From soilecol@magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduTue Jan 23 15:31:28 1996 Date: 15 May 1995 16:50:15 GMT From: OSU Soil Ecology Lab To: sustag-public@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: WORMS In article <36.295.1676@midwest.org>, Jim Mcnelly wrote: >Juan writes: >References: > >MR> I am culturing worms (E. foetida), and feeding fish with it. It is a >MR> good proteine source... >As a person who has been raising e.foetida for 22 years and with >extensive experience marketing worm castings, I recommend using it as a >potting soil amendment in rations from 20% to 33%. >At studies at the Rothamstead research station in the 1980s conducted >by Dr. Clive Edwards now at the Ohio State University, plant growth >using worm castings was increased 20% to 200% over controls as measured >by increased root mass, numbers of shoots, and size of plant. Right on! Hello from the OSU Sustainable Agriculture Program; Clive Edwards, Director Earthworms are excellent for processing a variety of wastes, from restaurant food, yard wastes, to a myriad of manures. The castings are excellent plant growth media and have consistently outperformed commercial plant growth media in tests. You can use the castings straight, without mixing or further amendment for simple results. Good sources to check for further information might be: Biology of Earthworms, (1972) by C.A. Edwards and J.R. Lofty, Chapman and Hall, London (2nd Edition), the extensively revised 3rd edition will be out later in 1995. Earthworms in Waste and Environmental Management, (1988) by Edwards and E.F. Neuhauser. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, The Netherlands. Also, Biocycle magazine has a nice section in the October 1994 edition (Volume 35, No. 10) from various authors on earthworms and composting. And the latest edition of Biocycle has a popular article by Dr. Edwards (although I haven't seen it in print, yet). Hope this helps, Matt.