5 ways to make ORGANIC compost at home

Organic fertilizer at home, important aspects before starting

Making organic compost at home can be a simple task but it requires dedication, observation, and even intuition. With just a few ingredients like fallen leaves and kitchen scraps, you can make compost rich enough in humus to fertilize your house and garden plants, improve soil structure, allow aeration and water retention, and add beneficial micronutrients to increase soil life. bacterial activity in the soil.

Homemade organic fertilizer for plants

Making organic compost at home is easier than you thought. Plants provide us with food, fiber, shelter, and other benefits, and compost plays a key role in this process. In general, plants require 17 vital nutrients to develop to their maximum genetic potential, of which 14 nutrients are absorbed by plants through the soil, and the other three come from the air and water.

All the fertilizers described below are generally used for plants, crops and gardens, everything depends on the needs of your plants, the materials you have available, the space you have, etc.

2. Homemade liquid organic fertilizer

As we have already explained, making organic compost at home has many advantages for the soil, your pocket and the environment. In this case, we will talk about liquid organic fertilizer, which is an even easier presentation to prepare than the composted form. It can be made from algae, fruit and vegetable scraps, manure or weeds, to increase the fertility of the garden.

The basic way to do it is quite simple: Use an ingredient high in nitrogen and other nutrients, add water, let it rest for a period of time, which can be between one night and one week. You could use a blender, although it is not necessary. In general terms, a kitchen, a bucket and a hose are enough to make homemade liquid compost.

Here we leave two recipes that you can pobrar in your plants, crops and garden. You can also read another entry that describes 5 types of liquid organic fertilizer:

Homemade liquid organic fertilizer for weeds and garden pruning

In a 5-gallon bucket add a handful of weeds or yard clippings or grass clippings, fill with water and let sit for four weeks. It is recommended to leave the bucket outdoors as it can generate a strong odor. After the indicated time, apply at the base of the plants.

Homemade liquid organic manure fertilizer

The process is the same as for the previous recipe: in a five-gallon bucket, add a little water and a shovel of manure, let stand for four weeks. Likewise, it is advisable to do it outdoors. Over time, apply the mixture to the soil around the base of the plants.

3. Organic compost at home with worms

This type of organic fertilizer at home is called “vermicomposting”, through which the transformation of organic waste is produced using earthworms to generate a fine, black and granular compound, which contains phosphorus, nitrogen, minerals and other nutrients. It is a slow release organic fertilizer and great soil enricher. This type of composting is very appropriate for people who do not have an outdoor space where to make the traditional composting pile, for example an apartment.

First of all, know that worms are photophobic, that is, they do not like bright light, so the container to use should be opaque, dark in color, preferably plastic, with a tight-fitting lid, and be located in the shade.

In the bottom of the container put unbleached cardboard strips, shredded newspaper, straw, dry grass or shredded leaves. In other words, a large and varied mattress to provide more nutrients to the worms and generate a richer compost. Moisten the mattress. Add a handful or two of garden soil or sand to help with the worm’s digestion of food. Moisten again and wait at least one day before adding the worms.

Now find the right worm varieties for worm composting. The most used are red worms or manure worms. Do not use regular earthworms as they will not survive in a container of worm compost.

Feeding the worms should be done every few days. You can make them from leftover fruit, vegetables, eggshells, bread, tea bags, and coffee grounds, preferably chopped to speed up the composting process. Don’t feed too many citrus fruits to keep the pH balanced in the container and don’t feed them meats, dairy, fatty foods or grains.

4. Organic compost at home: anaerobic

The best ingredients for composting at home are found in nature. Algae, dry leaves, weeds, fruit and vegetable peels, manure or other organic material are ideal for home composting as they contain growth hormones and live beneficial microorganisms. A plastic container or bucket with a lid, organic material and water is required. The process for making homemade anaerobic compost is described below:

• Gather organic material that you have available for the process
• Wash organic material to remove residue.
• Fill the plastic container with the organic material already washed, add fresh water and cover it.
• For 4 weeks or more, allow the contents of the container to ferment anaerobically (no aeration or mixing).
• Once the anaerobic fermentation process is complete, strain the organic material and separate it from the nutrient-rich water. Store the above water in an airtight jar.
• Lastly, dissolve 1 tablespoon of the nutrient-rich water with 1 gallon of water and apply liberally to the plant’s soil.

5. Organic compost at home: aerobic

Step 1: Shred

Aerobic homemade compost is called compost. This is a combination of dark, nutrient-rich, organic material that is a great natural soil fertilizer. Compost is the technique by which plant matter, animal matter such as manure and other organic materials undergo a process of decomposition by worms, insects and microorganisms. The resulting compost is an excellent soil conditioner, improves soil moisture retention and is rich in micro-nutrients that are slowly released over time in a form easily absorbed by plants.

The first great secret to produce quick and easy compost-type organic fertilizer is to finely grind the ingredients (green and brown), as this increases the area in which the compost microbes must decompose and also allows air and moisture to Moisture is distributed evenly among the materials.

The shredding process can be done with a chipper or shredder, and if you don’t have any of them, you can do it yourself by cutting into ½ “to 1½” pieces with pruning shears or machete, this requires more effort, but the results will be seen.

Step 2: Assemble

As soon as you finish shredding your materials, stack everything. Look closely, if the pile is dry, you need to add moisture and mix evenly. Do not add too much moisture because it can damage the process.

It is recommended that the minimum size of the compost pile is 90 centimeters wide and 90 centimeters high, but it is recommended to make it 120 to 150 centimeters both wide and high for best results. Put a piece of plastic on top of the compost pile to allow retention of the heat produced by the decomposition process. If the quick compost pile was done properly, the internal temperature should rise within the first 24 hours. Take a handful of material from the center, digging into the interior of the pile and checking to see that the material should be warmer and darker than material on the outer edges of the pile.

Step 3: Flip

The microorganisms that decompose the materials are considered aerobic bacteria, which is why they require a lot of air to survive, for this reason, it is advisable to turn the pile frequently (better more than less), doing it from the outer edges to the center. The pile will be ready for a second flip after another day or so. At this point, the material is already starting to look a bit like finished compost.

If the process went according to plan, within two weeks the quick compost should be nearly finished and available for use. It may not have lowered the temperature completely, but it is safe to use as soon as the temperature has dropped below 100°F or 37.8°C.