This Video recently got my attention, I wanted to share it with everyone and give a few of my own thoughts. If you’re familiar with hydroponics it is growing plants in a nutrient solution without soil. Aquaponics is growing plants without soil using fish manure and ammonia exhaled by fish as the nutrient solution. Vermiponics is very simply growing without soil and using worm castings as the nutrient solution.
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Initially I really liked the ideas presented here for using vermiponics to grow plants. After re-watching a few times I started having some concerns:
- Flooding worm beds of manure might be fine for ornamental plants but may not be safe for food crops.
- There was mention of fertilizers already present in the soil- is this truly organic?
- The water is being recycled back to the worm beds so selection of fertilizers is crucial to protect the worms.
- This still appears to be using soil and not a medium like expanded clay beads so may not qualify as true vermiponics
Overall I like the ideas here and besides the flower industry I see other potential for a system like this:
- Potential for golf courses
- Partial composting of feedstock for pathogen removal may make this suitable for edible or medicinal crops.
- The reduction/elimination of fungicides and pesticides for a more organic and sustainable option.
This video has given me a few ideas to work on my own prototype vermiponics system.