Worm Castings last how long.....???

[Organic Rasta]

Here's some more info I've found on the topic......

The nitrogen and such can take about 60 days to be fully released when the castings are in a soil mix.

I haven't heard anything about release rates for other mediums/conveyance methods but I have read that teas should be left to steep for 24 hours before application. The reason for that may be that worms coat their castings in polysaccharides and since those long chain carbohydrates are not soluable in water, they won't allow a great tea to be made right away.

A polysaccharide bond can be broken down by amylase<<<and there is a lot of that in urine. Urine also has a lot of nitrogen...

or you can just wait a while

Besides nitrogen, castings contain lots of other nutes. and they have growth hormones and vitamins. and they also act as good biocides against diseases and nematodes

There are some differences when it comes to exactly what nutes can be found in worm manure, just like there is for other manures. It can depend on the species of the worm and on what the worm ate.

here are some samples:

species of earthworm - Eisenia foetida
pH 7.40
Organic Carbon (%) 27.43
Total nitrogen (%) 0.60
Total phosphate (%) 1.34
Total potassium (%) 0.40
C: N ratio 45.70

species of earthworm - Perionyx excavatus
pH 7.00
Organic Carbon (%) 30.31
Total nitrogen (%) 0.66
Total phosphate (%) 1.93
Total potassium (%) 0.42
C: N ratio 45.90

red worm castings produced from dairy manure; there are some multiple results and these are from separate tests of the same farmyard
pH 6.3
EC (mmho/cm) 5.92
C:N ratio 14:1
Moisture 67%
Total N (TKN) 2.92% 3.21%
C: N ratio 45.70 45.90
Nitrate N (ppm) 630 420
Ammonium N (ppm) <37 35
Organic carbon (%) 40.2 49
Total P (%) 1.1 1.1
P2O5 (%) 0.187
Total K (%) 1.5
K2O (%) 0.434
Calcium (%) 3.1
Magnesium (%) 0.7
Sodium (%) 0.3
Iron (%) 0.3
Manganese (ppm) 295
Copper (ppm) 123
Zinc (ppm) 357
Boron (ppm) 75FYM

non-specified kind of worm
Nutrient - Percentage
Nitrogen 2
Phosphorus 1.2
Potassium 1
Sulphur 0.4
Calcium 1.5
Magnesium 0.4
Iron 0.7

Organic Rasta Reviewed by Organic Rasta on 01-11-2008. Worm Castings last how long.....??? Worm Castings Last how long ?? .....in your soil mixture, soilless build, standing along with perlite and vermiculite or used in a tea..... Just how long will worm castings last....meaning feed the much needed and used "N". What I use in a soil build of Foxfarm Ocean Forest Soil mix, Botanicare Ready Grow (moisture formula), Worm castings, Blood and Bone meals, Mexican and Jamaican Bat Guanos, Greensand plus, Sea Kelp (Ascophyllum Nodosum), Dolomite Lime, perlite and Rating: 5