Aerated Compost Leachate

This is a vermicompost bin. Not a worm bin. Not a compost bin. It is both a worm and compost bin. I had meant it to be a compost bin but I don't know how worms got inside and thrived. 

Out of the vermicompost bin drips a fruity smelling black liquid. I suppose this is because we throw in a great deal of fruit peel. Our family can get through 6 pears and 2 mangos in 1 day, at least. On other days, we throw in even more. The fluid looks disgusting but it smells really nice, like a fruity wine. Think muscado.

I have always called this worm pee. The Husband demurs. We now call it compost leachate.

The Husband rigged up an aquarium pump to aerate the compost leachate. Apparently, this promotes the growth of aerobic bacteria (i.e., bacteria that breathes oxygen). These types of bacteria, unlike anaerobic bacteria, are good for plant health. The aerated compost leachate is not only a potent fertiliser, it is also a potent pesticide spray. The aerobic bacteria is lethal to pests.

The Husband got me lots of empty bottles and I now have a box full of aerated compost leachate. I was not too convinced about its usefulness as a pesticide, at first. I experimented with an almost dead chilli plant. See below the pictures of the before and after treatment with aerated compost leachate.

Please dilute before use or the plant will burn.

This chilli plant was on its last legs, eaten by broadmites. There is not a single bud. The leaves are all crumpled and falling off.

The same chilli plant 1 week later has new smooth leaves and multiple buds.