Compost Tea Recipe: What Is Compost Tea and How To Make It?

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Judul : Compost Tea Recipe: What Is Compost Tea and How To Make It?
link : Compost Tea Recipe: What Is Compost Tea and How To Make It?

compost

When we talk about Organic Gardening, one of the main topic we discuss is how to nourish the soil without adding any chemicals. It
is probably the most important factor of organic gardening. One of the options of doing this is to use Compost Tea. This article is all about making this. But before going into compost tea recipe we should first know, what is a compost tea?

What is compost tea?

Compost tea refers to the mixture of compost with water.

Compost tea types:

There are two types of compost tea.

1. Aerated Compost tea

2. Non-aerated Compost tea

 What to put inside a compost pile?

 

How To Make Compost Tea?

Non-Aerated type are the easiest to prepare. You simply need to put the compost in a perforated bag and then put the bag in a container and then fill the container with water. After some times, the water would become dark brown in color.

For aerated version most preferred way is to use Brewers.

Compost Tea Brewer:

It is basically a plastic bucket connected with some pipes to an air pump and a water source. Here, the compost is mixed with water and the mixture is aerated with the help of pump. The extract from this solution is used to fertilize the garden.

5 tips to decompose faster

The Brewer adds fresh oxygen into the water, which helps the bacteria to thrive.

Though people talk about Tea Brewer every time they discuss Compost Tea, it is not the only way to prepare the tea. There are other and more simper ways to this. Here is a video that describe the simplest method to prepare compost tea.

Check out this video and realize it is not compulsory to have a complex compost tea brewer.

Why compost tea?

The beneficial effects of compost tea is much more extended than tradition compost. Best part of using compost tea over traditional compost is that you can use it on both soil and leaves.

You can spray compost tea on the leaves; it will reduce the foliar diseases. As it is in the liquid form it will improve the soil quality by increasing the nutrients available to the plant.

A Compost Tea recipe is not that a complicated matter as it may sound. I hope after reading this article you have a much more clearer view about the subject. I will also encourage you to share with your friends so that they can also try this in their garden.

When we talk about Organic Gardening, one of the main topic we discuss is how to nourish the soil without adding any chemicals. It
is probably the most important factor of organic gardening. One of the options of doing this is to use Compost Tea. This article is all about making this. But before going into compost tea recipe we should first know, what is a compost tea?

What is compost tea?

Compost tea refers to the mixture of compost with water.

Compost tea types:

There are two types of compost tea.

1. Aerated Compost tea

2. Non-aerated Compost tea

 What to put inside a compost pile?

 

How To Make Compost Tea?

Non-Aerated type are the easiest to prepare. You simply need to put the compost in a perforated bag and then put the bag in a container and then fill the container with water. After some times, the water would become dark brown in color.

For aerated version most preferred way is to use Brewers.

Compost Tea Brewer:

It is basically a plastic bucket connected with some pipes to an air pump and a water source. Here, the compost is mixed with water and the mixture is aerated with the help of pump. The extract from this solution is used to fertilize the garden.

5 tips to decompose faster

The Brewer adds fresh oxygen into the water, which helps the bacteria to thrive.

Though people talk about Tea Brewer every time they discuss Compost Tea, it is not the only way to prepare the tea. There are other and more simper ways to this. Here is a video that describe the simplest method to prepare compost tea.

Check out this video and realize it is not compulsory to have a complex compost tea brewer.

Why compost tea?

The beneficial effects of compost tea is much more extended than tradition compost. Best part of using compost tea over traditional compost is that you can use it on both soil and leaves.

You can spray compost tea on the leaves; it will reduce the foliar diseases. As it is in the liquid form it will improve the soil quality by increasing the nutrients available to the plant.

A Compost Tea recipe is not that a complicated matter as it may sound. I hope after reading this article you have a much more clearer view about the subject. I will also encourage you to share with your friends so that they can also try this in their garden.

Vermicompost: A Basic Idea

compost - Looking for Aquaponics And Hydroponics Systems Today i will give you some info about compost, i was write this article for sharing Article compost, Article current trends in gardening, Article soil, I hope this article very helpfull for you

Judul : Vermicompost: A Basic Idea
link : Vermicompost: A Basic Idea

compost

When we talk about vermicompost we mean composting organic materials by using redworms and other such worms. The process is called vermicomposting. Worms create a blend of different composting ingredients. You can enrich the quality of a soil many a times any adding vermicompost with it. It is considered to be very high quality organic fertilizer.

