Composting
Compost is an important ingredient in a garden. Applying and feeding compost to the plants really helps them grow and produce well, God willing. Compost can be bought from nearby nursery or sometimes hypermarket and it also can be made at home.
I read many articles about composting before, comprising on how to compost and what to put in the compost mix. To me, it is basically mixing the waste comprising carbon and waste comprising nitrogen. Nitrogen containing waste usually comes from wet kitchen waste and carbon containing waste come from browned materials such as dried leaves, paper and burnt materials. Too much one of the waste type results in bad smell and longer composting time. Temperature, humidity and aeration also play important role in composting as it help and affect the composting process. Good compost does not smell, I think.
However I did not have enough space to make compost. What I did just, I put 1/2 pot of potting soil into an empty pot that I plan to grow plant in few weeks time, and I add the kitchen waste and dried leaves alternately and regularly into the pot until about full. Then I add some more potting soil on top of it and let it cook for a week more. I aerated regularly to prevent bad odor. I also add some chicken manure fertilizer in it. When the time come to transfer my plant into the pot, the soil is ready with nutrients it needs while growing up.
About the types of waste I put in the compost, I just put almost every vegetable and fruit waste like the peelings into the compost, as long as it is not cooked with oil yet. Once I put in fish head in it, however the cats smell it and search for it leaving the compost disorganized. Since then I didn't put in any meat in the compost. I got dried leaves from the mango trees in front of my house.
The other problem I face while composting is when I put in some vegetable and fruit seeds in the compost. While the compost is cooking, lots of chili and pumpkin seedlings germinate in the compost, and looking healthy. I just leave them grow, and I think when the time comes to transfer the seedling I planned to grow in the pot I will take care of the other seedlings.
The cherry tomato plant that I transferred in my compost pot grew healthy without much supervision. I water the plants with rice water once a week. I hope it will continue to grow healthy and happy. =)
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