Worm-Water

In 1999 there was a discussion on the Forum mailing list regarding hydroponic nutrient solution. Intensive hydroponic gardening, which delivers several times the produce per garden space that conventional soil based gardening does, requires nutrients in the water. If one cannot go to the store and purchase the nutrient solution, how would one go about making this at home? Since earthworm beds produce a liquid fertilizer, collected from the drainage when the beds are watered, this was explored by the Troubled Times, Inc. nonprofit in the fall of 2,000 as a possible solution. This proved successful beyond anyone's expectations, 100% comparable to the store-bought nutrient solution and in some ways superior. The TDS (total dissolved solids) in the worm water kept increasing, over the four month period the Experiment was run. This was due to suspended particles being broken down by bacteria, a type of timed-release of nutrient. The store-bought nutrient solution, however, needed to be replenished.

Offered by Nancy.