Worms in general situation eat in plenty in a whole day and with that proportion they release the casting. Most interesting fact is that their casting contains 8 times more microorganism than their food. These organisms do wonders for the plants. Besides the cast is also pathogen free. This cast is full with nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K) than the normal soil. If you remember (in our earlier article we have discussed about this) these 3 minerals are essential for any plants growth. These casts are also rich in humic acid which is very much beneficial for any plant.

Several countries like USA, Canada Japan etc practice vermicompost in larger scales for agriculture. But use can practice it in your own house also. All you need is these basic materials:
1.    A container
2.    Bedding
3.    Water
4.    Worms
5.    Kitchen scraps

Fill the container with bedding and kitchen scraps. Mix some water to make it moist; after that, add the worms into the mix. They will eat the mixture and create casts for you to use.

A word of caution: do not use any material such as bottle caps, polythene bags, aluminum foils etc. Avoid any type of insecticides or chemical near the bin. These will kill the worm population.

Vermicomposting is a fantastic way to convert your kitchen scraps into fertile manure. You can use earthworms to convert your kitchen wastes into manure (worm cast and some decayed materials) which you can then add to your window boxes. This acts as a buffer to reduce excessive acid or alkaline present in your soil. It will also help storing nutrients and retaining moisture. General recommendation is to add vermicompost and normal soil in 1:10 ratio.


What is your experience? Share it with us:

When we talk about vermicompost we mean composting organic materials by using redworms and other such worms. The process is called vermicomposting. Worms create a blend of different composting ingredients. You can enrich the quality of a soil many a times any adding vermicompost with it. It is considered to be very high quality organic fertilizer.

Worms in general situation eat in plenty in a whole day and with that proportion they release the casting. Most interesting fact is that their casting contains 8 times more microorganism than their food. These organisms do wonders for the plants. Besides the cast is also pathogen free. This cast is full with nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K) than the normal soil. If you remember (in our earlier article we have discussed about this) these 3 minerals are essential for any plants growth. These casts are also rich in humic acid which is very much beneficial for any plant.

Several countries like USA, Canada Japan etc practice vermicompost in larger scales for agriculture. But use can practice it in your own house also. All you need is these basic materials:
1.    A container
2.    Bedding
3.    Water
4.    Worms
5.    Kitchen scraps

Fill the container with bedding and kitchen scraps. Mix some water to make it moist; after that, add the worms into the mix. They will eat the mixture and create casts for you to use.

A word of caution: do not use any material such as bottle caps, polythene bags, aluminum foils etc. Avoid any type of insecticides or chemical near the bin. These will kill the worm population.

Vermicomposting is a fantastic way to convert your kitchen scraps into fertile manure. You can use earthworms to convert your kitchen wastes into manure (worm cast and some decayed materials) which you can then add to your window boxes. This acts as a buffer to reduce excessive acid or alkaline present in your soil. It will also help storing nutrients and retaining moisture. General recommendation is to add vermicompost and normal soil in 1:10 ratio.


What is your experience? Share it with us:

5 Tips to faster decomposition

compost - Looking for Aquaponics And Hydroponics Systems Today i will give you some info about compost, i was write this article for sharing Article compost, Article composting, Article current trends in gardening, Article top five, I hope this article very helpfull for you

Judul : 5 Tips to faster decomposition
link : 5 Tips to faster decomposition

compost

We have discussed about compost earlier also. This article will focus on some of the steps which will improve the decomposition speed of the pile. Now one of the headache people feel when doing composting is that most of the time they do not get desired result. Here we will give you some simple but very important steps which you can take to improve the decomposition speed drastically. It will also result in good quality compost. So let’s start:

Chopping and shredding: The first thing to remember is to chop the ingredients into finer pieces. The finer the materials easier it is to decompose. Chopping and shredding increases the surface area of the pile and make the microbes work faster than in normal condition.

Use Proper mix of Brown and green materials: We have discussed about various composting ingredient in our earlier article. It is essential that you choose your ingredients wisely. Ingredients such as dry leaves, saw dust, wooden chips etc are generally rich in carbon (C). They are also called the brown ingredients. On the other hand kitchen scraps, grass clippings, fresh cow dung etc is rich in Nitrogen (N). A proper mix of Carbon and nitrogen in the pile is a prerequisite which will increase the speed of decomposition.

Moisture: Moisture is very essential for the smooth decomposition of the pile. But while adding water you need to be careful not to exceed the limit. Too much or too little moisture will dampen the whole process. Generally if your pile contains more than 60% water it will result in stinky anaerobic oxidation whereas less than 35% water means it will not decompose properly as the microbes will not be able to continue their metabolism process. Though it is not possible to measure the moisture to such an accuracy the thumb rule of moisture is that you make sure that your pile has water contents that of a “wrung sponge”.

