Why do my earthworms castings smell rancid? Is my soil safe to eat from?

[mouse1818]

I ordered a small package of organic odor free ewc from a reputable seller on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Unco-Industries-Earthworm-Castings-Fertilizer/dp/B00062KQ42/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429671377&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=organic+erath+worm+castings. When it arrived I opened the box and it smelled horrible. I left the ewc in the garage for one night and the next day the whole garage stunk and I could not stand the smell. I am using a soil mix that contains the ewc and I'm worried that I will get sick if I eat produce from the soil. Should i even grow weed in this soil?

 

[ZoBudd]

I ordered a small package of organic odor free ewc from a reputable seller on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Unco-Industries-Earthworm-Castings-Fertilizer/dp/B00062KQ42/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429671377&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=organic erath worm castings. When it arrived I opened the box and it smelled horrible. I left the ewc in the garage for one night and the next day the whole garage stunk and I could not stand the smell. I am using a soil mix that contains the ewc and I'm worried that I will get sick if I eat produce from the soil. Should i even grow weed in this soil?

i would call and try to get a refund or replacement. EWCs should not stink at all. Something has gone terribly wrong and you need to keep it from your plants.

 

[green_machine_two9er]

Sounds like it went anaerobic.? Is this the right word? I always get the two mixed up. But to much water probable led to the bad decomp. ( alcohol)

That sucks. I would be pissed if arrives like that. But amazon will fix for you I'm sure. Do not use! Is not going to make anyone sick. But can really do harm to your soil environment. Maybe you could flatten and air/ dry out. But I would try to return first.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

I ordered a small package of organic odor free ewc from a reputable seller on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Unco-Industries-Earthworm-Castings-Fertilizer/dp/B00062KQ42/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429671377&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=organic erath worm castings. When it arrived I opened the box and it smelled horrible. I left the ewc in the garage for one night and the next day the whole garage stunk and I could not stand the smell. I am using a soil mix that contains the ewc and I'm worried that I will get sick if I eat produce from the soil. Should i even grow weed in this soil?

this may not be helpful, and I apologize if it isn't, but amazon has uncle jims worms, just get a thousand from him, a 10 gallon smartpot, about two gallons of peat, and a cardboard box, and presto. Instant wormbin for less than 50 bucks, and you may even have a smartpot already.
Course it'll be three months at least until you get castings, but it's all about the future man, do this one time, and your future castings not only will be a thousand times better than any crap shipped, but cheaper too AND it's sorta good for the world too man, less shit in the landfills...

 

[greasemonkeymann]

I ordered a small package of organic odor free ewc from a reputable seller on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Unco-Industries-Earthworm-Castings-Fertilizer/dp/B00062KQ42/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429671377&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=organic erath worm castings. When it arrived I opened the box and it smelled horrible. I left the ewc in the garage for one night and the next day the whole garage stunk and I could not stand the smell. I am using a soil mix that contains the ewc and I'm worried that I will get sick if I eat produce from the soil. Should i even grow weed in this soil?

I did forget to answer your question though, you could totally use that if you wanted to, age it in your soil for about 14 days and it'll be fine HOWEVER, the point of worm castings is for the humus and microbial population it contains, which may be rendered null at this point, so it may not be useful to use it, but it won't hurt anything.

 

[st0wandgrow]

I ordered a small package of organic odor free ewc from a reputable seller on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Unco-Industries-Earthworm-Castings-Fertilizer/dp/B00062KQ42/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429671377&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=organic erath worm castings. When it arrived I opened the box and it smelled horrible. I left the ewc in the garage for one night and the next day the whole garage stunk and I could not stand the smell. I am using a soil mix that contains the ewc and I'm worried that I will get sick if I eat produce from the soil. Should i even grow weed in this soil?

I agree with @green_machine_two9er that they were likely too wet and things turned anaerobic. If you dump the bag out on a tarp and let it air out the aerobic bacteria should take over.

Out of curioisty, was this bag sold to you by weight, or by volume? The reason I ask is that some merchants sell castings by weight, which is bullshit imo, because they wet them down thouroughly prior to packaging to make it heavier. Always buy castings by volume if you can help it.

 

[CenkTripper]

If you smell anything bad from worm castings, there is something wrong, trust your nose I suggest you to get a bin and some red worms and make your fresh castings. The reddish water from your bin will be sufficient for most of your fertilizer needs...

 

[mouse1818]

The worm castings did seem quite wet. Well shit I guess I wont be eating my tomato plants since they are growing in the anaerobic ewc... I'm just gonna quit using manure all together not worth getting food poisoning.

 

[mouse1818]

I agree with @green_machine_two9er that they were likely too wet and things turned anaerobic. If you dump the bag out on a tarp and let it air out the aerobic bacteria should take over.

Out of curioisty, was this bag sold to you by weight, or by volume? The reason I ask is that some merchants sell castings by weight, which is bullshit imo, because they wet them down thouroughly prior to packaging to make it heavier. Always buy castings by volume if you can help it.

Yea sold them by weight.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

The worm castings did seem quite wet. Well shit I guess I wont be eating my tomato plants since they are growing in the anaerobic ewc... I'm just gonna quit using manure all together not worth getting food poisoning.

you won't get food poisoning man, you'll be ok, just wash them afterwards, people have grown fruits and veggies using WAY more hazardous methods (humanure, etc)
Remember the plant doesn't absorb nutrients directly that way.
technically anaerobic doesn't = bad.
just that most of the beneficails microbes cannabis likes (and tomatoes) are aerobic, and they both compete for the same stuff (generally speaking)
but anaerobic stuff will quickly die out once the oxygen is restored, it's not a permanent thing, and if the tomaotes are growing, the soil isn't gonna be anaerobic, or your tomatoes would look like crap.
Don't worry brother, just wash the fruit/veggies after, which you should do anyways

 

[SupraSPL]

Yep no worries, I once read that anaerobic tea can boost the plants immune system and it will quickly change to aerobic anyway. Occasionally I leave a water bucket half full of water + fish nutes and it goes horribly anaerobic. I water it in anyway and within 24 hours cannot smell a thing in the tents. Not sure I would recommend that, but it goes to show that it won't hurt the ladies. If the EWC smells it is probably still processing something will turn neutral in a few days.

 

[mouse1818]

Thanks for all the answers guys