How to Make Compost
Compost is a gardening material that helps feed garden and indoor plants. Compost can be bought by the sack in gardening supply store and plant nurseries. Making compost is quite easy and is actually environmentally friendly since it allows you to recycle biodegradable materials from your home and garden. Compost is made up of decomposed materials that come from kitchen scraps, grass cuttings, dried leaves, twigs, branches, and even paper. When mixed and tempered properly, these materials turn into compost which is a mixture of crumbly organic matter that is perfect for your garden topsoil or as an added material for your potting soil.
It is very easy to make compost. Here are a few basic steps on how to do it:
1. Prepare your materials
Compost materials can be easily found in your home, these are organic materials such as cuttings from the garden, kitchen scraps, and paper. Not all organic materials are recommended for composting, though. Meat scraps from the kitchen must not be included because it may attract vermin. Cuttings from weeds are also not recommended as the seeds from these weeds might grow in your garden soon as you apply the compost. Pet droppings should not also be included for these may not be safe to handle.
Basically all you need to make compost are organic material, air, water, microorganisms, and nitrogen.
2. How do microorganisms help in making compost?
Organic material used for compost is broken down by minute forms of animal and plant life, these are called microorganisms. These microorganisms, when fed with the right balance of air, nitrogen, and water will thrive well in the pile of organic material and help build compost. Placing in too much water or nitrogen may kill the microorganisms and composting may not be successful.
3. Bacteria, fungi, and protozoans are the microorganisms that contribute to the first stages of decomposing organic material. These beneficial microorganisms break down plant tissues allowing a rich base for the compost. Beatles, centipedes, millipedes, and worms are the organisms that complete the composting process.
4. Using a shredder or chipper to chop organic material into smaller pieces may help speed up the composting process.
5. The size of the compost pile is also important in making good compost. Make a 3 feet by 3 feet wooden square or bin for the organic matter. Compost piles larger than this may take more time and success is not always guaranteed.
6. Proper balance of air and water supply is needed to make good compost. Make sure that water is evenly distributed in the compost pile and that there is sufficient air supply, this will help in the process. Too much water will make the compost soggy while inadequate water will make the organic pile dry and the decomposition process would not be complete. To make sure that air and water is evenly distributed within the pile, use a pitchfork to mix the organic materials every now and then.
7. A temperature of around 110F to 160F is required to allow proper composting process.
Compost, although not considered as a fertilizer, is a good source of nutrients for the garden. When applied to garden soil, it allows clay soils to loosen creating a more porous top soil that is most suitable to growing garden plants. Compost also has the ability to retain water in sandy soils.
To use compost, apply around two to five inches of compost to garden top soil each year. To use compost in potting mixtures, mix one part compost and two parts potting soil. Compost can also be mixed with sand and perlite, it can be used a mulch for flower beds, and can be applied to lawns. Water drained from compost, which is also called as compost tea makes a good water solution for garden plants and lawns.
