Worm castings are a pain in the rear.  So many egos.  The short ones can't understand that they don't sell as romantic leads, the tall ones want too much money for their talent and everyone wants top billing even if they don't have a 'squeaking' part.  You're better off leaving it to holeywood.

What?  Oh.  Nevermind.

@ Sohelz - It's close to me so I'm going to visit the facility for a taste test... These guys produce the poop and are not a retailer selling bagged ..... well, crap.

@ rcantor - More disturbing yet is after years of failure in getting any real part... ending up on the worm casting-couch 

Worm compost does not need to rest or be steamed or anything. It will not burn plants even in 100% rates. It is crazy full of beneficial microbes. It does not get better then worm compost IMO. It is basically the rain water of soil media. And at those prices yeehaw get me a dump truck load.

nice find. thank you Joe.
i had some experience before: i covered a small lot (in shadow area) with wet straw. after a month or two, i found lots of fat earthworm/also  castings under the straw. I believe the earthworms like vegetable scraps/waste. But they are sensitive to chemicals. the earthworms help to add lots of fertilizer and remove waste in a efficient way.

I am trying fish emulsion fertilizer occasionally. but be sure to seal the container well and hide it from wild animals. :):)

Yup I used a regular aguarium air pump and air stone at the end to diffuse the air into tiny bubbles

Would have never thought of that. Thanks

That is how you clone live plants; with good water, good cuttings, a plastic tub, an aquarium pump, an air stone, and a lid with holes drilled throughout. Make sure the cuttings just barely touch to water like 1/16". Best green tissue method I have found so far, but the airstone is the key.

I started worm bin in 2014 with 500 Red Wiggler worms. My tomato plants were doing very great after adding worm casting to soil. I didn't make tea, just add to soil.

The worm population were growing crazy. You don't believe what I saw at rainy summer night in my backyard, tons of worms came out for party. I have two earth compost bin that I filled them up with all organic materials before winter. Went to aerate the compost a couple of days ago, man, there are MILLIONS of worms in the bin.

I am thinking to empty my worm bin this year. As long as keep adding organic materials to my compost bin/soil, all the worms will be happy.

You must have some very fat birds!

I'm curious...What's involved in aerating the bins?

I have been using worm castings for decades, ever since I found out how fantastic they are. I did a bunch of research on them long ago. They do not need to be composted. They can be used in several ways. You can just spread them on the soil and water them in or dig them in. You do not need to make a tea, with or without extra stuff like molasses. The reason to do that is to increase the number of bacteria, enzymes, etc. Which is great but not necessary. I have worm bins to which I add plant material for them to eat. It takes months to get a big load of castings but if you get the commercially made bins (rather than the home made ones) there is a lower area to collect liquid and a spigot. The liquid forms continuously and you can collect it anytime you want some, then dilute it and either add it directly to the soil of filter and spray it on the plants and soil. When I had a small backyard nursery with thousands of plants this was almost all I used and for fertilizer and the plants were fantastic. Now I have a backyard with tons of veggies, fruit trees, and ornamentals and it works great for keeping everything healthy and happy but I do use a little extra fertilizer for some things because I plant so intensively. . At the price you are getting them, I wouldn't care about going to the trouble of making a special tea! That is a fantastic price, even if it has some bedding material. If it is straight castings it will look like black dirt but lots of tiny little grains. If it has bedding material in it, it will look more like compost, which it kind of is! The reason it's so great is that as the worms eat plant material, tiny bugs, etc they leave behind a fantastic collection of bacteria, fungi nutrients and enzymes. Like most manure but better. They also have an enzyme in their gut called chitonase which is to break down the chiton in the outer shell of many tiny bugs. Some of this chitonase is in the castings and is absorbed by the plants and helps to kill small sucking insects that attack your plants. So the castings also act as a systemic insecticide. Worm castings work better at getting rid of white fly than anything else ever did, seriously! It is also a mild fungicide. If you spray it on the plants it is absorbed thru the leaves, like foliar feeding. And some will drip to the ground also. The castings feed the soil more than the plants, because of all the good stuff in it. The soil then feeds the plants and makes them stronger and healthier. I have seen some results that can only be described as miraculous. I am an all organic landscaper and I use worm castings at all my clients houses, on everything, with great results. I really encourage everyone to try them!

OK. So if I'm just buying castings with no worms, aeration isn't a consideration then?

Thanks for the 411!