Proper worm castings ratio?

[TacticalSpeed]

Is 20% max the right number for worm castings in containers or grow bags? This will be my 1st season using worm castings.

Plan to put at least 1/2 cup in each hole for every plant (Whether in ground or in a container)> on that note, how many plants should 40 lbs accommodate?

 

[Meadowlark]

The rule of thumb I've always used is one part worm castings per four parts soil...but having said that, I haven't used castings much at all in a long time.

 

[DirtMechanic]

There are posts on this site that discuss the overkill ratio of organic materials being 30%. Basically it is the point of diminishing returns. But that is by mass or volume? Good question and probably mass but I cannot remember the paper describing the testing. Basically it was saying home gardeners overdo.

 

[TacticalSpeed]

There are posts on this site that discuss the overkill ratio of organic materials being 30%. Basically it is the point of diminishing returns. But that is by mass or volume? Good question and probably mass but I cannot remember the paper describing the testing. Basically it was saying home gardeners overdo.

But is the overdoing hurting the plants? If not, it doesn't matter & only means wasting $ on materials. If it hurts them, then we have a problem

 

[DirtMechanic]

But is the overdoing hurting the plants? If not, it doesn't matter & only means wasting $ on materials. If it hurts them, then we have a problem

Technically yes but it's a finely parsed sequence of answers. It is found in the description of diminished returns. If yield goes down, yes something is hurting the plant. In computers everything is zeroes and ones. That's too chunky for your question. A plant is trillions of zeroes and ones and you asked if a few numbers being out of whack hurt the plant so no not in general function but it won't be the best plant to show on tik-tok.

 

[Meadowlark]

But is the overdoing hurting the plants?

I seriously doubt it hurts anything. I use large amounts of organics...never ever seen any negative effects.

That 30% number is highly suspicious. To what depth/volume? 30% of the first 1 inch of soil but if you include the next inch and the next inch and so on 30% isn't likely to happen at depths. Many garden plants send roots down more than a foot and even more than two feet. The volume of compost required in a garden soil to make up 30% at depths would be staggering.

Having said that, a container would be a different story and there the 30% threshold could be more readily achieved...but would that be negative? I highly doubt it but an experiment would answer the question.

 

[DirtMechanic]

What I meant was, and this is a wildly different level than the question, was that a zero or one in a plant is simply the existence of enough or not enough of some random thing, the screaming majority of I am not aware. Phytohormones come to mind. Auxins specifically, and yes those discovered by Darwin and his Son. The chemistry that elongated a plant cell in the shade but shortened it in sunlight such that the flower turned to the sun. Zero or ones. sun or no sun.

As to a round 30% number, it probably is relevant to the roots, and there are so many types with some deeper than others. Carrots for example but peppers are very possibly the deeper roots in a average kitchen garden.

 

[Meadowlark]

...As to a round 30% number, it probably is relevant to the roots, and there are so many types with some deeper than others. Carrots for example but peppers are very possibly the deeper roots in a average kitchen garden.

Peppers, not hardly...less than 2 ft.

A major long-term study found that many vegetables will root 2–6 feet deep when soil conditions allow, sometimes matching or exceeding the plant’s height.

Deep-rooted (2–6 feet or more)​

• Tomatoes
• Corn
• Beans
• Pumpkins
• Asparagus
  
  Anyone thinking that any backyard gardener is going to have over 30% organic matter by volume 2 feet or more in depth is smoking something I don't.

I feel an experiment coming on.

 

[Meadowlark]

Thinking more about that 30 per number and realizing I've been growing fine veggies in much higher per cent numbers than that...for several years now...

I have about 25 containers that are growing something 365 days a year. They all are layered in 1/3 decaying wood, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 garden soil which is rich in organic matter.

Ok simple math that is in excess of 66 per cent organic matter in that container...so much for the magic 30 per cent threshold.

 

[Meadowlark]

Hugelkultur gardening has been successfully used by gardeners literally for centuries...thin soils on top of decaying organic matter...way more than the magic 30 number which I challenge may not be at all magic

 

[DirtMechanic]

Peppers, not hardly...less than 2 ft.

A major long-term study found that many vegetables will root 2–6 feet deep when soil conditions allow, sometimes matching or exceeding the plant’s height.

Deep-rooted (2–6 feet or more)​

• Tomatoes
• Corn
• Beans
• Pumpkins
• Asparagus
  
  Anyone thinking that any backyard gardener is going to have over 30% organic matter by volume 2 feet or more in depth is smoking something I don't.

I feel an experiment coming on.

My clay may have something to say. It's miserably dense.