Where to get humus. Humus. Steps to create a compost heap
Humus is rotted (or rather, rotted) manure - excellent organic fertilizer, from time immemorial used by farmers to increase the yield of almost all crops.
High-quality humus is a loose brown mass, light and uniform, without the smell of ammonia. It smells like forest floor, spring earth, but not manure. If the humus (especially obtained from chicken manure) has an ammonia smell, it means that it has not fully matured.
It usually takes 2 to 5 years to get a good humus. It all depends on the quality of the manure laid in the pile, on the conditions of its storage. If manure is layered with peat, earth, sawdust, then decay is accelerated and the quality of the fertilizer at the output is much better. The dark film thrown over the heap accelerates the maturation of organic matter, which allows you to retain moisture and retain the heat necessary for the vital activity of bacteria.
Humus - wonderful organic nutrition! It is suitable for fertilizing almost all crops (with the exception of rhododendrons, blueberries, heathers, desert cacti). It is used both on sandy soils (it retains moisture well) and on clay soils (it loosens them well). Mature manure is added to landing pits, are used as the main fertilizer for digging, and also as a mulch for fruit crops, vegetables and flowers.
Compost
Compost is an organic mass resulting from the decomposition of various plant residues stored in boxes or piles. Outwardly, it looks like humus, as it is a dark loose mass, often with inclusions of undecayed branches or bark, with a faint pleasant smell of fresh earth.
As a rule, almost all organic matter available on the site is included in the composition for preparing compost - weeds, mowed lawn grass, kitchen cleaning, vegetable tops, thin branches. The compost turns out to be of better quality and ripens earlier if the layers (no more than 10 cm high) alternate - wet with dry, and are interbedded with peat, garden soil, phosphorite flour. It is good if manure and bird droppings are used as a layer - such a substrate will be an excellent fertilizer.
Mature compost can usually be obtained 2 years after laying, but with modern composting accelerators or aeration compost heap the process is accelerated to one season.
Compost is added in the same way as humus is used. In terms of their qualities, these two fertilizers are in many ways similar - they improve soil structure and supply plants with nutrients. However, if for most site owners it is very problematic to get humus or make it yourself, then making compost is quite easy.
Sources:
Humus - very effective remedy to improve soil structure and increase its fertility. In addition, soil containing humus retains moisture much longer, thereby helping crops to endure drought and frost. To make this wonderful tool on their own is quite within the power of gardeners and gardeners, especially since the material for its manufacture is always at hand.
You will need
- - fallen leaves;
- - rake;
- - 4 wooden pegs;
- - metal grid.
Instruction
Start preparing the humus in the fall. It was at this time that in the gardens or in the surrounding areas there was a huge amount of material for its manufacture - fallen leaves from trees and shrubs. You can collect them with a rake in any weather, both sunny and rainy. Moreover, wet foliage decomposes faster.
For the preparation of humus, you can use a wide variety of foliage. However, different types - different dates decomposition. So the leaves of deciduous trees (birch, oak, maple, etc.) turn into humus quite quickly, in just one year.
Recently, it has become fashionable to decorate the garden with coniferous and evergreen plants (boxwood, yew, privet, rhododendron, different kinds juniper and many others). Their foliage and needles can also be used to make leaf rot, but it will take longer to decompose, up to two to three years. To speed up the process, it is recommended to grind it in a shredder or lawn mower.
Make a special design. Mark a square with sides of 1 m. Stick one wooden peg into each corner. Wrap 'em up metal mesh. You can also use any plastic container or plastic bags for garbage.
Put the collected foliage in a container and tamp tightly, pour water on top. The container should be kept open so that the foliage is moistened by rain.
Then it remains only to wait for the result. By the fall of next year, you will have an excellent young leaf humus, which can be used as mulch, scattered around fruit trees and bushes, or dug into the soil around plants.
After 2-3 years, the so-called aged humus is obtained from the foliage. This is a dark crumbly substrate that is great for growing seedlings. If you mix it with compost and sand, you get a soil mixture for indoor plants.
note
Leaf humus contains almost no nutrients, so it should not be used as a fertilizer. Its main task is to retain moisture at the roots of plants and improve soil structure, because humus is a favorite habitat for earthworms.
Humus obtained from pine needles is a wonderful tool for mulching plants that love acidic soils(azaleas, heathers, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, etc.).
Humus is favorable as a fertilizer for almost any plant in the garden. It can be added to furrows, holes and pits at planting, mixed with soil when digging for enrichment. nutrients and improve its structure.
You will need
- - manure of domestic animals;
- - peat;
- - phosphate rock;
- - site for manure storage;
- - tools (fork and shovel).
