New plant food the sustainable growing solution

New plant food the sustainable growing solution of the future

New Zealand Vermicast Products is pleased to announce the launch of Vermisol, a new organic plant food product made from pure worm castings which have been liquefied and concentrated into a bottle. Vermisol contains:

• all 14 of the nutrients that healthy plants require from soil,
• beneficial microbes to sustain healthy soil,
• naturally occurring humic acids with growth hormone and pest resistance properties.

Vermisol is diluted up to 100 times with water and can be applied either as a spray, from a watering can, or via an irrigation system.

Craig Hutchinson, Managing Director of Vermisol’s creators NZ Vermicast Products Ltd, is a passionate home gardener who wanted to use a truly organic total-nutrient growing solution to grow his own fruit and vegetables.

“We know about the harm being done to our soil and environment by traditional fertilisers and their residues, not to mention the effect on flavour and food safety,” said Craig “so when I looked at going completely organic in my own vegetable patch several years ago, I started paying close attention to the claims made on the packaging.”

Dissatisfied with the plant food and fertiliser options available, he used his Masters in Chemical Engineering skills to develop Vermisol.

“I realised that existing products wouldn’t provide all the nutrients that healthy plants require from soil. I might get three or four, or maybe five nutrients, but all 14? No way. Nothing existed. Plus their effect on soil health was uncertain at best.” he said. “I wanted truly organic, great tasting food, growing vigorously, in healthy soil. Like humans, healthy plants with real flavour require a complete range of nutrients.”

Further research showed that nothing approaches vermicast; better know as worm castings; for all round soil and plant benefits. However, it needed to be good quality, carefully processed and easily applied. After dissecting most of the scientific research on the subject, NZ Vermicast Products was created and Vermisol born.

Vermisol can rightly claim both its organic and 100% New Zealand Made credentials, being manufactured in Christchurch from five locally sourced organic ingredients. “We maintain a tight control over Vermisol’s raw materials.” said Craig. “We must be certain Vermisol is organic, hygienic, free of nasty chemicals, and of consistently high quality.”

“Most of the ingredients in Vermisol would end up in the landfill. However, with some clever science and our new technology, we are able to convert them into a nutrient- and microbe-rich product. Worms are only a part of the process. Once we get the worm castings we need to extract the goodness, concentrate it, and bottle it. We have developed a new high tech process to achieve this.”

“We’re often asked if we have a big worm farm. The truth is we have taken worm farms to a whole new dimension. In engineering terms, our system is called a digester. Not only do we not farm worms, have we invented a new engineering concept for the processing of large amounts of organic waste into a natural and valuable plant food.”

Craig says Vermisol is not only about the good food and the environment.

“It’s about the harsh reality of economics.” he says. “With our process we can manufacture Vermisol on an industrial scale. The New Zealand fertiliser industry is worth over $1 billion. With the massive increase in the price of chemical fertilisers over recent years and the move to more sustainable agricultural and horticultural practices we believe the market is ready for Vermisol.”

“We can contain our prices because we are not dependant on international commodity prices. As things stand, we have a domestic raw material supply chain in already place to increase production a thousand fold and more without difficulty.”

NZ Vermicast Products is on a mission to convert every fertiliser user, and they don’t believe there should be a price to pay. In fact the opposite is true.

“Both our own trials and international research has left no doubt that good quality vermicast based products perform better than chemical fertilisers.” said Craig.

“Seeds have a better strike rate; plants grow faster; have larger roots; more shoots; more flowers; and larger, tastier fruit. Also there is no cost to the soil. The beneficial microbes in Vermisol help nurture and sustain healthy soil. There is also plenty of evidence that plants are more pest resistant so require fewer harmful insecticides.”

“Now we have solved the difficult technical issues around liquefying, concentrating, and stabilizing worm castings, we can deliver it to our customers in a conveniently packaged form which is easy to apply.”

Given the careful selection of raw materials and the comprehensive manufacturing process, Craig believed Vermisol would contain all the nutrients and be free of any nasty bacteria. But nothing was certain.

“When we got our first independent test results back we were thrilled, but not surprised.” he said. “While it is one thing to read and apply the scientific research to a large scale application, to have our assumptions and manufacturing process confirmed independently meant we were onto something special. This gave us the momentum to move forward to market.”

“Most growers, whether they have a garden at home, or are professionals working in the horticultural and agricultural sectors, realise they cannot continue existing practices of using harsh chemicals on their soil and plants. Aside from the harm they cause, many fruit and vegetable growers are being affected as consumers move towards home grown products.

Craig believes part of the reason for this is people want better tasting fresh produce grown with fewer chemicals. “The fact is many mass produced vegetable and fruit products look good, but often don’t offer much flavour.” he says. “The consumer is also concerned about chemical spray residues on what they are eating. We provide a solution to both these problems.”

Though interest from agricultural and horticultural professionals has been cautious there is real support and enthusiasm among a younger generation of growing professionals who are looking to use products that fall in line with their own desire for more sustainable practices.

“This community is rightly careful about adopting a new product on a large scale.” said Craig. “Given the fertilisation is a major input cost, they must have some certainty of outcome. But, we have several trials underway, and we will slowly win them over. The rising economic and environmental costs of traditional fertiliser programmes is just helping us along.”

However, interest among home gardeners is strong. Market research indicates potentially strong demand leading into the spring and summer growing season, while one of New Zealand’s leading garden centres, Terra Viva Home and Garden in Christchurch, is already stocking Vermisol a few weeks after launch.

Unfortunately Craig’s own garden has suffered over the last year as Vermisol has been brought to market. Aside from not being able to spend the time on it he would like, he first needs to fence it off from his recent additions, 3 chickens and a bantam, which are intent on gobbling everything he does get planted. “With the amount of Vermisol we’ve put on it over the last few years,” he says “at least we’ve proved Vermisol is safe for animals. They even drink it. Eggs have never tasted so good.”

ENDS

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