Any organic matter put on the surface of the soil will feed your hosta and any tea made from organic matter will help if it is not high or low ph and used sparingly.

And yes worm casting are wonderful.

Worm poop is GREAT! To learn more, go to the GardenWeb Composting forum and enter worm castings or vermicomposting in "Search this forum." Then pick up a copy of the paperbacks "Worms Eat My Garbage" by Mary Appelhof and "The Worm Book: The Complete Guide to Worms in Your Garden" by Loren Nancarrow. Have fun gardening!

Don

Thank you Don, and ester opal,I have been growing hosta's for about 4-5 years and only learned about this site resently,i have spent All Day today here.I am starting to do the worm thing,for composting reasons,I have never fertilized my hosta's so i was worried i might burn them up. better to ask first. :0)Again i thank you,can't wait for spring!Just 1 morehosta

Welcome to our forum, Just1more!

Char

The point about putting the worm casting on the surface v. incorporating is different in this way. Worm castings in the soil are produced slowly then set upon by other soil organisms slowly and changed into other forms slowly. If you incorporate then they can overwhelm the system, placed on the surface they will be moved down to the root zone slowly more naturally. Almost no nutrient begins in a form the plants can utilize directly.

Welcome just1morehosta ! Let us know how the worm castings work out for you. I agree w/ EO about putting them on top of the soil. I use bunny poo in this way, I do let it age first in a pile first. So far its working good for me,no burn. Good luck w/ the worms. ~ Dot

There used to be a worm farmer in my home town, he raised millions of red worms and sold them all, when he was done with a particular bed he then scooped up all the worm bed and bagged it up and sold it to some big box store.
That was when I was into Roses big time and he would give me all I wanted, so I got a couple loads and put it around my HT roses. That is the year I won all the ribbons at the County Fair rose show. The next year, all my competitors did the same thing, so I didn't do near as well. LOL
ohio phil

Dot, the question is moderation. There is a concept called sheet composting, which means one sort of layers organic materials and allows the organic matter to compost in place. If one piles grass clippings deep they will go into a very hot heat and change the soil temp near the surface and leach a tea that is probably problematic but if they are placed on the soil in thin layers they are wonderful. The same would be true if you put a small amount of rabbit poo on the soil would be good while a layer deep enough would be a problem.

Someone may be able to say how deep per input such as grass or manure, etc but using some caution almost all organic matter on the surface of the soil is good.

I always look at the natural situation and try to do what seems to be how it might work naturally. I've talked about fairly thick mulch, bark or wood or even leaves. Bark and wood are usually coarse with a lot of air and they compost slowly, leaves are naturally composted fast so they are more of a problem thick but not so much because they are called a brown in compost terms.

All this is to say let prudence guide what you do and it ainÂt hard or dangerous.

Yes, I know I just built a watch when all you wanted was the time.

Thanks EO, I like it when you give details answers, short ones often lead to me to just ask more questions. Those who already know all this can just skim through. I enjoy learning & read everything even though I might know some , its always good to hear what others do. Moderation it is as I only have 3 bunny's & a ram working full time to fertilize 3 acres :) Sorry if I gave the impression I had loads of layers on my hostas. No, at this rate it will be many years till the "organic matter" gets real deep around here.:) I work very hard to compost & shred leaves & improve my soil . I was thinking of doing the worm composting , but I really have quite a few ,each shovel scoop is loaded as the worms I have seem happy & prolific. Thanks you can build me a watch any time~ Dot

Wow!Thanks to all of you,i was so excited when i logged on just now and saw so many replies,am i ever glad i found you guy's,:0). I was going to add the worm castings into the soil of my newly potted hosta's,now, when the time is right, i know what to do,i agree with Dot,hostahaveum,you may build me a watch any time,you can never learn to much.Phil,your comment on getting a ribbon for the best roses,congratulations on that one, now, all we need is Spring,i can't wait to see what my hosta do with the worm castings,i bought a three tier bin,i am going to try this in my kitchen,from what i have read, if done right, there should be no smell??Fingers crossed,just1more

"Thanks you can build me a watch any time~ Dot"

I try to address things generally and only take someone to task if I'm convinced they are doing somthing that will cause a problem.

Compost isn't a bad thing but applying the organic matter directly on top of the soil is better for this reason; there are loses in the compost pile and some of what would help the plants is leached away or rather what would help the organisms which is what causes plants to grow.

One specific reason to have a compost pile is; if some of the input needs to go through a heat such as weed seed then a compost is better but there is no real gain in nutrient value to put them through a compost pile first.

Please don't take what I say personally or even the final word, if you know better tell me and we can learn together.

I try not to post my beliefs unless I've done outside reading and tried most of what I've read.

Yes Eo I have thought of all the great nutrient's leaching out from my compost into the ground, stuff my hostas could surely use. But since I have mucho organic kitchen waste, shredded leaves & garden clippings, bunny & ram poo, and occasionally lucky to get a load of cow/ horse stuff from my bro. I have done the pile method for ten years, I all ways wanted some of those cool roller barrels to save my back . I have also tried the layer method you mentioned too , that was just last summer so maybe in a year or two I will see the difference in the beds. I never take what any one says too seriously so no problem there. I just look for gardening methods that will be good for a not too healthy & strong 5o yr -old lady & my plants. I could of course hire a team of landscapers to whip my place into a garden of Eden w/ chemical sprays & trimmers & tools .....but wheres the fun in that? I hang out here to learn & have fun & if something interests me I do research it further or try it my self. Other wise it goes in one ear & out the other:) But weren't we talking about worm castings ? Interesting topic , sorry I took it in another direction.