Thermonuclear maturation of compost: a review of preparations and folk remedies. Composting - all aspects (raw materials, moisture, etc.) How to speed up the formation of compost in the country

Composting is an inexpensive way to make valuable fertilizer which is safe for plants and improves soil quality. Unfortunately, the method is not without drawbacks - the process of decay of the compost heap lasts for many months. How to speed up the process?

Compost is a valuable natural fertilizer

Compost can be used for any kind of cultivation: from growing vegetables in garden beds to flower bed. Fertilizer - although heterogeneous - supplies nutrients to plants, accelerates the formation of humus and improves the air-water properties of the soil. It can be used throughout the season, as it belongs to the group of long-acting fertilizers.

Preparation of well-decomposed compost usually lasts 6-12 months. Only after this period can mature compost of dark color and lumpy structure be obtained. Compost from over short time(3-4 months), fresh and generally used as a useful mulch. However, some procedures and preparations can significantly speed up the preparation.

What to add to the pile to speed up composting?

Compost mixing The compost in the composter should be turned over every 2-3 weeks. Stirring will speed up decomposition by several weeks.

black film– lining the compost bin with garden film increases the temperature of the compost. What is connected with this is that the decomposition of organic matter occurs faster.

Compost activators- these stimulants shorten the decay process even for several months. Thanks to the use of "accelerators", the creation of mature compost lasts 4-6 months. Activators can be purchased from garden shops or on the Internet. Preparations contain microorganisms or enzymes. In our garden centers you can, for example, buy: "Sanex Complex", "Bioforce Compost", "Compostar" .

Lime– to some extent accelerates the production of compost and at the same time prevents mold from plant waste. It is recommended to apply, in particular, when the compost consists of a large amount of grass. Approximate doses: 1-2kg/m³ of quicklime or 2-4kg/m³ of carbonate lime.

Bone, horn meal- the addition will speed up composting if the heaps are dominated by organic residues containing carbon (lignified parts, shoots, roots, bark).

California worms- feed on organic residues, "processing" them into valuable vermicompost. The presence of these organisms increases the quality of the compost and the decomposition time of the heap (by several months). ⇒ Biohumus - what is it, how to use it and is it worth it?

Comfrey- comfrey leaves increase the amount of available nutrients in the compost and to a small extent accelerate the decomposition of the heap.

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Compost is a fertilizer of organic origin, which is obtained by the decomposition of various organic matter under the influence of microbial activity.

Compost contains humus and almost the entire list of trace elements so necessary for plant growth and soil fertility.

Among experienced gardeners, compost is considered the most valuable organic fertilizer. Composting is a great way to create a valuable fertilizer that allows you to quickly and easily recycle organic household waste.

Compost maturation takes time, but it is not always possible to wait a long time for our fertilizer to be ready. In this case, there are several simple ways to speed up the maturation of compost, which will be discussed in our article.

Components for cooking

To prepare good compost, it is difficult to do without knowledge about the arrangement of the compost yard, and even about what can be filled. The speed of compost maturation directly depends on the optimal ratio of each component of this fertilizer.

Required to create favorable conditions for the activity of the smallest organisms. This requires the presence of air, water, heat and nitrogen. When selecting ingredients for compost, one must take into account the fact that nitrogen is the main nutrient for microorganisms.

Among compostable materials there are those that are rich in nitrogen (N) but poor in carbon (C), and vice versa, poor in nitrogen and rich in carbon. Decomposition of materials with high content nitrogen is faster. In the process, they release heat, which is required for bacteria and fungi to work more actively in.

Nitrogen rich ingredients:

Materials saturated with carbon, though less susceptible to decay, but thanks to them, good air exchange is provided and moisture is retained.

Some of them:

The order of laying the compost heap

Ways to make quick compost

There are several ways to speed up the maturation of compost. Let's look at them in more detail:

In this article, read about

Article about characteristics and correct use composter Volnusha read

Fulfilling the main recommendations experienced gardeners, you can accelerate the maturation of compost and with minimal cost get a unique fertilizer that will increase the yield on your site.

