Vermicompost or worm castings; Is there a difference?

Vermicompost or worm castings; Is there a difference? I often hear people saying that they prefer to get worm castings to vermicompost. There seems to be a general impression that ‘pure castings’ are superior to vermicompost but this may not necessarily be so. But really lets try to figure out what the difference is.

Some say that the term vermicompost is used more in scientific papers/studies to delineate worm castings (and this seems accurate). [attached PDFs – Edwards]
Also the term changes dependent on which government agency the worm farmer must deal with.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=_JJ5Cw5BBxEC&pg=PA374&lpg=PA374&dq=castings+and+vermicompost+clive+edwards&source=bl&ots=gR2UH9DMm4&sig=OBJks4WNU_7rowkjESpiPWSto0M&hl=en&ei=9wrlTon4LOKRiALZuMSnBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=castings%20and%20vermicompost%20clive%20edwards&f=false

Of course the commercial worm castings producers will have you believe that the term ‘vermicompost’ means that there is all kinds of ‘who knows what’ undigested organic matter in there and some will tell you the castings must be black to be real pure,
https://www.vermitechnology.com/index.php?show_aux_page=5
http://www.monroeworks.com/articles/worm-castings-compared-to-vermicompost.htm

This producer maintains that castings take up to a year to produce, while their vermicompost finished in 60 days is superior because the material is pre-composted in their aerobic composter. At least that is what I think they are saying.
http://www.sonomavalleyworms.com/products.php

This view supports ‘the vermicompost is unfinished hypothesis.’
http://www.ehow.com/about_6519484_worm-castings-definition.html

I could have sworn I read something by Clive Edwards stating that the difference in his view was that vermicompost consisted of some undigested materials but damned if I can find it. Of course the attached PDFs written by him do not support this view.
Now, for my take. Ha ha! It depends. I use the term vermicompost for my worm digested material partially because it is the term used scientifically but mostly because I do not wish to have my ‘stuff’ equated with the commercial ‘coffee grounds looking’ castings generally seen on the market. These appear like, well they are [mostly], little individual worm turds. They range in color from black to beige {believe it or not} From my experience on the ground watching worm castings being grown & harvested at two ‘large’ commercial operations (I know it could be more), I have gathered that to get those individual little turds one must [usually] have the larger breeds of worms (European & African). Because red wrigglers are small, they have tiny turds and because the reds like it wetter, their turds stick together and look like lumps or (OMG) soil.

Anyway, at the one commercial outfit that pumped out the organic certified castings going to all the ‘repackagers’ in the USA [They are in Canada], they had to keep their worms pretty dry in order to harvest the pretty ‘100% pure’ castings in demand. This magnificent product was achieved by feeding/bedding the worms in locally harvested peat and feeding certified wheat. That’s it. That is all that OMNI, Washington State and Oregon [I think] would allow at the time. The whole process beginning of bed to harvest was usually 60 days. Oh boy! Pure 100% castings.

The other place (in USA) using red wrigglers kept them in windrows for 6 months and mixed with thermophilic compost….a much more quality and honest product (at the time).

Okay back to my vermicompost. I use two methods. One is piles at 3 to 4 feet deep in an open covered shed. We feed horse manure, wood shavings, sphagnum peat moss, alfalfa meal and wheat bran. The piles are kept wet/moist with sprinklers, occasionally sprayed with diluted molasses and are turned at halfway through (4 to 6 months). This is digested over a period of 9 to 12 months and is evaluated as to when it is finished by its appearance (eye, nose & scope). It is not screened as it does not need it [but the odd rock is tossed] and it is full of fungi. The final product looks like earth. [presently about 60 yards and 4 tons of worms(?)]

The other method is in plastic bins which are fed no manure; just sphagnum peat moss, wheat bran and kitchen scraps. I starve those worms, feeding them every two weeks. I keep them disgustingly wet and always forget to mix up the bedding to allow air in. I harvest about every 6 to 8 months. This is the shit man. Yucky gooey gel-like brown/black humus. Occasionally the deepest corners have had a slight bad odor but that disappears rapidly when exposed to air. This is the stuff I use fresh to make ACT. This is the stuff big shot composters/marketers drooled over at the Seattle Garden Show.

So the moral of the story is. It depends….haha! One man’s term for rubbish is another’s gold. Don't turn your nose up just because it is called vermicompost or it does not look like 'all little turds up in there.'


EDIT: OOPS. I did not attach the PDFS. Lemme see if I can do it in another post

 

Here are the two pdfs I meant to attach to my first post.

 

Well, so far, I like using the fresh vermicompost for ACT over aged stuff but I don't know if aged may have advantages as a soil mix ingredient.

 

Weedroid, I can state that I never have any shortage of fungi in my fresh vermicompost. I have no idea on the increased N thing with aging.

As stated, I've seen a dormancy of microbes through aging.

 

Yes, he and Kelly Slocum know lots about worms but like everyone [including me] read with open mind and logical filter.