Fuss and bother at their summer cottage - a common thing for any gardener. In order to get a rich harvest, we work without sparing neither the time nor the strength nor the means. Although on the last item you can save well, using as fertilizer:
- Grass clippings, torn weeds, tops plants, windfalls and kitchen waste.
- Branches, leaves, hay, pine needles, cardboard, ash, paper and shredded wood.
What is compost and what its benefits
All that many gardeners ruthlessly thrown away or incinerated, can be used to obtain valuable natural organic fertilizer. As you may have guessed, it will be about compost - natural organic fertilizer, which is:
- Significantly improves the soil structure.
- It makes the soil nutrient, loose and fertile.
- Save your money to buy chemicals.
- It saves you from organic garbage heap.
- It makes it possible to produce abundant harvests.
Every gardener applying compost on the site, knows firsthand what the most out of their labors can be obtained through the use of natural organic matter.
How to prepare compost
As each person is inherent in his own unique handwriting, and each gardener - its usual methods Bookmark compost. Someone is using for this special compost boxes (boxes), someone digs a pit for laying compost and someone just puts everything in a big pile on the ground.
If the definition of the place for composting each have the right to choose, then the principles of the most favorites of compost, it is necessary to adhere to clear rules:
- All the raw materials intended for compost, laid it on the layers 10-15 cm.
- Each layer in the compost alternates with a thin layer of earth and a portion is required to shed water. The microorganisms involved in the decomposition of organic substances, only work in a wet environment. Optimal humidity percentage - 50-70%.
- To maintain the desired acid-base balance and compost enrichment mineral substances, each layer interspersed with small amounts of ash.
- The stronger the crushed material is laid in the compost, the faster will be the process of digestion.
- Also, to get the full compost you need to pay attention to weather conditions. During the intense heat and lack of rain compost pile should be periodically moisturize, pouring water. And in rainy weather, to avoid clumping mass must be carefully shovel the contents of the compost pile.
Determine the readiness of the compost is fairly easy. All components after complete digestion become uniform dark mass with loose consistency. The smell of the finished compost is hardly distinguishable from the smell of damp earth.
In order to greatly accelerate the maturation of the compost it is recommendable to use biological preparations containing beneficial microorganisms (fitosporin-M, Baikal EM1, Gamair).