What is compost: how to do it right and from what to make it with your own hands at home

Composting has long been recognized as one of the effective methods of obtaining good organic fertilizer for plant nutrition. It is easy to prepare it on your site. Consider the composition of the compost, what it is, the technology of preparation based on different components, how to care for the compost heap, how to speed up maturation, how to apply. What not to compost.

What is compost and what does it consist of

Compost is an organic fertilizer, which is the result of the gradual decomposition of plant and animal organic matter, which is part of it. Organics decompose under the action of microorganisms.

Composting is a process that takes place with the presence of air. In order for the air to flow freely to the waste, they are stacked in heaps, boxes, barrels with slots or holes, and not in pits, where it will be more difficult for air to penetrate. In the process of ripening, the mass must be mixed, which also contributes to the penetration of air inside. Compost requires microorganisms, humidity and heat to mature.

With a normal ratio of moisture and air in the mass, the temperature first rises to +50 … +70 ° C, further maturation continues at a temperature of +40 … +50 ° C, until the compost is completely ripe. Usually, fully matured compost can be obtained in 2 years that have passed after the laying. To speed up the process, it is recommended to add drugs to the pile that speed up fermentation. In this case, the process can be reduced to 1 season.

In the compost mass, the content of nutrients for plants increases, and they are in the form that is most assimilable by plants.Temperature kills pathogens, pests, weed seeds lose their germination. The flowability of compost allows it to improve the structure of the soil, making it softer.

What you need for cooking

Any organic residues are put into the compost - tops from the garden, leaves, small branches, weeds, carrion. Weeds can be put only young, without seeds. Also suitable for laying kitchen waste, except for meat and fish. Animal and bird manure, in dry or liquid form, peat and mineral fertilizers are added to the compost. As well as sawdust, shavings, hay, straw, sunflower stalks, Jerusalem artichoke, onion and seed husks, feathers and paper. All components must be chopped, especially branches and stems. Large fraction organic matter rots slowly.

You will also need material to make a composter. It can be boards, wooden blocks, pieces of slate, old boxes or plastic bags.

Types and manufacturing technology at the site

The composition and properties of the compost, its nutritional value depend on what was put into the compost heap. Cooking technology may also be different.

Classic, herbal and waste based

In the composter, you can put weeds weeded out on the beds and near the paths, fallen leaves and twigs, dry or obtained by pruning. Add food waste: vegetable and fruit trimmings, potato peels, cabbage leaves, onion husks, leftover food, eggshells. Fold everything in layers, sprinkle with earth and moisten.

With manure and superphosphate

Nitrogen passes from manure to compost; so that it does not volatilize during storage, superphosphate is added to the mass in an amount of 2% of the volume of manure, that is, for 10 kg of manure, 200 g of fertilizer granules. Manure compost with superphosphate contains more ammoniacal nitrogen than without this fertilizer.It is recommended to apply 1 kg per 1 sq. m. for potato and vegetable beds and 2 kg for fruit and berry crops.

With bird droppings

Bird droppings contain a lot of nitrogen, in the compost it should not take up more than a quarter of the volume. The remaining three-quarters should be occupied with ordinary materials - grass, leaves, hay, sawdust, kitchen waste.

Peat based

Peat enhances the activity of microorganisms, the decomposition of organic matter is more intense, and the amount of available nitrogen increases. Peat binds ammonia due to its good absorption capacity, therefore reducing nitrogen losses. If the peat is acidic, add 2% chalk or lime to the pile. Humidity of peat should be 60-65%. As for its quantity, the higher the degree of its decomposition, the more it can be taken by volume. Compost with this component matures faster - in 4-6 months.

For champignons

The substrate for mushrooms should be nutritious and loose. With proper preparation, after 3-4 months it is already possible to lay it as a fertilizer for champignons. A substrate is prepared from straw (10 kg), manure (3 kg) and bird droppings (3 kg), 50 g of urea and 800 g of chalk. All components are thoroughly mixed and poured with water until moderately moistened. Turn over every week to keep the ripening process going properly.

How to cook in bags

Polyethylene bags save space on the site, the speed of composting in them is faster, compost can be obtained in 2-3 months. The contents of the bag do not need to be transferred, it is not affected by rain and wind, and insects and pests do not penetrate inside.

