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Build Healthy Soil Foundation with VermisTerra

Build Healthy Soil Foundation with VermisTerra

In the past, we had more issues with insect pests, plant diseases, and stressed plants. Presently, we don’t encounter them to the same extent. Our vegetable and fruit crops, flowers, and other plants are healthier, more productive, and hardier. Most of our lettuce crops last summer did not bolt during the heat waves with temperatures in the 90s and even a few days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit! 

We’ve seen increased production in berries, which have been very sweet and flavorful! The flowers in our garden have more blooms and our leafy greens are more prolific and robust! We’ve also had great tomato yields! 

Over the years, we’ve seen improvements in the overall health and structure of our soil using Vermisterra worm casting products. 

In this video, I’m going to share how our soil improved over the years with the regular use of Vermisterra vermicompost or worm castings. 

Before we sow seeds and start planting, the first thing we need to do is build the soil, this is the foundation of a garden. As organic gardeners, we do not use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides but rely on a healthy ecosystem. 

To build healthy soil, we need to feed the microorganisms. Soil microbes break down organic materials releasing nutrients plants can use to grow and flourish. When we nourish the microbes in the soil, they will feed our plants. In addition, these microbes protect plants against potential pathogens and stresses, both biotic and abiotic. 

In this symbiotic relationship, plants feed the microbes through their roots secreting exudates consisting of sugars, enzymes, organic, and amino acids. 

When we incorporate Vermisterra worm castings and nutrient tea in our soil, we’re not only adding essential nutrients we’re also introducing beneficial microbes including fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and nematodes. 

Vermicompost contains about 50% humus which is porous in nature. Humus is an organic material similar to what you’d find on the forest floor. 

Humus increases soil porosity and retains moisture and nutrients. Worm castings can prevent nutrients from leaching into the water table and flowing into bodies of water. 

Humus also provides homes for beneficial soil microbes while extracting toxins and harmful microorganisms from the soil. Another component of worm castings is humic acid which enhances photosynthesis and improves plant health, resiliency, and immunity. Plant hormones such as auxins, gibberellins, abscisic acid, and enzymes are also found in vermicompost aiding in plant growth and development. 

Another benefit to using worm castings is it allows carbon sequestration. This means atmospheric carbon is captured and stored in the soil reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

 

When we work with Mother Nature, the soil and plants are healthier. Anyone can achieve a successful and healthy garden, but we need to start with the foundation and build fertile soil which takes time and patience, but the rewards are worth it! 



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Vitality Castings Poop as Rooting Hormone

Vitality Worm Castings as Rooting Hormone

We’ve been using Vermisterra’s Vitality for rooting and the results have been epic! Soak cuttings in Vitality for an hour or overnight. They have zero rot, I’ve been very successful with this method. Rare dragonfruits, already rooted, ready to go in the ground. Vitality has been a great tool for me to root my dragonfruit cuttings. 

Watch Short

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Crazy growth on Meyer Lemon

Crazy Growth on Meyer Lemon

“Look at the crazy new growth and how huge the leaves are on this Meyer Lemon.  It was dropping its leaves from dry air inside, but been feeding it Vitality once every 2 weeks and it’s recovering.  Here it is after 6 weeks. Look at the size of the new leaves vs old leaves.”              

                                                 – Misilla, Learn to Grow inWA

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Soil Microbes & Sustainable Farming: Basics Explained

In 2020, we need sustainable agriculture more than ever. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the gist of it is farming in a way that not only meets the needs of present-day humans but also ensures that future generations will be able to do the same.

The way we are treating our planet right now is not really conducive to future generations being able to do much of anything. We’re doing an awful lot of damage to the environment and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know what the safest route to take is when farming.

The norm has become synthetic fertilizers and pesticides​, it’s become aggressive over-tilling the soil to the point where massive stretches of farmland that should last for centuries are on the path to unusability.

This might be the easy route and it’s a route that allows farmers to ignore the problems that they are creating for the generations that will be trying to farm in the future, but it’s just prolonging the problem and passing it on to someone else.

And look, I’m not really blaming farmers here because most of them probably don’t even realize the problems that they’re causing. Like I said earlier, the dangerous stuff has become the norm, it’s ingrained into the minds of this generation of farmers that this stuff is just how we do things.

They’re probably not even aware enough of the potential problems to be able to actively ignore them. But we don’t have to be causing this much damage, there are alternate routes we can take which are sustainable.

And one area of agriculture that would be tremendously helpful, which isn’t being used nearly as much as it should, is soil microbes. So let’s take a look at what that term actually means and how it can be utilized.

When we think about soil, we tend to just think about dirt really. Those of us that aren’t farmers or gardeners just think of it as something that makes a mess and as such, we don’t see a whole lot of value in it.

But soil is actually a lot more complex than that. It’s a natural habitat for several different major forms of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. There’s also plants and insects out there of course but the microorganisms are the interesting part.

A lot of farmers are under the impression these days that they need chemicals and damaging synthetic materials for their land to function properly when in truth all they really need is those microorganisms. They’re everywhere. ​This stuff even lives right outside in your backyard​. And if utilized correctly, microorganisms can do a whole host of things which will ensure that our farms are sustainable for years to come.

