If you’ve ever tried gardening, you might have heard about the term “vermicomposting” already. When you practice organic farming, you’ll find composting as a fundamental job in the process. Biological decomposition turns plant matter into a prestigious soil amendment and reduces kitchen waste to reduce the landfill loads.
Vermicomposting harnesses the capabilities of traditional composting and incorporates it with facilitators like earthworms. This process benefits the soil in several ways to increase the harvest of perfect yields and reduce the suppressing plant disease. Let’s have a look at what exactly vermicompost is and how it’s made.
Vermicompost – What is it?
When organic matter is mixed with earthworms, the latter digests the former and excretes a very nutrient-rich waste product known as castings. As the organic matter needs to follow the digestive tract of the earthworm, its secretive chemicals break down the soil into sustainable nutrition for plants known as the vermicompost fertilizer.
Moreover, along with the castings, when these chemicals are excreted, the resultant helps greatly in improving the structure, iteration, and texture of the soil. The nutrients offered by vermicompost have an immediate effect on the plant, and they can be easily applied as mulch. With that said, here’s a list of benefits offered by vermicompost:
- Reducing Diseases in Plants
When plants get in contact with seed-borne pathogens like Pythium, they catch an infectious plant disease. This causes the seeds to rot before they can even germinate properly. With the active use of vermicompost, you can successfully suppress the Pythium damping-off disease. Moreover, you can also go for heat-sterilized vermicompost to prevent your plants from even more lethal diseases.
- Enriching Soil Quality
According to a study conducted by the Purdue University, earthworms can make soil 5-11% richer in terms of plant nutrients such as potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Vermicompost can be used both as an organic fertilizer and conditioner to improve the quality of your soil. It has a surprisingly high water-holding capacity as compared to traditional compost.
- Increasing Yields and Plant-Growth
The reason non-synthetic fertilizers are preferred a lot by organic farmers is that they have a minimal impact on the ecosystem and earth. Moreover, when you’re getting an added advantage of higher crop yields and faster plant growth, you’ll surely want to save nature by using it. A study by Ohio State University also shows that plants fertilized with vermicompost are very outperforming.
The Takeaway
Whether you’re looking to find a good vermicompost manufacturer or need help with your home garden, this article surely may provide you the information you need to know about vermicompost. It has a myriad of benefits for your soil and helps you yield a better quality of crops. Therefore, if you want to buy vermicompost online, you can easily make an informed purchase decision because you’re already well-versed with things you are required to know about this earthworm-enhanced fertilizer.
