Powerful Poop-Insect Frass Plant Food
Updated: May 9
Did you know insect poop, also known as frass, is a great plant food?
I recently partnered with a company to have my own branded Insect Frass Plant Food called The Ever Hopeful Gardener's Kickass Frass. I am super pumped about this partnership and the product. (Of course I conducted growing experiments with the frass before agreeing to the partnership, pictures below)
The Insect Frass in my plant food comes from the excrement of Black Soldier Fly Larvae. Black Soldier Fly Larvae are some of the best composters in the world and their resulting poop is a great fertilizer.
The Insect Frass in my Kickass Frass Plant Food comes from Fluker Farms in Louisiana. You can watch a video tour of their insect farm here. Fluker Farms is a family owned business which works with the community to reduce waste. Insect farms are more sustainable as animal feed sources than fishing. (Fish meal is used in livestock feed). LSU uses Black Soldier Fly larvae to decompose its cafeteria food waste and then sells the BSFL through Fluker Farms.
Insect Frass tea is a great non-smelly alternative to fish and seaweed emulsion. Anyone who has ever used fish/seaweed emulsion knows the distinct and quite unpleasant smell about which I am talking. Insect Frass tea is made by adding 1/2 a cup of frass to a gallon of water and then used as a root drench within two hours of mixing it.
I would go so far as to say that Insect Frass doesn't just not smell bad, but actually smells like brownie mix. It is strange and I don't know how to explain it, but it is what it is. I don't know about you, but I would rather smell brownie mix while feeding my plants, than dead fish.
Like fish and seaweed emulsion, Insect Frass has a low NPK ratio of 3-2-1 so it won't burn your plants or seedlings.
Insect Frass can be applied every 2-4 weeks as either a tea/root drench or mixed directly into the soil.
Soil Microbes prefer lower NPK numbers, less than 10-10-10 so this is a great way to feed your soil (microbes) which will in turn feed your plants. Healthy, happy soil microbiology equals healthy, happy plants. Natural plant food usually has lower levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than synthetic plant food, but natural plant food promotes long-term health and longevity. Visible results may take longer with natural plant food, but you will be rewarded with both plant and soil staying healthier for longer.
In addition to being a great plant food, Insect Frass contains Chitin. Chitin a substance found in the sloughed off exoskeletons of the Black Soldier Fly Larvae. Chitin elicits a protective response in plants wherein plants strengthen their cell walls in preparation for a perceived insect attack which in turn makes the plant less desirable for an insect to eat. An article on the benefits of chitin can be found here.
You can order The Ever Hopeful Gardener's Kickass Frass Plant Food here. The Frass is available as 1 bag for $9.95 or 2 bags for $17.95. Frass lasts for 24 months so it won't go bad before you have time to use it all.
Here are some scientific articles I have read in regards to insect frass and chitin as they pertain to plant growth, defense against pests and pathogens and crop yield.
"Insect Frass in the Development of Sustainable Agriculture. A Review" by Jorge Poveda
"Insect Frass and Exuviae to Promote Plant Growth and Health"
"A Review of the Applications of Chitin and its Derivatives in Agriculture to Modify Plant-Microbial Interactions and Improve Crop Yields" by Russell G. Sharp
Thank you to everyone who has purchased the frass. Let me know what you think!!