"Nature. You won't be disappointed, believe me. It does not speak, and yet it does not lie; it does not promise, and yet it gives its all; it does not speak, and yet it says more than ever man said. "

István Black: Prickly pear

📰 If you are interested in composting, don't miss Prof. Dr. Erzsébet Karaffa scientific article on compostingét se!

The natural balance

Walking in nature, we can discover that most of the questions we face in our lives can be answered here. So it is with gardening. Nature is the best teacher! 🌱

Walking in nature and in the garden, you can see that in some places the foliage of the trees has already started to change colour. In the forest, fallen leaves are naturally composted and as the leaves decompose, organic matter is returned to the soil - maintaining the natural balance.

Thousands of years ago, mankind realised that the basis for growing crops was good soil. And the best way to improve our soil is to do the same as nature does.

In short, what is taken away must be given back to maintain the balance. The easiest way to do this is by composting.

Composting

Fortunately, composting is now a concept that almost everyone is familiar with, and there are more and more households that actually compost. 

Several types of composting bins and boxes are already available on the market in a wide range of sizes, but you can easily create the right space at home, even with a few pallets.

The compost can include cut branches, twigs, straw, etc. as brown matter and any garden green waste (preferably seedless weeds, wilted flowers, cut plant parts, fallen fruit, grass clippings, leaves, etc.), organic household waste (fruit and vegetable residues, coffee grounds, tea grass - not filtered, chopped eggshells, herbivorous pets' apples, etc.)

The composting process

Composting is a relatively simple process, but there are a few rules to follow to ensure that you get mature compost as soon as possible, which can add a lot of organic matter back into your garden soil. 

We need to pay attention to layering! The brown-dry and green-wet parts should be layered in the compost in the right proportions, starting with the dry parts, to ensure the necessary ventilation. This will prevent rotting. The green layer should be covered with a brown layer and the household organic waste should be placed on top.

When does the compost mature? Timing the process

Temperature

The temperature inside the compost is the best way to know whether the decomposition process has started. If your compost is not warm, a little watering can help.

Every 2-3 months, you should turn the compost to aerate it, if you have the space and materials, you should build the composter in several parts so that there is always an empty compartment to turn it into. This will allow the more compacted parts to become more aerated, so that bacteria that favour decomposition can thrive.

Thickness

With this technique, it takes about 1 year to obtain a mature compost with a blackish colour, a crumbly texture and a fresh earthy smell. You can work it directly into the soil before planting, but it is also a good method to spread it 2-3 cm under the plants and spread a loose mulch over it. If properly supported soil life in our garden, then the organic matter in the compost will still reach the root zone through microorganisms, earthworms and rain/irrigation.

Mulching

Nowadays, more and more people are taking nature as an example in the garden and mulch their beds. It is also safe to place the plant parts to be composted under your plants. This will also ensure a continuous nutrient return, as our mulch will compost over time.

Danuba Garden support in composting

To help speed up the composting process, both in the compost bin and in the compost heap mulching process, theIno Bact N-Cell which makes the degradation process more efficient by using two strains of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens bacteria. 

The bacteria in it use the organic matter in the compost and soil, such as stalk residues, to build their bodies, and they capture a significant amount of nitrogen from the air for this decomposition process. This is why it is important to have an airy compost. This way, when these bacteria die, this nitrogen will be in organic fixation, i.e. it will not be washed out of the upper root zone, but will be available for use by the plants. So with the finished compost, we can enrich our soil with organic matter and easily absorbed nitrogen.

The preparation can be dissolved in 0.5 dl/10 l of water and used for 1 m³ of compost or 200 m² of surface area. The treatment can be repeated after a few months. 

This bacteria-containing product works best in moist but aerated compost, so it is best to water and agitate/loosen it.

We wish you a pleasant time in the autumn garden and in nature!