What to do with the Seepings?

Thanks so much for your great article.. I'm going to buy an aquarium pump today and begin to make worm tea. My question is what can be done with the seepings? many thanks and kind regards from Cazz

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Feb 08, 2016
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What Do You Do With Left Over Leachate?
by: Pauly

Hello Cazz,

This is a common question that comes up quite a bit and for good reason too.

For years the "seepage", which is actually called leachate, has been considered (by mostly beginners) as very valuable.

However, I just want to let others know, if they're reading this for the first time, that leachate (the liquid that seeps to the bottom of the worm system) can contain not only the beneficial microbes, but some of the BAD ones as well.

Sometimes this mysterious liquid can contain many many more unbeneficial microbes than good ones. so much that it will cause plants to become sick or even kill them.

This is why I cannot tell everyone that it's okay to use the leachate.

There would most certainly be A LOT of very angry gardeners.

If anyone is getting liquid out of the bottom of the worm bin then the system contains too much moist nitrogen foods. The excess nitrogen will be the beginning of many nightmares to come.

It drowns out the oxygen which is extremely important for the beneficial organisms to thrive. this includes the worms and beneficial microbes.

This is why it's important to add plenty of moist carbon to the system. Air can move freely in between the carbon material for the benefit of the worms and microbes to help break down the material faster.

So what DO you do with the liquid that seems to be the sweat, blood, and tears (not really) of all the beneficial organisms.

Since we don't really know what's in it, without having it analyzed, it can still be beneficial. Here are a few options:

1. Poor it outside in the grass or bushes.

2. Poor it in your outside compost pile.

3. Poor it down the drain.

4. DO NOT poor it back over your worm bedding.

This last one is not advised yet a lot of people do it. As mentioned previously, it leads to a wet, anaerobic environment that can lead to potential problems. Just get it away from the worm system.

You may hear some people tell you that they have good results using the leachate, but this is a gamble. There are ways to use the leachate if someone really insists on using it but not without some qualifications first.

Read one of my newsletters about using the leachate below.

If You Must Use Worm Leachate

So no matter how tempting it is to use, Cazz, you will do so much better just making some great aerated worm tea like you have mentioned.

Thanks for your question and I wish you much success with your worm farming, teaing, and gardening adventures Cazz :)

~Pauly

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