The Importance of Soil In Container Gardening

I just have three 5 gallon buckets for my worms. I keep them in the kitchen and since I have not got a large apartment they are in the way but they are worth it. 500 worms to a bucket and they make all my container potting soil and they are the best, healthiest environment for plants. I never have wet garbage around. My plants have an advantage of high nutrient soil. I live where there is nothing but shade so I bought two shop lights with the six foot tubes and I replaced the tube lights with grow lights. That is the only way I can grow anything in the hole in the ground the management calls a patio. But it works and whatever works right? One of the main problems of container gardening is soil, drainage and keeping things web. But with worm droppings that is not a problem they hold water so the plants do not need as much watering. 1.

Worm castings are the top environment for growing container gardens.

The humus in the worm castings extracts toxins and harmful fungi and bacteria from the soil. Worm Castings therefore have the ability to fight off plant diseases.

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The worm castings have the ability to fix heavy metals in organic waste. This prevents plants from absorbing more of these chemical compounds than they need. These compounds can then be released later when the plants need them.

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Worm Castings act as a barrier to help plants grow in soil where the pH levels are too high or too low. They prevent extreme pH levels from making it impossible for plants to absorb nutrients from the soil.

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The humic acid in Worm Castings stimulate plant growth, even in very low concentrations. The humic acid is in an ionically distributed state in which it can easily be absorbed by the plant, over and above any normal mineral nutrients. Humic acid also stimulates the development of micro flora populations in the soil.

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Worm Castings increase the ability of soil to retain water. The worm castings form aggregates, which are mineral clusters that combine in such a way that they can withstand water erosion and compaction, and also increase water retention.

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Worm Castings reduce the acid-forming carbon in the soil, and increase the nitrogen levels in a state that the plant can easily use. Organic plant wastes usually have a carbon-nitrogen ratio of more than 20 to 1. Because of this ratio, the nitrogen is unavailable to plants, and the soil around the organic waste becomes acidic.

Wash three 5-gallon buckets with soapy water and rinse. Treat with a weak solution of bleach and water, rinse again and let stand for two or three days in the fresh air. Drill holes in the buckets, preferably from the inside out. Improve air flow using a one-eighth-inch drill bit to make eight holes along the sides of the bucket's top three inches and in the lids. Drill another set of eight holes in the bottoms of only two buckets, using a three-sixteenth-inch bit, to allow drainage and worm migration. Assembling the Bin 1.Wash three 5-gallon buckets with soapy water and rinse. Treat with a weak solution of bleach and water, rinse again and let stand for two or three days in the fresh air. 4 Drill holes in the buckets, preferably from the inside out. Improve air flow using a one-eighth-inch drill bit to make eight holes along the sides of the bucket's top three inches and in the lids. Drill another set of eight holes in the bottoms of only two buckets, using a three-sixteenth-inch bit, to allow drainage and worm migration. Assembling the Bin 1.

Shred enough newspaper or corrugated cardboard into thin strips to fill the bottom half of one of the buckets with holes in the bottom. Moisten with dechlorinated water, but don’t soak the shredded bedding. Locate a space in your house that will allow room to stack the three buckets.

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Capture liquids from the bucket with bedding in it by stacking it on top of the bucket without holes. This will become the source of compost tea, the organically-rich liquid that drains from the compost.

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Introduce the worms to the bedding. Add food scraps; red wigglers don't like onions, acidic fruits or potatoes. Red wigglers will eat half their weight in food each day.

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Add alternating layers of bedding and food scraps, keeping the worm habitat moist. Avoid overwatering the bin and letting it get too wet. When the bucket fills with decomposed soil-like material, add the third bucket. Remove the lid and place the lid and new bucket with bedding and food scraps on top. The worms will wander up through the holes, leaving behind dark compost. This process takes three or four weeks.

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Worms cost around $20. for 1000 or a pound on the internet. If you want a fun excursion and want to bring back free worms go to a horse stable and ride or just watch the horses. Then ask the owner if you can take a black garbage bag of rotting manure home it is full of red wigglers, cost the cost of gas to go to the country. Might be almost as much as the internet but more fun.

Judi Singleton is a free-lance writer who writes 20+ blogs a week. You can advertise in her blog for just $5. a week per blog, mix and match