Instruction
To obtain humus, manure used as bedding in animal stalls is removed with a fork and stacked on outdoors. You can simply put it in a dunghill, pour it with water and after a few months get half-rotted manure, which is quite suitable for fertilizing horticultural crops. But in completely rotted manure - humus, substances useful for plants are in an easily digestible form. Therefore, humus is considered the best fertilizer.
For the formation of high-quality humus, you will need an outdoor area. Optimal Width stacks - 2 meters, height - 1-1.5 meters, any length, depending on the amount of manure. A stack of manure removed from the stall is sprinkled with peat when laying layers. It is best to lay a layer of manure 20 centimeters and sprinkle with peat a layer of 2 centimeters. The layers are slightly compacted so that the decomposition process proceeds more slowly and with better quality. In the process of decomposition of manure, a lot of nitrogen-containing liquid is released from it. To save all the nitrogen in the future, humus, manure is poured with moisture-absorbing peat or phosphate rock with good absorbent properties.
The last top layer of manure is covered with a peat layer of 30 centimeters. You can use dry straw, leaves or dried grass for this purpose. This is done so that the nitrogen does not escape and the stack does not freeze in winter. The resulting stack is left for overheating for a period of seven months. Depending on what type of manure they want to receive. Fully decomposed manure - humus - is formed in the period from one to three years.
humus - final stage manure processing. In addition to rotted faecal matter and bedding, it contains a large amount of decayed plant residues. But all this is in it already in a state of homogeneous mass. In the process of overheating, everything organic matter take on a loose consistency, the humus mass acquires a rich brown or dark brown, almost black color.
Many crops, such as beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes, do not require annual humus. Under them, in one year, humus is introduced in the fall, and in the second year - in the spring. mineral fertilizers. The rest, especially cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cabbage, need both the annual application of humus and the annual application of mineral fertilizers.
Surprising fact - most advice on the care and cultivation of vegetables uses the term " humus” but only half of gardeners and gardeners (based on a survey conducted by one horticultural magazine) can correctly and briefly explain what it is ..
Definition and terms:
Humus is the same as rotted (mature) manure. If the meaning of this word is not explained, then it should be understood in this sense. When they write about “leaf humus”, they mean leaf compost (or leaf ground). Now it is no longer customary to call compost humus. But in old, unsuccessfully translated or decommissioned from different sources books and articles you can see this name. In this case, it is explained which (from what prepared) humus is meant.
Physical properties
Ready-to-use humus is a homogeneous, loose, free-flowing brownish mass, without the smell of ammonia and rot (the smell should be earthy, “spring”). Specific gravity- 500-800 kg / cu. m. One bucket contains approximately 6 kg of humus.
Agronomic properties of humus
Humus is rich in nutrients, absorbs and retains moisture well. Moreover, its particles do not lose their elasticity, air gaps remain between them for the roots to breathe. Therefore, humus ennobles any soil: in sandy soil it retains water and nutrients in the root zone, it helps to “fluff up” heavy clay soil: it makes it loose, airy, nutritious.
Using humus as a mulch creates top layer soil special conditions: it does not form a crust with capillaries, which, like a sponge, draws moisture from the soil. Heavy soil does not float.
Under the mulch, earthworms and beneficial bacteria settle, increasing the efficiency of the roots. The soil under it cools and heats up more slowly, the temperature changes smoothly.
This helps plant exotics to survive: in autumn they have time to gradually prepare for wintering, and at the end of winter and spring they do not wake up ahead of time and do not risk falling under the blow of return frosts.
In extreme heat, the soil surface mulched with humus does not burn root collar plants. But it is through the place of the burn that pathogens of verticillium, clematis, pepper and other crops usually penetrate.
Nutrients rich in mulch from humus gradually reach the roots of plants with watering and rain. And finally, humus is indispensable for growing seedlings and demanding nutrition. As part of the substrate, it is very useful for eggplants, cucumbers and other cucurbits, begonias, hibiscus, pelargonium.
How to cook humus
Recently, in horticultural markets, you can buy ready-made humus in bags, however, for quite high price. It is more profitable to buy manure on the farm and prepare the humus yourself.
The literature describes many tricks, without which, according to the authors, it is impossible to prepare the “correct” humus. In reality, everything is not so complicated: the manure is laid out for maturation in a pile or in compost bin. From above they are covered with roofing material, shields, and it is possible with a dark film if a box is used that is ventilated through the sidewalls. It’s not scary if the shelter slightly lets water through, the main thing is that the rains do not wash the mass through and through. Maturation lasts 1.5-2 years. The humus matured when it became free-flowing throughout its volume, of a uniform dark color, and its volume decreased by 3-4 times compared to the original.
