how would you recommend for me to make it ? Just add the EWC bring it to a boil and let it sit?
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Hit the brakes on that: do not apply high temps to your 'Worm Tea'... the euphemism is very... well, euphemistic. While basic minerals exist in the 'castings', the real power of the castings is the population of microbes in the worm's 'gut' that are left behind with the wastes. I will include a short informational 'sermon' after the following advice for making the 'tea'. I've only been using castings a few years, with any seriousness anyways, so I am not the last word or frankly even the second word, on the topic. Consider yourself duly warned.
The reason for creating the liquid from EWC (Earth Worm Castings) is to leverage the potential for the exponential growth of the very helpful, very diverse microbe populations contained within the worms that exit with the manure.
I mean, why would you bother with the extra steps to make the liquid when you can just layer in some castings and topwater?
Well, just like money, more is always better - but billions more doesn't just change your life, it changes the entire frame of reference! You're not just 'a person' anymore, for with billions you now wield true power. So too goes the logic and reality of microbes. The castings provide a uniquely diverse microbe population, and diversity is key to stable microbe populations as they themselves have critical symbiotic relations with each other, cross-species.
With this 'literally' irreplaceable commodity gifted by the worms, we then work to spike the overall population totals by creating ideal conditions for reproduction. Again, when you hit the rhizosphere with that many microbes, the benefits are huge and immediate - a factor critical in emergencies and downward trending situations in particular... so, yes, top-dressing the manure itself works fine, and for the truly committed can help maintain stable populations going forward,
after the shock and awe treatment of the tea changes the frame of reference.
Water. The microbes need unchlorinated or dechlorinated water. You need to know your water pretty intimately to grow well and especially organics because organic fertilizers and soil amendments usually require booming microbe populations to break down the amendments and make elements 'plant available' - unless there is specific labelling saying ferts are organic and 'immediately available'. Chlorinated water will still work, and you should still try this for immed. treatment using chlorinated water if you need to (allowing to sit in wide-mouthed, open container to 'off-gass 24hrs, is approx 90% effective), and then research and plan options to deal with the issue if pertinent.
Agitation. Usually some kind of aeration/agitation is used and applied constantly to assure that any sneaky anaerobic bacteria already present via contamination will not live on, but it also helps the beneficial microbes (BM) multiply. When I do table-top 3-gallon microbe brews, as is my weekly habit, I plop an airstone into an almost-light-proofed container with unchlorinated water (leave lotsa head room). Outside, for large 40-gallon mixes, I use a big water pump that stirs and agitates, and airstone(s), so you can be creative in providing a similar effect. Probably one gallon per plant is lots, as it has no shelf-life per se (a few days in solution), thus you'll likely be doing a no more than 5-gallon pail, and have much left over. Even if you cant agitate I would still attempt, in your situ, relying on the carbs and stirring when possible.
Food Molasses is the hippy and hipster choice here, often to the exclusion of every other possibility. Possibilities you might consider and use to good effect, like brown sugar, white sugar, dextrose, rice flours, bean flours... basically, soluble carbohydrates. Molasses fits the bill nicely though, no bull. Just don't blinker yourself, and know that you can still do this without necessarily having to explain to your spouse that you spent thirty dollars to feed invisible bugs.
Time 48 hours is the oft-quoted term. In this time millions become gazillions, enough to prosecute any war that needs fighting in your rhizome and supply plants with fertility boosters that will turn the soil and amendments into mineralized food useful to plants. "It's worked for me", is all I can say about this factor with even the slightest authority.
You can either corral the castings in a piece of cloth, nylons or other permeable containment that allows water into castings in a 'tea bag' or you can just put the castings straight in, unless using a pump, though I doubt it would hurt the product, only your pump. As for amounts, it looks like I've been using a half cup castings per gallon of water, approx.. Ghee or others may well provide better information and how-to's, but I have always had a very positive response to this technique, and you will too.
. Keep us posted.
HeHe.
I mean faster. Oops.
