How to make compost?

Organic compost is ideal for the vast majority of plants. Due to its natural origin, the roots absorb it much better and that ends up influencing their health. In fact, when they receive the nutrients at an adequate rate, their defense system is strengthened.

When we have something as important as a garden, whether in pots or in the ground, It is interesting to know how to make organic compost to achieve an excellent harvest. Even if we only have ornamental plants, if we take care of them with products of natural origin, we are sure to see how they get more and more beautiful.

What are organic fertilizers?

Before getting into the subject, let's first see what they are, since this will make it easier to understand how they are made. Good, organic fertilizers are those that have a natural origin, be it from plants (leaves, branches, shells of some fruits, etc.), and / or animals (basically manure, but it can also be urine). When this organic matter falls to the ground, it gradually decomposes thanks to the action of insects, worms, snails and microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, enriching it with the nutrients that are released.

But in addition, other changes take place in it, since its characteristics improve, being able to become lighter, which makes the air circulate more easily between the grains of sand that make up the terrain. Thus, the risk of waterlogging and, therefore, of root rot is reduced.

How is it done?

The way of preparing the organic fertilizer varies depending on the type, so let's see which are the most common:

Green manure

El green manure It is obtained from various types of plants: legumes (broad beans, soybeans, lentils, etc.), cruciferous (carrots, arugula, cabbage, etc.) and grasses (wheat, corn, oats, etc.). What you do is plant them in the ground, and take care of them until they reach their final height but without letting them bloom. After, they are cut and chopped, and then buried near the plants that they want to pay.

These are the nutrients it provides: mainly nitrogen, essential for plant growth; but also others such as phosphorus or potassium.

Compost

Do you usually throw food scraps in the trash? Well, we recommend you stop doing it. There are many leftovers that will be useful to plants: banana and egg peels, green leaves, fruit skins, flowers. You must not add meat or fish to the compost, since they fill up with mushrooms right away and that would spoil all the work; but the thorns will do you good if they are cleaned with water.

The steps are:

1. Get a compost bin (for sale No products found.) or a wooden tray about 40 centimeters high for whatever you want wide.
2. Put a layer of straw 30 centimeters high, and on top of it leaves (green or dry), branches, and any other pruning. Then, pour plenty of water to moisten it.
3. Now, add another layer of about 10 centimeters of food scraps (you know: vegetables, egg and banana shells, flowers ...). Re-moisten.
4. The next step is to cover everything with a layer of about 10 centimeters of manure or powdered mulch, and add water again.
5. After 15 days you have to turn it over, and again once a week.

It is important that the temperature remains high, between 30 and 65ºC so that organic matter decomposes well. If this is not the case, you have to add more layers of soil, mulch and / or garden debris, always trying to maintain a balance between all the layers.

To avoid bad odors, you can cover it with branches or litter, but you also have to avoid over-moistening it.

The nutrients that compost provides are: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and others such as copper, boron, zinc and iron.

Cow dung tea

You can find cow manure at any nursery, garden store or here. Once at home, Follow these steps to convert it into liquid compost:

1. Find a place out of the sun. This is especially important if it is summer, since in the shade the smell will not be so unpleasant.
2. If you have an old pillowcase you can use it to make manure tea. Tie one end with string.
3. Then fill it with 14 liters of cow manure, and tie off the missing end.
4. Now, put the cover with the manure in a container with water and leave it there for 4 days. It must be well submerged. Of course, do not cover the container because the production of gases will be high.
5. After that time, pour the resulting liquid into a bucket of about 18 liters and dilute it in water.

Now, you can use it to pay, and you will get so they get these nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and manganese.

Other types of homemade fertilizers

To finish, if you want to fertilize your plants with other homemade products, we recommend doing it with:

• Eggshells: you can chop them up and throw them above the ground. They provide calcium, which is a nutrient that intervenes in the transpiration of plants.
• Banana peels: chopped too. If they are thrown in the garden or garden, copper, manganese, potassium, and iron will be released. All of them will help them to breathe and grow better.
• Grass and leaves: the remains of green pruning, as well as the leaves that fall from the trees can be thrown on the ground. Little by little they will decompose, and thus, the earth will be fertilized.
• Tea bags: Tea leaves contain 5% nitrogen, so placing the sachets around the plants in the garden is very interesting. Of course, we do not recommend doing it in the pots as they could be filled with fungi.
• Vinegar: if you add a teaspoon of vinegar to a liter of water and then water the plant, you will provide it with iron, calcium, potassium, sodium and magnesium. These nutrients will help you perform your vital functions.

Do you know other organic fertilizers? We hope you found what you have learned here interesting.