How to speed up the maturation of humus
While warm, stir the humus with a pitchfork about once a month, trying to pry deeper, and before that, slightly moisten.
Place the collection for maturation in a secluded place, not blown by the north winds, then it will not freeze for a long time and the bacteria will continue to work even at the beginning of winter.
Use EM preparations ("Baikal", "Siyanie-3" and others), which accelerate the maturation of compost.
How to use humus correctly
This is a very valuable material, it is useful to all garden, garden and indoor crops with almost no restrictions. The exception is just a few ornamental crops requiring depleted soil (plants for "", desert cacti, orchids). A moderate dose is applied to some annuals (nasturtium, kosmeya, eschscholzia): they can “fatten” with an excess of organic matter, that is, grow leaves to the detriment of flowering.
For planting vegetables, flowers, garden strawberries humus is applied in 2-4 buckets per square meter.
For most indoor plants, it is used as an additive to nutrient soil, on average, about 1/4-1/3 of the total.
For seedlings of vegetables and flowers, humus is introduced into the nutrient substrate, on average, about 1/2 of the total volume.
You can also read another interesting article about composting
Leaf humus is most often used to fertilize crops. But you can make this nutritious fertilizer not only from leaves. It is also important to store it properly so that it does not lose nutrients.
Humus - what is it? Inexperienced summer residents often ask such questions. Humus is a fertilizer of organic origin. With its help, you can saturate the poor soil with all the microelements necessary for the growth and development of plants. Humus is easy to do with your own hands. All the ingredients needed for this can be found at any farm.
What does it consist of?
Before preparing humus at home, you need to find out what is included in its composition. The composition of humus, as a rule, includes the following components:
- Leaves.
- Cattle manure.
- Bird droppings.
- Straw.
- Hay.
- Weeds from the field.
- Ash.
- Leftover fruits and vegetables.
- Bark.
- Wood sawdust.
- Special additives to accelerate plant growth.
- Branches of trees and shrubs.
We can say that the composition of humus can include all parts of the plants that grew on the site, as well as the manure of a large cattle. This is especially convenient for those summer residents who are also engaged in agriculture.
How to do it yourself?
Grass and leaves are the basis for fertilizer. But this alone will not be enough. Also, you can not do without bird droppings and cattle manure. Otherwise, instead of nutrient fertilizer, you can get silage or rotten grass, which does not bring any benefit to plants.
What can not be used for processing into humus:
- Chemical agent.
- Infected parts of plants.
- Food of animal origin.
- Weed seeds.
If cattle manure is used, then the animals must be healthy. Not all waste that is intended for disposal can be used to make humus at home.
How to get humus?
In order to get high-quality humus prepared at home, you need to know exactly in what order to arrange the layers.
- Plants. The first layer is the remains of plants. It should be no more than 15 cm. If this layer is larger, then the decay process will be slower. All parts of the herb can be used except the seeds. Otherwise, they can germinate and then you have to deal with weeds. The first layer of grass should be sprinkled with earth mixed with lime.
- Straw and hay. Thanks to straw, deciduous and all other layers are saturated with oxygen. Straw creates a porous structure and binds moisture in the humus. Before spreading hay or straw, it must be thoroughly crushed. Mulching with humus with the addition of hay to ensure oxygen access to the roots of plants.
- Leaves. The leaves must be dried before preparing the humus with your own hands. If this is not done, then they will clump together. Leaves are mixed with other plant residues and spread in a thin layer.
- Sawdust. To prepare humus in the country, you can use sawdust. But they do not decompose well, so before laying them they are mixed with grass and bone meal.
- Wood bark. Tree bark contains a large amount of nitrogen. But in order to increase its concentration in the compost, it is necessary to mix the bark with chicken manure, cattle manure or urea.
How to make humus?
At home, you can get humus from the following components:
- Food waste. The preparation of humus is not complete without food waste. They contain many nutrients. But to prevent their decomposition, the waste is mixed with solid material to provide access to oxygen.
- Manure and litter. From manure, the most nutritious humus for plants is obtained. It contains a large amount of nitrogen, which helps to accelerate the growth of crops. From above it is desirable to sprinkle with soil.
- Paper. Before laying paper when preparing manure with your own hands, it must be coarsely cut and moistened in a decoction of herbs. Herbal decoction can be prepared from nettles. There are a lot of nutrients in nettle, and the paper absorbs them during the soaking process. Mix wet paper with another solid material. Otherwise, she crumples.
How to prepare humus from manure?