Watch the video for details effective ways speed up compost maturation:

Compost is the most valuable organic fertilizer, which is successfully used on all soils to feed any plants. Compost fully ripened to a state of humus will not harm vegetables, it will only make them stronger, and the harvest richer. Almost all summer gardeners themselves produce it on their plots every year, caring only about how to speed up the maturation of compost. For this, the preparations "Doctor Robik" and "Baikal EM" are recommended.

On each suburban area when cultivating a garden and a vegetable garden, a lot of garbage accumulates. Zealous owners do not burn it, do not throw it away, but lay it in compost pit(heap) for further processing into valuable organic fertilizer. Tree branches after pruning, green grass after mowing the lawn, weeds after weeding, tops of vegetables after harvesting from the garden, fallen leaves, fruits spoiled by frost are sent to the compost. Everything that grew on the site can get a second life as a top dressing for the next plantings, decomposing in a compost heap.

Waste of human life in the country also needs to be sent for recycling. Not only kitchen waste will do ( potato peelings, leftover vegetables, coffee and tea grounds, all half-eaten food), but scraps of paper, ash from a fireplace or fire, straw, hay, wood shavings. And a bucket of country toilet, like bird droppings or manure, will accelerate decomposition almost like a special preparation.

It is not recommended to send compost heap meat, animal fats, roots of especially dangerous weeds, such as bindweed and thistle, weeds with seeds. It is absolutely impossible for tin, plastic and glass objects to get there, in no case should plants affected by diseases, for example, potato tops, tomatoes with late blight, be allowed to enter. Large solid waste, such as branches, paper, must be shredded so that the decomposition process occurs faster. Created special preparations to speed up the preparation of compost. "Doctor Robik", "Baikal EM" and other means are used in order to useful fertilizer ripened not in 1.5–2 years (as the old gardener's guides indicate), but in just a few weeks.

Video "How to speed up the maturation of the compost heap"

In this video you can hear tips on how to speed up the preparation of compost.

Conditions for creating

In order for waste to become humus, certain conditions must be created and maintained. First of all, the compost heap must be air permeable. He not only has to get there, but also circulate inside. The decomposition of organics is accompanied by the release of gases and heat, these gases must move, and heat should contribute to further processing.

The compost heap should be moistened as needed, but not flooded. If there is too much moisture, the mass will rot, and if there is too little, the decomposition process may stop. Therefore, it is watered in dry, hot summers, covered with burlap or a film with holes on top to retain moisture longer, and covered with a film in the rain to protect it from excess and prevent useful substances from washing into the surrounding soil. All these wastes can decompose only if there is a sufficient amount of nitrogen. It is he who will create the conditions for the activity of fungi and bacteria that do this. There is a lot of nitrogen in fresh mowed grass, nettles, bean tops. Even more nitrogen in manure, in order to increase its amount, various preparations are added - compost activators.

The decomposition process is accompanied by the release of heat, the larger the pile, the more it is released. Therefore, in the cold season, the process slows down, and accelerates in the summer. It was to speed up the process of turning heaps of garbage and waste into humus that drugs such as Doctor Robik and Baikal EM were created.

How to make a compost heap

A compost pit can be arranged at any time except winter, usually gardeners do it in the fall, when a lot of plant waste has accumulated. A good place for her is a secluded shady corner, where there is no direct sunlight and moisture is well preserved, woodlice live there, earthworms, microorganisms that contribute to the decomposition of plant mass. There are different recommendations for arranging: some talk about a pit (no deeper than 1 m), others about a pile (no more than 2 m 2), others advise a wooden box, others - old metal barrels bottomless, dyed dark colors. Old reference books state that it is better to have 3 heaps formed in different years, then every year you can have fresh ready-made fertilizer. it good advice, but where on the site to place 3 heaps with an area of ​​​​2 m 2? I immediately want to recall preparations such as "Doctor Robik" or "Baikal EM", which will help reduce the preparation of fertilizer to several weeks.

