Mealworm Frass
Frass is the excrement that is created by mealworms, aka it is poop. This insect frass is 100% from mealworms. It contains all the natural elements to make your soil rich and productive without any chemical ingredients. It is not harmful for water runoff into lakes or streams. Easy to use, there is minimal to trace smell, wet or dry.
Mealworm frass is the perfect odorless fertilizer for all of your flowers, plants, fruit trees, vegetables or lawn care in a highly concentrated form.
Many studies that researched insect frass as a biofertilizer and abiotic stress tolerant-inductor in plant, in other words, insect frass can be used to promote plant growth and health. For more information on research can be found here and here.
Along with nutrients, insect frass contains chitin. This is an important component for keeping plant cell walls strong. These stronger cell walls help plants fend off pests and disease. It also seems to make the plant resistant to powdery mildew, late and early blights, botrytis, and certain root rots as well as root nematodes.
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Application directions
For best results, pre-mix into your growing media or soil when planting. If plants are already started, mix frass with water and apply as a root drench. Frass can also be applied as a top dressing, in hydroponic systems, as a foliar spray, and into transplanting holes.
Application rates (please use this as a guide, so modify for your specific needs)
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Sprinkle over root zone and water in after application. 1 pound per 20 square feet, then reapply 1 tablespoon per plant, every 2 weeks.
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Add 2 cups per 15 gallons of tea (2 tablespoons per gallon) to achieve a fungal dominant tea. Apply as a root drench.
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Add 1 cup of Frass per cubic foot (or 7 gallons) of planting media prior to planting. It should be less than 1% by volume. Beginning in week 2, Top Dress or Compost Tea every 2 weeks.
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Add a pinch of Frass under the roots.
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Add 4 teaspoons of Frass for each gallon of water (1 teaspoon per quart). Shake and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain and apply.
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Use 1 pound frass for every 20 square feet, can be sprinkled on top or for best result mix directly into the soil
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Add 2 cups of Frass per 30 gallons of water (strain for drip systems). Top dress any grow media (Coco, Clay Pellets, etc.) Add directly to reservoir for ebb and flow or flood to drain systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Mealworm frass is simply the feces of the insect, but frass sounds better than feces or poop.
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Frass is a useful soil additive that is all natural. Frass is a leftover product from mealworms that has benefitical amounts of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
Along with nutrients, insect frass contains chitin. This is an important component for keeping plant cell walls strong. These stronger cell walls help plants fend off pests and disease. It also seems to make the plant resistant to powdery mildew, late and early blights, botrytis, and certain root rots as well as root nematodes.
Other insect frass uses include fertilizing with nutrients in low, easy-to-uptake doses. Most available frass comes in a 2-2-2 formula, bestowing light, gentle amounts of macro-nutrients. Another of the touted insect frass uses is as a soil pH balancer. It may also return beneficial microbes ingested by insects back into the soil.
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Unlike animal manure, there is no foul smell to mealworm frass. It is very benign, and will be unnoticed even when used indoors.
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Absolutely, we use it on all of our houseplants. We haven’t had any gnat issues since! There are no pesticide or herbicides in our mealworm frass, it is safe to handle and use indoors.
There is a slight chance of allergies. Overexposure to frass can cause allergies, slight exposure could trigger already existing allergies. If you are prone to allergies, you can wear mask to help.
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It is shelf stable in moderate humidity and temperature settings for a year, but we have used frass from over a year and still had success.