How To Make DIY Compost In Just 10 Days
Image credit: Urban Gardening via YouTube
Instead of throwing out your food scraps, make the most out of them by using them as a fertilizer for your garden. The best way to do it is by setting up a worm farm where you can collect compost tea to use as fertilizer for your plants to help them grow and become healthy. Learn how through this tutorial by Urban Gardening on YouTube.
Materials:
- Worm bin kit
- 250g (8.8 ounces) of conditioner (dolomite powder)
- 1 cocopeat brick
- Worm blanket
- Worm teacup
- A pair of hand gloves
- Cultivator
- 1 tap
- Live earthworms
- Newspaper nad cardboard clippings
- Kitchen waste
Directions:
Step 1
Purchase and set up the worm bin, then fit the tap to the water collection tray. Prepare the bedding and soak the cocopeat brick in 7-8 liters (1.8-2 gallons) of water, then wait for about 5 to 10 minutes for the cocopeat to expand. Break it apart and spread it out evenly, then lay a layer of old newspaper in the bottom of the tray, and add shredded newspaper and cardboard clippings. Add enough to fill the bin about 3-5 inches high. Now, put the expanded cocopeat all over the tray, then add some water until it’s about 50-60% moist, and add the earthworms together with organic manure. Cover with the worm blanket, close the lid, then store the unit in shade, and leave it for 2-3 days for the worms to settle in. Next, cut your kitchen waste into small pieces, the best food scraps to use are peels, rinds, cored, leaves, and seeds from fruits and vegetables. Crushed eggshells, tea bags, and coffee grounds also work well.
[social_warfare]
Step 2
Avoid meat, bones, dairy products, bread, and an excessive amount of citrus. Start slowly adding up to 250 grams (8.8 ounces) per day, once you understand the process and see your worm population multiply day by day, you can gradually start adding waste. Burry the food scraps using a cultivator, then place the worm blanket, and pour some water on it, after 8-9 days your compost is ready and you can now add more food scraps into the tray. You can leave your farm for up to 2-3 weeks, if the farm is acidic or too many food scraps are left uneaten, sprinkle conditioner to stabilize the acidic level of the worm farm and your worms will work properly. Add 1-2 tablespoons at a time, then mix well for better results, after 8-10 days, the compost tea can be collected from the unit. Use it as a liquid fertilizer in a 1:5 ratio for 200ml (7 ounces) of compost tea, then add 1 liter (4 cups) of water, and use it in your garden.
*All image credit belongs to Urban Gardening via YouTube. Follow and subscribe to his channel for more!
