Tomatoes
For this experiment, we purchased top soil, beefsteak tomatoes and pots from our local big box home store. Measured out different percentages of worm castings and planted the plants. All plants had the same sun exposure and received the same amount of water.
We started with five Beefsteak tomato plants. One with only top soil, one with 10% worm castings, another with 20% worm castings and the fourth pot with 30% worm castings. The fifth pot we added a 1/4" top dressing of worm castings.
After eight weeks, the plant with no worm castings was dead. The 30% was by far the best. It was the tallest and had the largest tomatoes. The 20% and 1/4" top dressing were almost identical. The 10% was doing well but noticeably smaller than the rest in height and tomato size.
The overall findings show that worm castings are an excellent soil amendment. The higher percentage blended in your soil the better the results. A top dressing has about the same affect as a 20% blend. Unfortunately, this experiment came to a premature end at the hand of grasshoppers. One day the tomatoes were doing great, the next day they were completely stripped and did not survive.
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