The Advantages Of Vermiculture Compost Over Other Types Of Natural Compost By Gert Demsky

Vermiculture is a centuries old technique of cultivating earthworms with the intention of making compost using the worms. To be more specific, the vermicompost that is generated does not consist of the worms themselves but of their excretions, also known as 'castings'. Earthworms can consume around half their body weight in a single day which passes through their digestive tracts to become the nutrient-rich vermicompost. This composting method has survived for so long because it is simple and effective. You will soon see the plants in your garden begin to flourish when you have used vermicompost and there should be fewer garden pests around as worm compost is an excellent pest deterrent. This type of natural compost also has the advantage of being cheaper than most commercial fertilizers and plant foods and is non-toxic which cannot be said for chemical fertilizers. In addition, compost made with vermiculture worms possesses a number of advantages over and above other natural types of compost that makes it highly appealing for use in gardens and fruit orchards as well as on farms and plantations. Some common types of natural compost aside from vermicompost are manure, mushroom, aerobic and garden clippings compost but there are also some usual varieties such as compost made of seaweed, blood meal, decomposed fish and recycled sewage. Seaweed fertiliser is very high in plants nutrients but it can be hard to come by, particularly if you do not live by the sea. Blood meal, which is the powdered blood of slaughtered cattle, contains a lot of nitrogen which can potentially burn your plants, and fertiliser made from decomposed fish and recycled sewage, while nutritious, do not seem particularly appealing somehow. If we look only at the more common types of compost, however, it is evident that vermicompost has a number of advantages over these other types. Worm compost is odourless compared to manure which reeks. It is also debatable whether or not manure contains sufficient plant nutrients compared to vermicompost which is rich in nutrients. Mushroom compost does not smell as badly as manure but may contain traces of a number of chemicals originally used to kill off pests in mushroom crops. Because it is made from the waste resulting from mushroom growing, mushroom compost may contain anything from hay to manure and ground-up chalk. Vermicompost is quick to produce compared to compost made from lawn refuse which can take years to mature. Vermiculture also assists in recycling household waste because you can feed all your fruit and veggie peelings to the worms. Worm compost is not particularly labour-intensive to make either because the worms do all the work. Fertiliser made using aerobically is labour-intensive because it needs to be turned regularly and you need to keep the internal temperature of the compost heap high. For more information about vermiculture visit the website http://www.wormfarming.co.za Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gert_Demsky Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6029877