"Composting is, in broadest terms, the biological allowance of organic wastes to humus. Whenever a plant or animal dies, its remains are attacked by soil micro organisms and larger soil fauna and at last reduced to an earth like substance that forms a useful growing environment for plant roots. This process, repeated continuously in endless profusion and in every part of the world where plants grow, is part of the ever-recurring natural process that supports all terrestrial life. The entire composting process is difficult to examine in its full dimensions. Let's just say that compost and composting are, like water and air, essentials of life. " - The Rodale Book of Composting
In our modern world where every person is finding for the quickest way to solve a problem we have very much become used to the "fertilizer fix". This is especially the matter in large-scale industrial farming ventures where the labour arduous way of composting has for decades been shoved out the way. Even small-scale farmers and backyard gardeners has become addicted to this fix. Gardeners doing their own composting as an alternative to the fertilizer fix are very rare today. But there is light at the end of the tunnel for those billions of micro organisms inexpressive in the soil, and dying to find any organic material to chew on. More and more gardeners and thankfully farmers are becoming aware of the advantages of composting, not only for the crops they cultivate, but also for the environment and then especially the soil. Today there exist several large-scale industrial farming ventures all over the world that have proved that it is potential and profitable to farm using compost, instead of fertilizer.
Light Source Microscope
The Challenge
Most of us lives in an environment where there is an fullness of raw organic material that can be easily, with a exiguous bit of knowledge and effort, turned into those live giving nutrients needed by plants for healthy living. And in the process we become a blessing to the soil, as we by adding compost, brings live back to it. This is an attempt to generate enough interest so that every person reading it will get out there and start composting for the own, and the environments benefit. Composting is a rather complex process that is best left to the soil scientist to explain. But for us as gardeners and small-scale farmers a basic knowledge will suffice and will set us on a common for establishing our own food gardens.
What is compost then?
Compost is the remains of what is left after raw organic material was decomposed by micro organisms. These micro organisms are not illustrated to the naked eye and therefore referred to us exiguous or micro organism. Raw organic material refers to any material found in our natural environment like leaves, grass, manure, sawdust etcetera. Compost after the composting process has finished will ideally consist of 30% organic material. This 30% that is left is the material that were unable to decompose. The rest will be a combination of macro and micro nutrients and micro organisms. It is these nutrients that are needed by plants for healthy increase and that are absorbed by plants while the distinct increase phases of the plant.
Composting is the process used to tell the breakdown of raw organic material by micro organisms. Apart from the micro organisms, there are several others creatures that plays a significant role in the breakdown of organic material. Under natural conditions earthworms, nematodes and soil insects such as mites, sow bugs, springtails, ants and beetles do most of the introductory mechanical breakdown of organic materials. These organisms are all illustrated to the eye and can with a exiguous bit of scratching in a compost pile be genuinely observed.
Together with the micro organisms these creatures are referred to as the soil food web. In this food web all the organism plays an equal foremost part in the composting process. Realising for instance that ants is an integral part of the soil food web and not every gardeners enemy number one, might alter how we deal with them. Ant colonies are often whole in rural areas and by providing enough material for them to munch on in the vicinity of a food garden, can often solve the problem of them devouring your well looked after plants, or turning up the soil in your food garden.
Once suitable bodily conditions are established the micro organisms joins in. Soil bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and protozoa colonize the organic material and furthers the break down (composting) process. Soil bacteria are particular cell organisms that secrets enzymes that break down organic material in a way that it can be absorbed by the root systems of plants again. The bacteria in turns fetch power from carbon rich material that is refer to as browns and for their increase they need green materials or greens. These requirements of soil bacteria explains why a compost pile should be built a specific way. More about that later.
Soil bacteria which is genuinely the most abundant type of bacteria found everywhere are in itself very unique creatures. It is estimated that a particular teaspoon full of soil or compost contains millions of bacteria. distinct kinds of soil bacteria operates at distinct temperatures, and this is what makes the composting process so unique. The rise in the climatic characteristic of a compost pile is the consequent of increased activity by what is called mesophilic bacteria. Once you have your "mix" of organic material exact for bacteria to optimally advantage from it in terms of their own power requirements, they start "working", and they do so profusely. This is the intuit why the climatic characteristic in a compost pile rises. They do not start working because the climatic characteristic rises but the climatic characteristic rises because they start working. These bacteria can function at very high temperatures, often in excess of 60°C so they are ideally considerable for this kind of environment. Other types of bacteria called thermophilic bacteria are dormant at high temperatures but once the climatic characteristic starts to drop down in the compost pile they start to get active and continue with the breakdown processes at lower temperatures. As long as the required "mix" in a compost pile is maintained by adding organic material frequently, it is potential to retain the composting process at high temperatures.
The process of decomposing involves both chemical and mechanical means, chemical through the activity of enzymes and mechanical by means of organisms that genuinely chew their way through organic matter. Chemical decomposing is a complex process and we will not go into the information here. In a compost pile, especially in the "hot bed" formula where there is a sudden rise in temperature, chemical decomposing is more evident. This formula is more frequented by urban farmers and gardeners while other methods are more frequented by small-scale farmers in rural areas.