For one thing, plants are always under threat of ​biotic and abiotic stress​. Things like a lack of water and extreme temperatures. Soil microbes can be used to enhance resistance to these issues for the majority of plants.

Another problem often faced by farmers is soil contamination. While this can be caused by certain unavoidable things like acid rain, road debris and accidental spillage of harmful materials, the way we farm can also have the same effect.

Intensive farming, petrochemicals and also using the wrong kind of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Soil contamination can often lead to the land being unusable but not if you are treating your soil with microbes instead of those other, more harmful soil treatments.

The nutrients present in soil microbes can help to remediate the contaminated soil so that your plants won’t suffer as a consequence of unexpected problems. Soil microbes can also be used to neutralize rocks in the soil which might get in the way of plant growth. These microbes turn rocks, nitrogen in our atmosphere, into plant available food.

They can be used to manage soil fertility as well as recycling nutrients which would otherwise only serve a single purpose and there many other ways in which effective use of soil microbes can contribute to sustainable, organic farming. Even locked up nutrients which are unavailable to the plant due to pH issues, get freed up and ready for plant use.

If you want to start putting the microbes in your soil to good use then we’ve got the perfect thing for it in the form of our Organic Vermisterra Tea. Derived from our very own Worm Castings, this tea is perfect for stimulating microbe activity. These microbes live in and clean the soil, some even compete with harmful nematodes.

It’s also got mycorrhizae which boosts root strength and production as well as ​humic acid which helps to increase the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in your soil. And it’s always lab-tested to ensure it’s free of pathogens.

Farmers and gardeners worry about insects attacking their prized crops. With sustainable and organic farming, most focus on integrated pest management (IPM). This is the practice of using natural predators to control insects in your garden. One example is freeing ladybugs in the garden to eat aphids. What if I told you that earth worm castings prevent insect pressure in plants? Research shows that plants fed with vermicompost are no as attractive to sucking insects. Also, healthier plants have tannic acid which upsets the digestion and reproductive system of many insects. Combine IPM with earthworm castings and you are bound to have a healthy garden.

Our customers are consistently satisfied with this product and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be too if you want to give it a try. The future of our agriculture industry is at hand, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that soil microbes are the way forward for us.

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Cucumbers see improved production and quality

Mr. Ding from Chiayi county, Taiwan uses “non-toxic, safe cultivation management practices” to produce high quality cucumbers. He started testing Vermisterra tea on his main crop. After using VermisTerra tea, Ding saw improved production and quality. As a result, online sales improved plus the business received many 5 star reviews.

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Beautiful Morning Glory – more productivity, speed and uniform growth

Mr. Wei grows kongxincai (aka water spinach or morning glory) in Taiwan.

“Although the temperature was low recently, it did not harm the growth thanks to VermisTerra tea. The earthworm tea not only activated his soil, but also caused uniform growth, more productivity, and sped up the growth rate. My buyers praised this harvest as “fresh”, “tender” and the appearance as “beautiful”.”

Mr. Wei highly recommends this product to his good friends.

Now Vermisterra tea is the first choice for kongxincai farmers.

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Organic Bitter Gourd – improved soil problems, more output and less disease

“Previously, the soil on our farm had problems due to salt. We tried VermisTerra worm tea and saw improvement in soil salinity and compaction problems. The tea also improved crop resistance using organic castings rich with micro-organisms. There is a significant increase in productivity, and yields and gains have also increased.  It reduced the incidence of disease. I’m very satisfied and recommend VermisTerra to all my friends.”

– Mrs. Ling, Owner of an organic bitter gourd farm in Chiayi County, Taiwan

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Winery “the best grapes we had all year”

“Last year was super tough because we didn’t have much of a winter. So things started to bud out in February and we even got a little late frost. So it was pretty tough, most of my vineyard’s production was way down. 

These two guys (Joe and Dennis) who were using VermisTerra tea, they were right where they were last year and the fruit was Awesome. They were beautiful. 

It wasn’t just me and my employees. We were processing it and they went thru the crusher, de-stemmer, and they said ‘This is the prettiest stuff we’ve seen so far’. And it was. It was the best stuff we had all year. Better than my stuff. I think definitely the worm tea has something to do with it. I’ve actually started doing some foliar spray with it this year.”

-Matt Sherman, Owner/Wine Maker, Myrtle Creek Vineyards

www.myrtlecreekvineyards.com

Testimony and Interview Video here https://youtu.be/eLO5gc8KY-g

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Wine Grape Vineyard Very Pleased with Worm Tea Results

Dennis Erickson, owner of Erickson’s Vines, Fallbrook CA tell us about his 6 year old cabernet franc vineyard. After using VermisTerra castings and tea he observed that his plants were healthier, less pest problems, uses less water, and his winery is pleased with his grapes. Dennis shares about how the soil was dead, and he needed to build up the nutrients in the soil using VermisTerra earthworm castings and tea.

Dennis shows us how he tops his grape vines and how he utilizes his sensor (moisture sensor, soil temperature sensor, and rain sensor.)