03/07/2013 - Research on Compost

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10 degrees Celsius
Humidity : 86%
Rainfall : 0.00mm
Wind : Calm

Compost

Every garden must ave a compost heap. This is the ideal way to return as much organic matter as possible to the soil, following nature's example. Decomposing vegetation provides a home for millions of soil organisms, it opens up the soil, improving drainage and easing the way for root growth, and it helps over drained soils hold water and therefore nutrients.

Obviously, the first requirement is something to compost. Then the heap needs air, nitrogen, lime, water, heat and bacteria. The list of organic material that can be used is endless - you should never waste anything that will rot. Do not just throw things on the heap, but mix different materials together to make sure that air can circulate through the heap - even if that means storing some material beside the heap until you have something else to add to it. Grass cutting, for example, if put on the heap in thick layers, will form an airless mass and turn into slime.

What to include in the compost heap

• Any material that is diseased or infected with pest - this should always be burned.
• The top growth of main crop potatoes. These should be burned after lifting the potatoes because they may infect the heap with potatoes blight spores - a completely clean crop is rare.
• Pruning from woody plants, because they take too long to rot.
• Cooked kitchen scraps, they often putrefy and will attract vermin.
• Roots of pernicious weeds such as couch grass (Agropyron repens), ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria), bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens). They must be burned immediately as they will only multiply in the compost heap.

Air circulation - Air is vital importance is the compost heap. The container itself should have plenty of air circulating through it. Secondly, you must never let the compost material pack down solid. To prevent this, mix the fine material such as grass cuttings and small weeds with large weeds, shredded newspaper or straw.

Nitrogen - The bacteria in the compost heap require nitrogen as a fuel, you must add a certain amount to the heap. If animal manure is unavailable, you can buy organic compost fuels or activators, in compost gardens. 

Lime - Adding lime will keep the compost "sweet" - that is it will help neutrealize the acidity. If it is chalky soil, you may feel that it would be better to omit the lime and use very acid compost to redress the balance. However, the bacteria involved in rotting the compost material actually prefer conditions that that are not too acid so, if you do not add lime, the rotting process takes longer.

Water - This is an essential ingredient of any compost heap. Generally,  there will be already be enough in the green material you put on the compost heap. 

Heat -  Although perhaps not absolutely necessary, there is no doubt that decomposition is must faster when the material is warm. You can cover the heap with black polythene weighted at the edges, this will keep the heat in and prevent it becoming too wet, prefer to place a piece of old carpet over the heap, it does not need weighting down and also "breath, allowing more air into the heap.

Bacteria - finally, you need the bacteria themselves. Then, is the easiest job of all. Some people recommend that you add layers of soil throughout the heap.

Since the availability of sufficient organic waste for successful composting is the first consideration, a list of few suitable material will provide helpful for those who previously might not have given the matter a great deal of thought. The list in by no means complete, but will serve to stimulate interest in the possibilities:-

Autumn leaves
Urine
Sawdust (preferably not radiata pine)
Bark
Animal manure of any description - pigeons, poultry, sheep, goat, horse, pig, cow, dog, etc) Not cat!
Cotton rags (unprinted)
Cheesecloth
Butcher's paper, white tissues and serviettes
Bones (preferably burned and crushed)
All biodegradable kitchen garbage
Rotting jute bags and hessian
Chaff
Rotting canvas
Old underfelt (not chemicals treated with insecticides)
Grape mare (wine industry waste)
Straw
Spent hops
Buzzer chips
Rice hulls, kapok, coconut fibre and shells
All nut shells
Wood ash (not incinerator ash) in very limited amounts
Newspaper (shredded and not too much)
Cardboard (unprinted and not too much)
Grass clippings
Weeds and all garden waste
Prawn heads, crab and cray shells
Feathers
Seaweed (kelp preferred)but not seagrass
Spoiled hay
Pruning
Dead mice or birds
Vacuum cleaner dust
Crushed snails
Human and animal hair
Wool
Fingernail clippings
Fish heads and bones
Mouldy bread

In selecting materials it is well to remember that is general, very large amounts of one kind material only does not make good compost. The greater the variety of materials used at one time, the better will be the final product.