Do you think worms make soil or amendments?

[Jay Blair]

I have heard both views, Some say worm castings are just amendments, some say they actually create soil.

I have seen gardeners carefully measure castings into their gardens. I have seen others grow right in their worm bins and produced vibrant foliage.

So what do you think?

[redhen]

IMHO..Castings are a fabulous soil enhancer. As I live longer, I am of the opinion that all life is about balance. That in itself is food for thought.

[theinfamousj]

I use castings and compost straight as potting soil. I know that this is not "optimal" (I've seen the african violet in various castings/potting mix picture), but as a broke student teacher who likes to save her pennies if at all possible, I use them as soil.

That said, to answer your question, I think that worms make castings which can be used either as soil, or enhancers. In other words, if you do a venn diagram with one circle being soil and the other being enhancer, castings would fall in the overlap. That's how my mental categorization works, anyway.

[Jay Blair]

My view of the overlap is similar.. I believe the worm castings to be the purest of the soil and the outsides of the diagrams simply contaminates. Of course our organic life has become accustomed to the contaminants. and that is why some plants suffer in higher concentrations of castings.

Organic life is very adaptable , unlike some "experts" will tell you.

I have a potted fig tree here that was given to me by a friend in Los Angeles. It was thriving on her sunny patio. I returned here to Alabama with it and it started wilting.

So for a month I tried something a bit odd. I kept it in the shed where I keep my lawn mower and kept the doors open to allow sunlight into it.

However I would close it up for periods of time and run my gasoline back up generator with a cup of vinegar in a can on top of the muffler.

This way I produced an enclosed smoggy environment for the tree as I gradually acclimated it to my areas less concentrated smog environment.

I am now doing a similar experiment by introducing worms to a bucket bin I made to fill with grass soaked with used lawn mower oil.

I want to see how the worms will live in the petroleum rich environment and if after a few generations of vermipopulation, how well it will support plant life again.