The compost heap is laid in layers. Branches, spruce branches, straw are placed at the very bottom to create drainage, and then a green layer of mowed grass or weeds is alternated with a brown layer of chopped branches, paper, and coarse tops. All components should be finely chopped, just poured on top of each other without tamping. Periodically, all this is interspersed with layers of liquid manure, wood ash, nitrogen fertilizers and earth. The very top is covered with earth and covered with straw or burlap to retain moisture.

Secrets of use

If you provided the compost heap with air, heat, moisture and nitrogen, then the process will definitely go on. First, the breakdown of fiber occurs, and then, with the involvement of not only wood lice and earthworms, but also special bacteria and fungi, more and more plant residues, cellulose, wood are processed into fine-grained humus. In order to always have access to air and the movement of gases, at least once a month the whole mass must be mixed with a shovel or fork. This is very difficult to do, but necessary. Without the involvement of fertilizers, activators and any accelerator preparations, the preparation of humus is stretched at best for 7-8 months, and maybe for a year and a half.

If you use "Baikal EM" or "Doctor Robik", then the process will be significantly accelerated due to the involvement of effective microorganisms (EM), there will simply be more of these same EMs that process organic matter into humus. In addition, they will not allow the development of pathogenic microflora, destroy the larvae harmful insects. These drugs should be applied once a month after (or together) watering the compost heap, that is, one watering of the heap with a diluted preparation is enough to turn it into humus.

Ready humus smells pleasantly of the earth, crumbles in the fingers. They fertilize and mulch the beds. This most useful fertilizer without contraindications can improve any soil. Only you can not plant seedlings in it, you need to mix it with the ground.

Video "How to make compost"

In this video you can see how to make compost, after which you need to fertilize it to speed up maturation.

In a series of previous articles, it was noted that it is impossible to prepare a truly nutritious compost without knowing what and how. However, this educational series will not be complete if I do not touch on the issue of the optimal proportions of the individual components of this fertilizer, because the speed will largely depend on their observance. compost maturation.

Before proceeding with the laying of plant residues directly, it is necessary to lay down large material on the bottom of the compost bin, which will perform a drainage function. Branch trimmings, pieces of wood, wood chips, spruce branches, etc. will fit into this role.

Next, they begin to lay out organic residues, which are placed in a layer of 15-20 centimeters. If you have any doubts about whether pathogens of fungal diseases remain on the tops, then it should be treated with a 5% solution of urea. The consumption of this solution will be approximately 1% of the total initial green mass. It will not be superfluous to add a complex mineral fertilizer(for example, nitrophoska) at the rate of 100-200 grams per square meter.

A vegetable garden is poured over the plant mass. clay soil a layer of 2 centimeters and cow dung in the same layer. These ingredients are used as starter, without which it is impossible to initiate combustion processes inside the heap. Please note that in the absence of nitrogen-containing components, you will wait for the compost to mature until the second coming. According to practical observations, 1:30 is the optimal ratio between nitrogen-containing and carbon-containing materials in the compost.

An equivalent replacement for traditional manure can be a whole line of microbiological preparations to speed up composting. These funds are used in case of slow decay of organic matter, with an insufficient concentration of beneficial microflora, as well as in case of infection of plant residues with pathogenic microorganisms. They contribute to faster decomposition of organic matter, reducing this process in time by 4 times.

I will give a universal sequence of actions when using such compost activators. 250 milliliters of the drug is diluted in 10 liters of water and each layer of compost is thoroughly treated with this solution from a watering can or using a backpack sprayer. For each cubic meter organic matter consumes approximately 10 liters of solution. This work it is recommended to carry out early in the morning or in the evening, avoiding getting the mixture under direct Sun rays. In order to “revive” the microorganisms of the preparation, it is recommended to shed the compost with a solution before using it. ammonium nitrate. To do this, 0.5-1 kilogram of this substance should be dissolved in 10 liters of water and this volume of liquid should be consumed per cubic meter of compostable materials. After the completion of the compost laying, the heap is re-treated with the preparation at least twice a month. By the way, ordinary ones can also speed up decomposition processes: just dilute a cube of yeast and 200 grams of sugar in a liter of water and pour this solution into the holes made in the compost bin.