Keep them moving: It is one of the key to proper decomposition. Remember cooking? You just cannot leave the vegetables on oven with keep stirring. The same logic applies here. If you do not stir them frequently most of the pile will not get decomposed. The best principle is to turn the pile every 3 days. Take the material from the center of the pile and replace the center with lesser composted materials on the other sides of the pile. Moving the pile helps in better air circulation and proper distribution of the microbes through out the pile which results in faster decomposition.

Add microbes: Microbes are the main cause for decomposing your pile. If you make a new pile and perform the above actions properly you will get microbes inside the pile within few days. You can definitely fasten the process by adding a bit of decomposed material from your earlier compost. It will provide the pile with instant microbes which will proliferate much more quickly and also make the decomposition faster.

So do you follow these steps? If not, try applying them to your pile and see the result. Share your experience in composting with us. 



If you like the article use the following sharing tools share the article with others:

We have discussed about compost earlier also. This article will focus on some of the steps which will improve the decomposition speed of the pile. Now one of the headache people feel when doing composting is that most of the time they do not get desired result. Here we will give you some simple but very important steps which you can take to improve the decomposition speed drastically. It will also result in good quality compost. So let’s start:

Chopping and shredding: The first thing to remember is to chop the ingredients into finer pieces. The finer the materials easier it is to decompose. Chopping and shredding increases the surface area of the pile and make the microbes work faster than in normal condition.

Use Proper mix of Brown and green materials: We have discussed about various composting ingredient in our earlier article. It is essential that you choose your ingredients wisely. Ingredients such as dry leaves, saw dust, wooden chips etc are generally rich in carbon (C). They are also called the brown ingredients. On the other hand kitchen scraps, grass clippings, fresh cow dung etc is rich in Nitrogen (N). A proper mix of Carbon and nitrogen in the pile is a prerequisite which will increase the speed of decomposition.

Moisture: Moisture is very essential for the smooth decomposition of the pile. But while adding water you need to be careful not to exceed the limit. Too much or too little moisture will dampen the whole process. Generally if your pile contains more than 60% water it will result in stinky anaerobic oxidation whereas less than 35% water means it will not decompose properly as the microbes will not be able to continue their metabolism process. Though it is not possible to measure the moisture to such an accuracy the thumb rule of moisture is that you make sure that your pile has water contents that of a “wrung sponge”.

Keep them moving: It is one of the key to proper decomposition. Remember cooking? You just cannot leave the vegetables on oven with keep stirring. The same logic applies here. If you do not stir them frequently most of the pile will not get decomposed. The best principle is to turn the pile every 3 days. Take the material from the center of the pile and replace the center with lesser composted materials on the other sides of the pile. Moving the pile helps in better air circulation and proper distribution of the microbes through out the pile which results in faster decomposition.

Add microbes: Microbes are the main cause for decomposing your pile. If you make a new pile and perform the above actions properly you will get microbes inside the pile within few days. You can definitely fasten the process by adding a bit of decomposed material from your earlier compost. It will provide the pile with instant microbes which will proliferate much more quickly and also make the decomposition faster.

So do you follow these steps? If not, try applying them to your pile and see the result. Share your experience in composting with us. 



If you like the article use the following sharing tools share the article with others:

Sheet Composting

compost - Looking for Aquaponics And Hydroponics Systems Today i will give you some info about compost, i was write this article for sharing Article compost, Article composting, Article Mulch, Article organic, Article organic gardening, I hope this article very helpfull for you

Judul : Sheet Composting
link : Sheet Composting

compost

Sheet composting is a very good way to practice organic gardening. If you are following our articles you must be aware of what compost is. If you have no idea about compost and composting I suggest check out this article. Now for making compost you need to store composting ingredients in a pile. For a urban gardeners this is not a good news. Generally in urban areas space is a major constrain. Sheet composting solves this problem. This article will give you an idea about how to use it to your benefit.

In this method you don’t heap the ingredients into a pile; rather you mix it directly with the soil. You can use a spade or a tiller for this purpose. What ever ingredients you have planned to put into the compost heap will do. Grass clippings, manure, leaves, egg shells, tea leaves all will work. Try to use a balanced mix of Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) when adding to the soil. More on C/N ration in this article.

You need to add this ingredients couple of months prior to planting. As these ingredients are not decomposed while mixing in the soil, it requires couple of months to degenerate and to release the nutrients. You can also add a layer of leaves or black plastic to increase the process of decomposing.

You don’t need to confuse sheet composting with mulching. The basic difference between the two is that mulching is used basically (even if you use organic materials) for weed protection and to retain water. Though it also boosts up soil quality it is not the primary focus of mulching; whereas sheet composting is done to boost the soil quality.

