The mealworm isn’t just the larval form of the mealworm beetle; his frass it’s also an excellent organic fertiliser and natural bio-repellent that can help your garden grow! Whether you need to add nutrients to your soil or keep pesky animals out of your vegetable patch, these five surprising ways mealworms can help your garden grow will be sure to come in handy when you begin working with these amazing little critters.

[...] In the present laboratory study, the bacterial biota characterizing a pilot production chain of fresh T. molitor larvae was investigated. To this end, different batches of fresh mealworm larvae, their feeding substrate (wheatmeal) and frass were analyzed by viable microbial counts, PCR-DGGE and Ilumina sequencing.

Improved nitrogen fertiliser management and increased nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) can be achieved by synchronising nitrogen (N) availability with plant uptake requirements. Organic materials in conjunction with inorganic fertilisers provide a strategy for supplying plant-available N over the growing season and reducing N loss. This study investigated whether a combined application of inorganic N with an organic soil amendment could improve nitrogen use efficiency by reducing N loss in runoff. Nitrogen runoff from a ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) cover was investigated using a rainfall simulator. [...]

[...] The plant and its highly diverse plant-associated microbial community, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protists, are nowadays recognized as holobiont (Vandenkoornhuyse et al., 2015). Essential functions are outsourced to symbiotic microbiota partners, and therefore plant-associated microbiomes play a key role in plant survival and health (Gilbert et al., 2012; Guttman et al., 2014).

Insects are being used to turn cheap and low-quality organic material into good and affordable food, feed, fiber, and fertilizer. A lot of insects are being raised at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) for this purpose. These include black soldier flies, crickets, mealworms, locusts, and beetles. The waste products from some of these insects, like the black soldier fly and mealworms, have been tested and shown to be very good for the soil, helping crops grow better and become more nutritious.

Microbes are tiny living things that can help plants grow better or protect them from pests and diseases. Using these microbes can reduce the need for harmful chemicals on crops, making farming more sustainable. Insect poop and shed skins (exuviae and frass) contain nutrients that can improve soil quality and help plants grow. When added to the soil, they can also attract helpful bacteria that can protect plants from harm. As more insects are raised for food and other purposes, there is a lot of this insect waste that can be used to help crops grow without using harmful chemicals. By using these organic soil amendments, farmers can help create healthy soil and increase crop yields while protecting the environment.