Question about worm wee(liquid fertilizer)

[Matt84]

I own a wormery and unfortunately most of my worms died due to me peeing on them(I'm not sadistic, just thought it was beneficial) anyway after this error I have set up the wormery from scratch and purchase a book called 'composting with worms' by George Pilkington. After reading this I have found conflicting statements. For example:

The book states that the liquid which is tapped off at the bottom is toxic to plants(However it doesn't state whether it's ok when diluted). Is this true? I have read that it's the best fertilizer you can get so I am slightly confused. It's called leachate in the book. Can anyone clear this up for me?

Secondly assuming the liquid is safe for plants once diluted is it suitable to be stored in plastic bottles with fixed lids. The reason I ask i that i've read that a lot of the beneficial microbes would die due to there not being enough oxygen. The lids are obviously not air tight so will allow for some oxygen.


I appreciate these are quite complex however if anyone could shed any light on them that would be great.

Thanks in advance

[selfraising]

Hi Matt84
There is conflicting information about this but I have used it for the past two years with no ill effects to the plants. I collect it in plastic water bottles with a lid and keep in a cool place (shed for me). When I'm ready to use it I dulute it 1:10. Neat it is far too strong. I wouldn't recommend keeping it for any longer than say 6 months. Hope this helps.

[arpoet]

I store worm compost liquid in 2 ltr pop bottles until ready to take to the allotment where i add to my 1000ltr water tank. In hot weather the bottles often get a build up of gas so be careful when opening.
You may find this intresting about the subject.
Storing Worm Leachate
Roger

[wormcity]

coming a bit late into this post....

The liquid that appears in the bottom of a wormery is called leachate.
This is usually fine to be added to your plants as long as its diluted.

The problem generally arises if the leachate becomes anerobic (has no oxygen) then this can be quite toxic to plants as a lot of the goodness has died.

It does also depend on the type of wormery that you have.
Stacking tray wormeries often have rain water mixed with the leachate, and have plentiful air flow - so usually are generally healthy.
Problems can arises if there are lots of dead worms in the liquid.

Worm Tea is vermicompost that is collected into a muslim / cotton bag and allowed to sit in water (often with air pumped through the water like a fish tank) the 'brewed' liquid can then be used.

Worm Tea & Leachate cannot be stored, because it needs oxygen to remain healthy

Hope that helps a bit

Ronnie