Sheet composting is a very good process if your garden soil is of poor quality. It also saves the soil from erosion. It is a lot less time and effort consuming than traditional composting.

Enjoyed the article? Please consider sharing it:

Sheet composting is a very good way to practice organic gardening. If you are following our articles you must be aware of what compost is. If you have no idea about compost and composting I suggest check out this article. Now for making compost you need to store composting ingredients in a pile. For a urban gardeners this is not a good news. Generally in urban areas space is a major constrain. Sheet composting solves this problem. This article will give you an idea about how to use it to your benefit.

In this method you don’t heap the ingredients into a pile; rather you mix it directly with the soil. You can use a spade or a tiller for this purpose. What ever ingredients you have planned to put into the compost heap will do. Grass clippings, manure, leaves, egg shells, tea leaves all will work. Try to use a balanced mix of Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) when adding to the soil. More on C/N ration in this article.

You need to add this ingredients couple of months prior to planting. As these ingredients are not decomposed while mixing in the soil, it requires couple of months to degenerate and to release the nutrients. You can also add a layer of leaves or black plastic to increase the process of decomposing.

You don’t need to confuse sheet composting with mulching. The basic difference between the two is that mulching is used basically (even if you use organic materials) for weed protection and to retain water. Though it also boosts up soil quality it is not the primary focus of mulching; whereas sheet composting is done to boost the soil quality.

Sheet composting is a very good process if your garden soil is of poor quality. It also saves the soil from erosion. It is a lot less time and effort consuming than traditional composting.

Enjoyed the article? Please consider sharing it:

Compost Ingredients: What To Put Inside A Compost Pile

compost - Looking for Aquaponics And Hydroponics Systems Today i will give you some info about compost, i was write this article for sharing Article compost, Article organic, I hope this article very helpfull for you

Judul : Compost Ingredients: What To Put Inside A Compost Pile
link : Compost Ingredients: What To Put Inside A Compost Pile

compost

I have mentioned in my earlier article about a basic idea on the term Composting. Now to dig a little deeper this article gives an idea about various ingredients of a Compost. There are main three factors of preparing a good compost pile viz. Air, Water and Food. While managing Air and water can be relatively easier, the main struggle people seems to feel with the food, i.e, what to provide in the compost pile. This blog focuses on that part of the compost.

Experts say you can literally put anything(which can be decomposed) into the compost pile. Though there is no right or wrong way of composting, it is better to know some basic points which will create a very high quality compost.  One of the such important point is to make a note on the Carbon Nitrogen ratio(C/N ratio) while you prepare the compost pile.

Depending on the amount of carbon and Nitrogen the ingredients of a compost can be classified into two categories Brown and Green.

Brown items includes dry leaves, straw or hey, eggshells, wood, pine needles, saw dust etc. These materials contains higher amount of carbon and lesser amount of Nitrogen. Green items includes kitchen scraps, grass clippings, fresh manure, vegetable peelings etc. Green materials contains a higher amount of Nitrogen than than brown materials.

The success of preparing a good compost depends on the proper ratio of green and brown materials. It heats up faster, decomposes quickly, does not smell and easy to maintain. Followings are some of the ingredients which you can use to prepare your compost:

Leaves:

These are one of the most commonly used composting ingredient. Be sure which type(dry or green) of leaves you are choosing. Dry leaves can add to your brown elements where as green leaves are more of a green element. Autumn leaves are very good source of carbon. For better compost make the leaves shredded. It will help to decompose faster. The C/N ratio of leaves can vary from 60-80:1.

Straw/Hay:

In case you are having a heavy clay type soil, adding straw or hay into the compost can be very helpful. Straw/Hay decomposes very slowly, so the particles can actually help in opening soil pores. These ingredients contain very low amount of nitrogen but the carbon content is very high.

Eggshells:

As we all know eggshells contain high deposits of calcium. Adding those into your pile can definitely add the nutrients to the compost. Just don’t forget to crush those shells before adding it to the compost and never add whole eggs to the compost only the shells.

Wood ash:

It is a very good source of calcium and potassium besides carbon. It is very alkaline in nature so you can use it to increase the pH of your soil.

Pine needles:

These are very high in carbon content but very slow to decompose. Add only few in the compost. You can use the rest of them into the preparing mulch.

Beside those brown ingredients newspapers can also be used as composting ingredient. Just avoid glossy and colorful papers as these contains chemical which will hamper your organic gardening benefits.