However, if you did not manage to get hold of manure, and you treat it with some distrust, then you can successfully use it as a starter to activate the processes of decomposition of plant residues. Although such an infusion is quite self-sufficient, it is still better to add a little slurry to it or. For 5 buckets of organic matter, you should take about 2 buckets of odorous liquid, while trying not to overmoisten the plant material.

The compost heap can become more active mold fungi and putrefactive bacteria. These unwanted guests feel good only in an acidic environment, therefore, even at the stage of laying compost, it is advisable to add lime to it - 2-3% of the total green mass. Here, the proportion should be strictly observed, since large doses of these substances have a depressing effect on the development of microorganisms and slow down the maturation of the compost.

Exists general rule: The finer the plant residues in the compost heap, the faster the fertilizer will be ready for use. At the same time, it should be noted that large elements improve the air permeability of the compost heap, which also has a positive effect on the decomposition processes taking place in it. In a word, it is better to rephrase the above statement as follows: the largest components should be concentrated at the bottom of the compost heap, and the higher, the smaller.

The compost heap is laid layer by layer until its total height reaches about 1.2 meters. Further, from above and from the sides, it must be covered with soil 10-12 centimeters thick, and then also with an opaque old film.

Ripening compost needs some care. The composted residues must not be allowed to dry out, therefore, in hot weather, the compost is watered. In the compost itself, you can install several thick sticks. They are convenient to use for loosening the mass, but ordinary forks will also work in this regard. Of course, it is desirable to shovel a pile every couple of months, but when using such a need, it usually does not arise.

In the warm season, it takes 3-5 months for the compost to fully mature. At low temperatures this fertilizer will be ready for use in 6-10 months. When using an EM preparation, this time is reduced to 6-8 weeks. Exit final product will be approximately 50% of the total set of the introduced components.

Finally, I would like to name some of the most common mistakes, due to which the ripening of compost can be delayed for years. First, it is the use of exclusively carbon-based materials without the necessary thin layer of earth and/or manure. Secondly, a very dry substrate is difficult to decompose, so do not forget to moisten the compost mass from time to time. And, finally, the absence of shoveling and / or loosening, without which plant residues become caked and compacted (remember, nothing living, including microorganisms, can exist without oxygen).

Prepared according to the above tips and tricks, mature compost will provide a unique yet affordable fertilizer to increase yields. horticultural crops by at least 50%.

Compost is an essential ingredient nutrient soil in the garden of any gardener. In addition, it is also recognized as the most affordable fertilizer in terms of costs, since the main component of its manufacture is waste. That is, it is made practically from nothing, because in any garden there will always be some kind of waste.

You just need to know that in order to get a full nutrient soil, the compost heap must be properly prepared. After all, compost will not only fertilize the earth, but also serve as an improver of its structure, friability and ability to retain and absorb moisture.

What is compost

In order for the garden to be well-groomed and give good harvest, it just needs to be fertilized. You can do this with chemical fertilizers, or you can get by with your free, useful and safe tool.

Compost is a natural organic fertilizer, which is obtained by fermentation under the action of earthworms and bacteria.

To obtain such fertilizer, a compost heap is laid. Often it is done by simply digging a hole in the ground, but it is better if it is a specially equipped place - a compost bin.

Composters are made in the form of closed or open containers, but you can also purchase special plastic boxes equipped with a lid and a door.

The prepared compost is introduced into the holes before planting garden crops in open ground or for planting in greenhouses. Or it is scattered over the site before planting the seed and lightly mixed with the soil.

What is compost made from?

Many people think that to make compost it is enough to dump all kinds of waste in a pile in some corner of the garden. Time will pass, they will overheat, and fertilizer will turn out. But this is far from true.

