Simple Way to Compost

In most gardens, soil is the foundation. A great garden soil is a healthy one where it is full of life meant it is humus-rich that have an active symbiotic relationship with small animals, worms, insects, and soil bacteria and fungi. The macro and microbial activities create and provides a slow release of nutrients to growing plants. A healthy soil is not only having a substantially water-holding capacity to conserve moisture, but also have good drainage and aeration.

There are many ways to improve the overall structure of soil. One could artificially increase nutrients in the soil by adding chemical fertilizer, but it’s an add-on cost and in the long-term could cause harm to the environment. Another way by improving water-holding capacity through mulching or using dried leaves or coconut husks, these increase moisture and suppress weeds.  A safer and cheaper option yet a high in carbon materials could cause soil microorganisms to use up extra nitrogen to digest it and deprive plants the much needed nutrient.  However, there is the cheapest and most versatile soil additive that every gardener should be using that is called finished compost, also referred as compost.

Compost and Finished Compost

Compost is a pile of organic matter in an aerobic process of decomposing through the work of microorganisms, soil fauna, enzymes and fungi into humus. While finished compost is basically the end-product of composting. It is a form of humus, a decomposed organic matters and pretty looks, feels and smells like rich black earth or soil. And good quality compost helps build that garden’s foundation by giving the soil the humus.

Versatile and Sustainable

Finished compost is a versatile soil additive that improves soil structure as it binds with soil particles into porous granules which allow air and water to move through the soil.  It actively retains moisture, as rich in organic matter or humus, as it holds up to 90 percent of its weight in water, and able to absorb and store nutrients. Since it is stabilized and cured it does not take the much needed nitrogen from the soil, a great soil conditioner. Most importantly, finished compost is a natural fertilizer, as organic matter is a source of food for microorganisms that convert soil nutrients unto a form, a balanced and full spectrum of plants nutrients, which plants absorb more efficiently. These nutrients are gradually release, as plants need them, over a period of months or years. The microorganisms, enzymes, vitamins and natural antibiotic that are present in the compost could help prevent soil pathogens from harming plants.

Environmental Friendly

Composting is the ecological alternative of burning or burying organic waste. It is a recycled and reused organic waste into fertilizer and soil additive. It is a chemical free way to nourish plant and stimulate their defense system and extra strength to grow fast and stay healthy.

Basically Free

Composting is the least costly if you make your own compost is basically free. All you need is space, brown and green organic waste, a little water and time. And let Mother Nature do the rest. But one can hasten the process by providing the best possible environment for the microorganism doing the decomposition by a simple manual labor, no need of special bins, special thermometer, aerator or starter.

Making your own Compost

This is a small scale composting just to show the basic ideas and steps I making your own compost. Here goes.

1. Preparation of containers or area. Using a 13-foot length of 2x4x36-inch welded medium gauge wire fence, tie the ends together to form a hoop with 3-4 feet in diameter. Crisscross branches on the bottom for aeration.  Or just secure an area large enough to make a 4 feet in diameter by 4 feet in height pile.

2. Piling up the compost as high as 3-4 feet. To have an active compost pile, a certain ratio of carbon-rich (brown) to nitrogen-rich (green) organic waste material should be observed and maintained; recommendation varies from 30:1, 25:1 to 20:1. To simplify use about 3 times more “brown” than “green” materials or 3:1 ratio and in alternate layer. That would provide ideal environment for live microorganisms, bacteria and fungi to grow and reproduce feeding in the nitrogen and carbon that is naturally present in organic matters. Please see picture box below for the list of brown and green organic materials.

An excess of brown and not enough green materials, would make a pile years to decompose as there is not enough protein for microbes. While an excess of green and not enough brown, a pile would also decompose slowly, be soggy and smelly, as there is not enough food for the microbes to eat.

All organic matter breaks down eventually, slowly and gradually transforms waste into compost. However, in smaller pieces and more homogenized waste matter could hasten composting. Once accumulate enough organic waste and the desired height of the pile had been reached, stop adding and let it decompose.

3. Composting. Let it sit, in a couple of days, steam will rise, and heat indicates microbial activity from aerobic bacteria decompose the waste materials. The temperature determines what types of microbes are active.   

Bacteria in the Compost

- Psychrophiles - As low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit

As they begin to digest some of the carbon-rich materials, they give off heat, which causes the temperature in the pile to rise.

- Mesophilic bacteria - 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit

They are responsible for the majority of the decomposition work. If the mesophiles have enough carbon, nitrogen, air, and water, they work so hard that they raise the temperature in the pile.

- Thermophilic bacteria - about 100 degrees Fahrenheit

It is these bacteria that can raise the temperature high enough to sterilize the compost and kill disease-causing organisms and weed seeds. Three to five days of 155 degrees Fahrenheit is enough for the thermophiles to do their best work.

                

4. Turning the compost pile every 3- 5 or 7 days, while big piles are turned monthly or when the interior temperature dips below about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The purpose of turning is to increase oxygen flow for aerobic bacteria (bacteria that needs oxygen) to stimulate chemical process and decay. And to blend undecomposed materials into the center pile to ensure decomposition occurs evenly throughout the pile. Turning speeds the composting process.

     Turn the compost pile by breaking the pile, spread it all out. Check if it is moist, if its dry spray with water, preferably unchlorinated. Moisture is very important for composting process, but too much will drown the microorganism and too little will dehydrate them. Rule of green thumb; keep the pile moist as a well-wrung sponge.

Then pile it back up and mixing it together, and it will start to break down and heat up again, as long as there is still undecomposed material.

5. Composting...is it done yet? More or less, compost pile would stop breaking down in a month to 5 weeks. For big piles the active break down phase takes 6-10 months. Then, no matter how much it is turned, when the pile’s temperature remains constant, steam stop rising, and mushrooms are popping the compost pile is probably ready for curing.

6. Curing. Let the compost pile sit for another month to which the compost is allowed to stabilize. This would allow fungi to continue decomposition process and eliminate phytotoxic substances. And for bigger piles that would be an additional 6-8 months. When the compost pile looks, feels and smells like a dark brown or black rich earthy soil then it is ready for gardening.

7. Screening/Straining the finished compost is optional; it is to removes large objects. This step could be forgone if smaller pieces and more homogenized organic matter had been added to the pile. A screened quality would be best when used in seed germination, growing seedlings and planting root crops.

Composting is easy and environmentally sustainable. Most gardeners would recommend a 2 to 4- inch layer of compost around plants or over the area and till the compost into the soil as deep as 6 to 8 inches. If you cannot make it on your own make sure to buy and use those that don’t incorporate chemical treated materials.

Unfortunately, as this point the post is getting lengthy, thus the other soil additives will be discuss on the next gardening tip blog post. I hope you do not mind regards to the changes, please feel free let me know what you think.

I hope this article provided some additional knowledge and ideas that could help in making your own compost, soil mix and starting a garden. If you like this article, please let me know, leave a comment below and do not forget to follow. If you don’t, I still would like to hear what you think and please post reactions and corrections that could help improve this article or this blog in general. Thank you.

As always enjoy gardening and Mother Nature!

Reference

Praxxus55712. (2012, March 18). How to make GREAT compost fast. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmVNXY-fmko