilizer stick
Pot 6 - Terracycle + fertlizer stick + worm compost
Pot 7 - Terracycle + worm compost
Should be fun!
Again - all the details coming at ya next week!
Technorati Tags: worm bin, worm composting, composting, compost bin, worm compost, worm castings, vermicomposting, red wigglers, red worms, terracycle, fertilizer, plant growth
Written by Bentley on May 11th, 2007 with
5 comments.
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Bentley
#1. June 12th, 2007, at 2:02 PM.
Here’s TerraCycle’s appearance on BBC World News regarding the lawsuit with Scott’s.. check it out!