Making Compost.
Composting is in itself a science and it requires some basic skills. But once you have got the basics right, the rest is easy. Over centuries assorted methods of composting have developed. Some of these are as old as the mountains and others are a bit more modern, requiring more industrialized methods. We will discuss some of the more proven and easy methods that is within the reach of everyone.
The Composting Process
For the process of composting to work it requires a equilibrium of four components required by the organisms that will perform the decomposing process. These are:
Carbon. This includes any organic material that is of a brown colour. It is refer to as "browns". Carbon provides the power for micro organisms. Wood chips, sawdust, straw, dry grass, dry animal manure, leaves and shredded newspaper are all sources of carbon rich material.
Nitrogen. This material is of a green colour and called "greens". Grass clippings, garden trimmings, green leaves, livestock manure, fruit and vegetable craps, coffee grounds and filters and tea leaves and bags are all sources of nitrogen.
Oxygen. All organisms need oxygen to survive. Nevertheless there are also micro organisms that can survive, and that can work in an environment free of oxygen. These are called anaerobic organisms or bacteria. Compost piles that are not aerated enough often turns into an anaerobic environment where these bacteria can thrive. Compost piles of this nature should be avoided as it creates an environment for assorted organisms that are harmful to plants.
Water. Composting also requires for the organic material to be moist, but not soggy. Too exiguous water and the process slows down. To much water and the process stops completely. Compare it to a sponge, if you hold it in your hand there should be no water running from it, but give it a squeeze and it should shed some water.
Layering Compost
Building a compost pile involves the layering of greens and browns in alternate layers. Composting is a forgiving process and does not need exact quantities of everything. Trial and error is the best formula of learning here, and one soon discovers what produces the best results. Brown material are required in much larger quantities than green materials, in the number of 1 part green material to about 20-30 parts brown material. Start with a layer of green material at the bottom of the compost pile, followed by a green layer, a brown layer and so forth. Ideally the brown layers is much thicker than the green layers. Make sure it is watered well once you are finished. After a few days the pile can be turned with a garden fork or a hoe fork. A hoe fork, if obtainable, works much best than a garden fork.
There are many ways of development compost, with distinct names given to distinct methods. We would like to keep it easy by referring to two basic methods. We want to call it the hot and the other the cold method. In the hot formula the compost pile is constructed as explained above. Organic material is layered, it is left for a few days and then turned on a quarterly basis after that. If constructed correctly the climatic characteristic will soon rises inside the compost pile to as much as 60°C, and even higher. The compost pile can be constructed above ground in a pile or in a trench below ground. We prefer constructing a compost on the ground as it make it easier to turn. Putting the pile in a trench have the advantage of maintaining a more median climatic characteristic as it wont cool down that easily, especially in colder climates. The hot formula produces finished compost quickly and kills most weed seeds and pathogens. Turning a compost pile on a quarterly basis is labour arduous so keep that in mind. It also requires truthful control of moisture and the carbon/Nitrogen ratio. It must be built at once and after that maintained until the composting process is finished.
The cold formula on the other hand is a much slower process and will take anyone between a few months up to a year and even longer, depending on the climate. It is less labour arduous as it requires virtually no maintenance after starting the pile. Organic material like kitchen scraps can be added at any time. Organic material need to be aerated as it wont be turned by hand, meaning it needs a constant flow of oxygen through the pile. There is distinct ways of development sure the pile is aerated. One formula is to start the pile in a wooden bin that is levelled of the ground. Or to layer branches on the ground and then to add the organic material on top of that.
Phases of Composting in the Hot Bed Method
The Active Phase
Adding and combining the exact organic materials as discussed above will set the ball rolling for the first phase to start automatically. This will be recognisable by a sudden rise in climatic characteristic inside the compost heap. The sudden rise in climatic characteristic is the consequent of thermophilic organisms (bacteria) becoming active. These organisms are heat loving and thrive in temperatures between 45°C and 80°C. Optimum increase climatic characteristic for these organisms are 50°C. This is the median climatic characteristic inside a compost heap and can be maintained for several weeks depending on the size. Thermophilic organisms play a significant role in the decomposing of organic material by turning raw material into compost.
The Curing phase
As the active composting phase subsides temperatures moderately declines to nearby 100°F. The mesophilic micro organisms that are active in the starting of the process when the climatic characteristic is low, re-colonize the pile and the compost enters the curing phase. The rate of oxygen consumption declines to the point where compost can be stockpiled without any need to turn it any more. while curing, organic materials continue to further decompose and are converted to biologically stable humic substances, the remains of finished compost.
My Links : Picking Safety Products Pneumatics and Plumbing Good choice samsung full hd 3d led lcd smart tv led lcd tv choose light microscope magnification
No comments:
Post a Comment