To get safe and healthy compost, you need to arrange the correct compost heaps, so you need to take into account some points. First of all, the composition of such a heap. It may include:

• ash, chalk, charcoal, eggshell;
• cut grass, straw and hay;
• sawdust and tree residues;
• vegetable food waste;
• weed grasses and healthy plant greens;
• bird droppings and animal manure;
• compost stimulants.

Compost bin dimensions

Composting ingredients are put into the compost bin. Proper composting does not release harmful substances into the soil and does not cause inconvenience with a strong unpleasant odor.

It is important to respect the dimensions of the compost bin, otherwise it will be difficult to create comfort mode temperature and humidity of the compost. Optimal sizes the piles are one and a half meters in width and as much or more in length. If you make a pile smaller, it will quickly lose moisture and will not be able to warm up well. This will lead to the fact that the composting process will be delayed for a long time.

compost ban

Before you make a compost heap, you need to know what you can’t add to its composition:

• disinfectants and chemicals;
• weed residues with seeds long terms germination or roots of creeping plants, since they do not lose their germination during composting;
• remnants of coated glossy paper, rubber, textiles, as well as animal bones and stones - all these substances do not decompose in compost;
• human feces and pet waste, which can be contaminated with worm eggs;
• diseased plants that are affected by pests and fungi, such as late blight - such residues must be burned in the garden;
• food waste of animal origin, which start the processes of decay and cause a persistent unpleasant odor.

Open composting device

You can run a compost maker, as gardeners are taught in specialized publications, in the following way:

1. Prepare a site for the compost bin. To do this, select appropriate place at the end or middle of the garden and level the ground. Shady places without direct sunlight are best suited for this purpose.
2. Then fence the area necessary for the composter with boards, shields or slate sheets. Or put together a wooden box with slots for air exchange. You can also fix a special garden grid on metal supports. This can be one container or two separated by a partition, one of which will be filled in the current year, and the second in the next.
3. Dig a hole half a meter deep and pour a drainage layer on the bottom. To do this, you can use sand, gravel, large wood residues. It is imperative to make such a layer, since it is impossible to allow the water that will wet the compost heap to collect in the compost bin. It should flow out of the compost bin without obstruction.
4. Then, on the drainage layer, it is imperative to lay a ready-made mature compost of the last or the year before last in a small layer. This is necessary to supply the ingredients of the heap with bacteria, with the help of which the compost is fermented.

Building an indoor compost bin

A more reliable and durable design than an open compost bin is a closed compost bin. It is built with walls that have slots for ventilation, and with a lid that will mix the compost. Such a compost heap in the country has a neater appearance, does not interfere with the aesthetic perception of space. As a rule, such a container is made of plastic, which does not rot, does not fall apart and will last for a long time.

To install the ventilation system, pipes are brought into the box, which are protected by a mesh so that they are not clogged with compost.

The advantages of an enclosed compost heap are that it allows heat to build up quickly and retains it well. From this, pests die, and the fermentation process occurs faster.

Another plus is that in these containers you do not need to comply with without fail proportions of constituent ingredients. Various acceptable wastes, residues and grass can be dumped into the pile in any convenient quantities. It is only important to mix it all systematically.

How to make a compost heap

For proper cooking heap ingredients needed:

1. Prepare the necessary components, grinding them as finely as possible. Branches can be broken, and plant remains can be chopped with a shovel. The smaller the heap components are, the faster the compost will mature.
2. Lay the components in layers, the thickness of each of the layers should be up to 15 cm. In this case, it is imperative to alternate the laying of food waste, wood residues and green mass of plants.
3. Layers can be shifted with manure or droppings, or purchased liquid fertilizers. Compost stimulants are also used at this stage. As manure for a heap, it is better to use cow or horse manure, and the best bird manure is chicken manure.
4. From above, the pyramidal compost heap is covered with straw, spandbond, boards or plant stems. This is necessary for free air circulation. Often gardeners cover a bunch of polyethylene, but this is not recommended: when covering plastic wrap compost overheating will occur without air access. And this is fraught with the appearance of a putrefactive, unpleasant persistent odor.

