Premium Vermicompost – 40L

Our new Premium Vermicompost is made in the UK, the bedding is made up of composted bark, recycled paper, sand, loam and the husk of fruit. The worms are fed cereal blend of barley and wheat and malaises.

It is thriving with microbial life, worms and worm cocoons.

We have been looking for a suitable replacement for our previous worm worked compost and we are happy to have found something that can provide the quality and consistency we require.

We add Premium Vermicompost to our Soil for Life and Eco-Life soil blends for a number of additional benefits:

Contains huge numbers of beneficial micro organisms
Encourages quicker germination
Encourages more prolific root development
Releases plant nutrients naturally
More efficient uptake of nutrients
Dramatically improves stress resistance
Healthier plants – Foliar disease suppression
Mealy bug, scale, spider mite and aphid pests suppressed
Safe and complimentary to biological control with predators

Vermicompost is produced by the feeding action of earthworms. Earthworms ingest the plant material, fragmenting and grinding it into a finely divided peat like material with high porosity, aeration, drainage and water holding capacity. This process enhances microbial activity and accelerates the rate of decomposition. This leads to a humification effect where unstable organic matter or decomposing plant and animal matter is oxidized and stabilized.
Humus forms the dark brown or black mass of the upper soil and is important for storing and releasing plant nutrients. The process is similar to composting except it is non thermophilic, but a cold process utilising naturally occurring soil dwelling micro organisms. Vermicompost made in this way has a large surface area and a high cation exchange capacity providing strong absorbability and retention of nutrients.

As a fertiliser, Premium Vermicompost contains all key nutrients in a form that are readily taken up by plants, such as nitrates, exchangeable phosphorous, soluble potassium, calcium and magnesium as well as all trace minerals.

Microbially, our Premium Vermicompost contains a far more diverse microbial population than other composts. Micro organisms play an important part in soil fertility, they not only mineralize complex substances into plant available nutrients but bacteria in the earthworms’ digestive system also synthesize a whole series of biologically active substances including plant growth regulators.

Earthworms promote the production of plant hormones, auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins from organic waste dramatically. Auxins are responsible for cell elongation, cytokinins for promoting cell division and gibberellins for stem elongation. These hormones are dose significant and play a fundamental role in plant metabolism. They can influence plant growth and development significantly when present at very low concentrations.

The addition of Vermicompost has consistently improved seed germination, enhanced seedling growth and development and increased plant productivity much more than would be possible from the mere conversion of mineral nutrients into more plant available forms.

Vermicompost has also been shown to reduce the incidence of plant diseases – Research indicates that microbial activity and the make up of the microbial communities existing in Vermicompost play an important role in plant growth responses. The reason appears to be that different microbes act on different substances from simple sugars to complex substances. If any are missing it will inhibit growth. The diversity of microbes in Vermicompost allows all substrates to be broken down.

The role of earthworm derived humic acids has also received much attention recently. Humic acids are produced by the breakdown of organic matter by micro organisms. They are generally negatively charged so attract positive ions, such as calcium. Humic substances promote the conversion of a number of elements into forms available to plants, of particular importance is phosphate. Phosphate reacts with other minerals in the soil, (particularly iron and aluminium) and becomes locked or unavailable to plants. Humic acids help substitute iron and aluminium with other elements e.g calcium, making phosphate available to plant roots.

Vermicompost is humus rich. The break down of organic material by earthworms accelerates the humification of organic matter. The humic and fulvic acids produced in this process have been proven to stimulate plant growth beyond that produced by solely the mineral nutrient found in Vermicompost. Humic acids are large complex molecules. Partial oxidation of humic acids allow bonding sites for plant nutrients including calcium and magnesium and other humic like materials produced in the faeces of earthworms which exhibit auxin, gibberellin and cytokinin like activities.
l, as a top dress amendment or to make a worm casting extraction for drench or foliar applications.

We always recommend all organic gardeners have their own worm bin to produce their own vermicompost but we are here to help those who need a little extra or just want to rely on a trusted source instead…

You can use it in the soi