Compost step by step

With compost we mean a mixture obtained from organic waste, the so-called wet, which in our houses represents about one third of the waste produced, a quantity that, if collected separately could become a resource.

The domestic compost today is also known as mold, to realize the compost at home, the so-called compost DIY, now has become an increasingly common practice. The operation to create a composting system at home is pretty simple and comes to produce the so-called homemade compost, which is an excellent fertilizer for lawns and garden plots. In this way you will have an excellent growth for flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables greatly reducing the production of waste in the house.

How to make domestic compost

The first thing to do is to buy a container suitable for composting, a bowl apt as a composters. Usually these containers are available in garden centers or nurseries. Choosing the container to use is not a trivial thing because everything depends on the time that is dedicated to the green house and the amount of waste that you have.

The composter is essentially a bell in plastic, which has an opening at the top and another opening, on one side or at the base. The upper will be used to load the compost organic waste, the one on the side, which instead has a door to open and close will be used to extract the produced compost when it will be ready for use.

Important thing to keep in mind when choosing a composter is that it must be free of the bottom, or rather it must submit to a background with a net basis, in order to dry the wet waste by promoting aeration, to prevent bad smells .
You also need to choose the most suitable place in which to place the composter, which must be an area not overly exposed to the sun and not too moist. It also needs to be placed on a dry perfectly flat surface.

To optimize the composting process, you can chop, thus making them into smaller pieces, twigs, peels, roots, leaves and anything else before putting them in the container.

What can be composted and what can not

One important thing to know is that not everything can become compost only because it decomposes. For example, there are many fruits that are not suitable for compost, and instead there are some unusual things that are perfect for it, things that you never thought of, as the used teabags, read newspapers and chopped leaves, grass clippings and other yard waste. Cooked fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy products, used tissues and diseased plants can not instead be used to make compost.

If you want to turn faster the composting process, you can use compost activators.
Also during the composting process, you must make sure that the compost is neither too wet nor too dry; sometimes to balance the texture, you will need to add the substances that dry or wet the content. The compost should be kept well ventilated, this process may take even months.

The compost is ready when the ground to the top of the composter has taken on a color close to black. To start using it, you will have to mix it with the soil for plants, because its function is as a fertilizing agent.

If the space in your house is relatively little you can buy compost container for domestic use, which are placed in the kitchen, even not having a space large enough for a traditional compost bin.

There are several ideas and prototypes, usually composters have the size of a case of a desktop computer, a smaller burden, approximately 8 kg. The temperature reached is about 60°- 70°, which is the temperature required for the proliferation of bacteria useful for the decomposition of organic matter.

There are however some composters for interiors that do not contain enough organic waste to allow the natural rising of the temperature. For this reason you need to exploit electricity to heat the organic waste up to an optimal temperature, thus allowing a proper decomposition. These electric power machines, on the contrary to the natural ones have a filter that provides the absorption of any unpleasant odors.

The electric composter is able to dispose of up to 55 kg of organic waste per month and must be emptied every 2 weeks. So having regard to its efficiency it could be a good investment to make in our homes.