Compost maturation

The preparation of compost and the duration of its maturation are directly dependent on which fractions have compost components and what fermentation mode is set. In general, fermentation and composting last a very long time, the minimum period is several months, the maximum is two to three years.

The smaller the fractions of the embedded components, the faster the composting will occur. It is also important that the temperature inside the compost pile is close to 60 degrees or higher. This will not only speed up the process of decomposition of the ingredients, which occurs with the help of bacteria, but also help to eliminate the possibility of germination of weed seeds as much as possible. Also with such high temperature harmful insects die.

To provide correct mode fermentation, it is important that good moisture and air exchange be provided inside the pyramid.

Ensuring fermentation

In order to speed up the composting and fermentation of the components of the compost heap, it is necessary to perform the following actions:

1. When the weather is hot and dry, the compost pile needs to be watered. Moreover, the water should wet all the layers of the heap. This process is best done with a large gauge garden hose because it will take a large number of water.
2. Watering the heap must be done in the morning, in this case, during the day, the wet compost will have time to warm up well, and the process of active decomposition will start.
3. How to water the compost heap? Water it with ordinary warm water, but from time to time it is necessary to add a compost stimulant to the water or insist fresh manure in it.
4. A couple of times during the season, the compost needs to be shoveled. This helps to carry the well-fermented inner layers to the top. In this case, the upper ones move inward.
5. Also, when mixing, the compost is saturated with air and gets rid of accumulated gases.
6. With the onset of cold weather, the compost bin needs to be warmed, while the process of active composting is prolonged. For insulation, a pile is sprinkled with humus or peat, and then tops are laid on top from harvested crop root crops, sunflower stalks or fresh straw. This year, the remains of the plants will keep warm, and next year they will serve as ingredients for a new pile.

Fallen leaf compost

Separately, it is worth mentioning the compost from fallen leaves, popularly known as “leafy soil”. How to make a compost heap from fallen leaves?

Fallen leaves are taken as the basis of such compost. The advantage of this approach is that at the end of autumn the leaves lose minerals, and only lignin, tannin and hemicellulose, which are valuable ingredients of humus, remain in their tissues. And the downside is that these components overheat rather slowly, which prolongs the composting time. A lot of tannin contains the foliage of oaks, beeches, chestnuts, willows and plane trees. Therefore, their sheet mass should not be used for laying in a pile, but only for its shelter.

Leaf compost matures noticeably longer than usual, about two years. But gardeners do it, as it is very valuable in that it improves the quality of the soil. It also contains microfungi inside it, which decompose hemicellulose and lignin. And it becomes useful for those garden plants, in which the roots interact with the fungal microflora in the process of symbiosis.

For getting good result Composting needs to take into account some points:

1. When creating a compost bin, you need to take into account that microorganisms come from the ground, so you need to arrange it in a clean space where chemicals have not been used.
2. Accelerates composting by adding valerian officinalis, yarrow, chamomile and dandelion to a bunch of herbs.
3. To speed up fermentation, bioconcentrates are added to the compost. In this case, the so-called fast compost heap is obtained, which can mature in three weeks.
4. You need to know that a large content in the compost is fresh coniferous sawdust significantly reduces the potassium balance, therefore, at the stage of readiness, such compost must be enriched with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
5. The presence of green constituents in the compost should not exceed one third of the total volume, because the herbs ferment slowly and may rot. If it turns out that the main volume will consist of grass, then it must first be dried in the sun.
6. The highest quality compost is obtained, created using a variety of components. Not only organic components, but also mineral ones should be present. For this purpose, the compost heap is supplied with superphosphates, dolomite flour, and complex mineral fertilizers.
7. It should be borne in mind that manure is a concentrated fertilizer, so its content in the compost should not exceed 10%.
8. For better stability and increased air exchange processes, the compost heap should be laid cone-shaped or in the form of a pyramid.
9. In order for the heap to ripen faster, components containing a lot of nitrogen, such as straw, legumes or leguminous plants, are added to it.