null
Track a Package

Can Insect Frass Support Plant Propagation?

Can Insect Frass Support Plant Propagation?

Posted by Damian Tweedy, Larvae Production Scientist at Fluker Farms on Sep 22nd 2025

Exploring the Potential of Frass in Gardening

At Fluker’s we set out to explore whether frass, the technical name for insect manure, could support plant propagation. Frass varies in particle size, nutrients, and moisture levels. All of these are influenced by the species of insect and their diet. Because their diet is such an influential part of the frass’ available nutrients it is possible to adjust the diet to have a customizable soil amendment for all types of gardens.

The Experiment Setup

In this experiment, we focused on propagation by cuttings and frass from our two biggest insect populations: crickets and mealworms. We collected cuttings from the same parent plant, a Philodendron hastatum, that were all around the same size and weight. Then placed the cuttings into water and tested four different treatments:

  • Control: Two cuttings in plain water.
  • Rooting hormone: Two cuttings dipped in rooting hormone before being placed in water.
  • Cricket frass: Two cuttings in water mixed in 2g of cricket frass.
  • Mealworm frass: Two cuttings in water mixed in 2g of mealworm frass.

    After several days, the frass solutions became cloudy, so the frass solution was diluted with freshwater. Root development was documented daily through photographs.

    • Results

  • All cuttings formed roots except one from the plain water group.
  • Cuttings treated with rooting hormone produced roots quicker than the others.
  • Cuttings in frass water developed root hairs more quickly, indicating robust root growth.
  • By the end of the experiment, frass and rooting hormone treatments performed similarly, both outperforming the plain water treatment.

    • What This Means

    These results suggest that frass may be a useful natural alternative to rooting hormone for plant propagation and a way to increase the propagation rate in plain water.

    Next Steps

    For the time being we are going to let these roots develop a bit more. Keep an eye out for updates as we continue by putting these plants into soil.

    !