Kitchen Scraps/vegetable peelings:

It is the most preferred green ingredient. It can be found in abundance in every house. Fruits and vegetable peels and other wastes which can be found in the kitchen. Just avoid cooked ones. The oil used in cooking slows down the decomposition. It also attracts different pest such as rodents.

Grass Clippings:

It is a great source for nitrogen. While applying the clippings make sure to use it in very thin layers between the brown materials. A thick layer of clipping can prevent the air flow into the compost pile. It will result in excess nitrogen and smell of ammonia.

Manure:

You can add manure from cows, horse, chickens, bats(guano) etc. but don’t add human feces, or droppings from dogs, cats or pigs. These contains parasites which will result in diseases in your family. Fresh manure is a very good source of Nitrogen.

You can also add coffee grounds or seaweeds depending on the availability. The nitrogen content is higher in green ingredients compared to the brown ones. Nitrogen helps in forming amino acids and protein. So these are a vital food source for the microbes which decomposes the ingredients and make compost for you.

I hope the next time you go to prepare the compost for your garden you will definitely keep those points in mind which are discussed above. Share your thoughts and past experiences of composting with us.

I have mentioned in my earlier article about a basic idea on the term Composting. Now to dig a little deeper this article gives an idea about various ingredients of a Compost. There are main three factors of preparing a good compost pile viz. Air, Water and Food. While managing Air and water can be relatively easier, the main struggle people seems to feel with the food, i.e, what to provide in the compost pile. This blog focuses on that part of the compost.

Experts say you can literally put anything(which can be decomposed) into the compost pile. Though there is no right or wrong way of composting, it is better to know some basic points which will create a very high quality compost.  One of the such important point is to make a note on the Carbon Nitrogen ratio(C/N ratio) while you prepare the compost pile.

Depending on the amount of carbon and Nitrogen the ingredients of a compost can be classified into two categories Brown and Green.

Brown items includes dry leaves, straw or hey, eggshells, wood, pine needles, saw dust etc. These materials contains higher amount of carbon and lesser amount of Nitrogen. Green items includes kitchen scraps, grass clippings, fresh manure, vegetable peelings etc. Green materials contains a higher amount of Nitrogen than than brown materials.

The success of preparing a good compost depends on the proper ratio of green and brown materials. It heats up faster, decomposes quickly, does not smell and easy to maintain. Followings are some of the ingredients which you can use to prepare your compost:

Leaves:

These are one of the most commonly used composting ingredient. Be sure which type(dry or green) of leaves you are choosing. Dry leaves can add to your brown elements where as green leaves are more of a green element. Autumn leaves are very good source of carbon. For better compost make the leaves shredded. It will help to decompose faster. The C/N ratio of leaves can vary from 60-80:1.

Straw/Hay:

In case you are having a heavy clay type soil, adding straw or hay into the compost can be very helpful. Straw/Hay decomposes very slowly, so the particles can actually help in opening soil pores. These ingredients contain very low amount of nitrogen but the carbon content is very high.

Eggshells:

As we all know eggshells contain high deposits of calcium. Adding those into your pile can definitely add the nutrients to the compost. Just don’t forget to crush those shells before adding it to the compost and never add whole eggs to the compost only the shells.

Wood ash:

It is a very good source of calcium and potassium besides carbon. It is very alkaline in nature so you can use it to increase the pH of your soil.

Pine needles:

These are very high in carbon content but very slow to decompose. Add only few in the compost. You can use the rest of them into the preparing mulch.

Beside those brown ingredients newspapers can also be used as composting ingredient. Just avoid glossy and colorful papers as these contains chemical which will hamper your organic gardening benefits.

Kitchen Scraps/vegetable peelings:

It is the most preferred green ingredient. It can be found in abundance in every house. Fruits and vegetable peels and other wastes which can be found in the kitchen. Just avoid cooked ones. The oil used in cooking slows down the decomposition. It also attracts different pest such as rodents.

Grass Clippings:

It is a great source for nitrogen. While applying the clippings make sure to use it in very thin layers between the brown materials. A thick layer of clipping can prevent the air flow into the compost pile. It will result in excess nitrogen and smell of ammonia.

Manure:

You can add manure from cows, horse, chickens, bats(guano) etc. but don’t add human feces, or droppings from dogs, cats or pigs. These contains parasites which will result in diseases in your family. Fresh manure is a very good source of Nitrogen.

You can also add coffee grounds or seaweeds depending on the availability. The nitrogen content is higher in green ingredients compared to the brown ones. Nitrogen helps in forming amino acids and protein. So these are a vital food source for the microbes which decomposes the ingredients and make compost for you.

I hope the next time you go to prepare the compost for your garden you will definitely keep those points in mind which are discussed above. Share your thoughts and past experiences of composting with us.