Compost waste in large, dense and dark garbage bags or from under building materials.Acceptable ingredients that can be bagged are grass clippings, fallen needles and leaves, haulm and weeds, turf, food waste, hay, paper and sawdust. All mix and fill the entire volume of the bags at once. Put them in a sunny place. The decomposition process takes place without access to oxygen.

Crate making

Boxes are made of boards, between which a space of 2-3 cm is left for air to pass through. Box volume - 1 cu. m. It is installed on the ground in partial shade, covered with waterproof material. Fill with any plant debris. Ready compost from the box can be taken after 2 years.

How to do it right?

For the proper flow of fermentation processes, it is necessary to choose a suitable place for placing the composter, make it and cover it. Let's take a closer look at how to do this.

Choose cooking location

The temperature in the compost heap for proper decay of organic residues should be approximately constant, which means that you need to organize a composter not in an open place where it will be heated by the rays of the sun, but in partial shade. It is advisable to place under a canopy so that rain and snow do not fall on it.

Making a box

You can make a compost bin with your own hands from thin boards of a meter length. They are nailed to 4 bars at the same distance. The boards are not installed tightly, between them you need to make gaps of 2-3 cm. A cover is installed on top.

Bookmark

You can fill the composter immediately if there is enough material, or gradually, layer by layer. Each 20 cm layer of organic matter is sprinkled with a thin layer of earth, chalk or lime. Compost can be prepared with the addition of urea and superphosphate. Plant residues should be crushed as much as possible.When preparing fertilizer at home, the pile is watered with clean water or a fertilizer solution.

Decor

You can disguise the compost bin on the site with a hedge of ornamental shrubs, wicker brushwood or plastic fences. Other options than to close the compost in the country: put flowers in pots near it, plant a flower bed with tall plants, close the box with a wall of wooden planks, on which weave plants. You can plant 2-3 pumpkin bushes on the pile itself, its large leaves will cover the compost all summer.

Features of compost heap care

Composting must take place at a certain temperature and humidity. To maintain the desired level of humidity, the pile should be sprayed, the mass should not dry out, but should not be wet either. Once a month, you need to shovel the contents so that air can pass through.

Pile with cut grass and other waste should be covered with a lid or film so that it does not get wet in the rain. For the winter, it needs to be covered on all sides with a thick film or roofing material, which will allow it not to freeze through.

Acceleration of ripening

You can quickly get good quality compost if you pour a ready-made pile with a solution of biological products designed specifically for fermenting plant residues: "Shine", "Baikal-M" and others. You can use regular yeast, 1 tbsp. l. dry powder and 1 tbsp. Sahara; mix all this in 1 liter of warm water and pour a bunch of this solution. In summer, you can moisten the contents of the compost bin with herbal infusion or weakly concentrated slurry.

What not to compost

Not suitable for laying meat and fish waste, bones, tops and fruits of diseased plants, waste products of predatory domestic animals, weeds that have already become seeded, thick branches, paper with printing ink, synthetic materials.Do not pour out the remains of pesticide solutions after processing the garden and garden.

Uses

Duration of formation of compost prepared according to classical technology and already suitable for use is at least 1-1.5 years. Its readiness can be recognized by its appearance, structure and smell. Good quality compost mass should be loose, crumbly, light, moderately moist, earthy in color and smell. If there is a musty smell or mold is visible on the surface, such compost is unusable. It is impossible to keep ready-made fertilizer in a pile for longer than 3 years, mineral elements are gradually washed out of it, and it becomes useless. Such a product is suitable for use only as a mulch, but not for top dressing.

Fully prepared compost can be taken after 2 years, it is allowed to sprinkle it under any crops, as a fertilizer in spring, autumn, during the summer season. It has all the nutrients and exactly in the amount that plants need them.

It is also used as a mulch to cover beds from overdrying, from sprouting weeds. In this case, it is laid on the beds from spring until the end of the growing season. For the winter, it remains in the beds, by spring it rots and mixes with the ground.

Getting compost on a personal plot or cottage is within the power of any gardener. Material for the manufacture of natural and cheap fertilizer is always at hand. Composting is a good use for plant residues that remain after the growing season. Without composting, they would have to be thrown away or burned, but with the right application, they can bring obvious benefits to the site.