Many summer residents are interested in the question of humus and where to get it. You can cook it at home with your own hands. The most common type of humus is based on cattle manure. Suitable manure sheep, cows or horses.
We prepare humus as follows:
- Manure for humus must be taken fresh. It contains more nutrients.
- Put together a box and put coarsely chopped grass on the bottom. Then you can lay out the straw. So the humus will be saturated with oxygen.
- Then lay out the manure (you can use chicken manure).
- In order to accelerate decomposition, biodestructors can be added to humus. It could be Baikal-M or Radiance. They contain bacteria that speed up the process of decay.
- Regularly humus should be watered (but not flooded). It is important not to let it dry out.
You can use humus when it will not be possible to consider individual parts. The mixture should be of a homogeneous consistency. The smell of the finished humus should be like that of damp earth. And the color is brown or closer to black.
How to quickly make humus from leaves?
Humus from the leaves is also prepared with the addition of manure. You can use straw, paper and other plant residues.
Leaf humus is prepared as follows:
- You can use any leaves of deciduous trees. If shrubs grow on the site or fruit trees then the fallen leaves are used.
- Since the leaves are poor in micronutrients, they must be mixed with food waste or sawdust.
- Put bird droppings on a layer of foliage.
- Periodically, the humus needs to be watered. If a large number of midges appeared above the box with humus, then this is a clear sign of high humidity. In order to get rid of them on a sunny day, the humus must be left open. When it dries a little, cover it back.
- If the humus does not change color and does not acquire the smell of wet earth, then it means that it is too dry. You can correct the situation by adding water, potato peelings or fresh herbs.
Plants are mulched with them for the winter so that the roots do not freeze and the bushes do not die. Fertilizers made in this way can be stored in bags.
Where to store it?
How to properly store humus prepared with your own hands so that it does not lose beneficial features? Best way storage is a box. How to make a litter box?
Humus storage box:
- You can put together such a box from any unnecessary boards. You can pour sawdust on the bottom or leave the box without a bottom, and immediately put humus into it.
- On top of the container, you can lay slate or greenhouse film. The moisture that falls on the humus along with the rain should not accumulate in one place, but should drain into the ground.
- Also, do not forget that one of the walls of the box should slide out. So it will be easier to take humus for incorporation into the soil.
- Humus can also be stored in bags, but you just need to make sure that the sun's rays do not fall on it.
How to store?
What are the features of humus storage? First of all, the container with humus should not be located under open sunbeams. So the fertilizer will begin to decompose and pathogenic microbes will begin to multiply in it.
It is important to maintain a constant temperature and humidity in the box. The earth and the humus itself should not be too wet, but should not dry out either.
It is not advisable to place fertilizer containers near trees. Very soon, trees can direct their growth towards composting. And then all the nutrients will go to their growth.
The ability of humus to completely replace mineral supplements known for a long time. However, not everyone knows about its varieties and features of application to the soil. Using this fertilizer, it is possible to significantly increase soil fertility within 5 years by creating a layer of high-quality chernozem on your site and improving the structure of the soil.
The easiest way to prepare a quality fertilizer is to use grass, leaf litter, or other plant debris. It is believed that green mass composting is the most fast way get humus, which can significantly increase the friability of the soil.
In terms of nutritional value, the fertilizer made using bird droppings or farm animals is considered to be of the highest quality. Let us examine in more detail the intricacies of the preparation and use of different types of humus.
What is humus
Humus is a homogeneous mass, similar to soil, formed as a result of the decomposition of substances such as manure, various residues of plant or animal origin. In some cases, compost from plants or leaves is also called humus, however, recently it has not been customary to call it that, since this term most often means mature decomposed manure.
Ripe and usable humus has the following properties:
- flowability;
- homogeneity;
- looseness;
- pleasant smell of "spring" soil, lack of ammonia smell;
- small specific gravity(not about 6 kg of humus will fit in one bucket).
The agronomic significance of this decomposition product can hardly be overestimated, because it is thanks to it that the following soil properties are provided:
- nutritional value for plants;
- ability to absorb water well;
- porosity.
Humus particles have elasticity, which ensures the presence of air space between them. This important property provides full breathing to the roots and an excellent ability to pass moisture, which creates ideal conditions for plants and improves the composition of both clay and sandy soil.
Valuable components of humus are such organic compounds as fulvic acids, as well as humic acids. The former contribute to the transformation of minerals into a form available for absorption by plants, while the latter increase soil fertility and contain large quantities carbon compounds.
Mulching the soil with humus stimulates the reproduction of beneficial microorganisms and earthworms. In addition, this measure allows you to protect plants from frost and overheating: under such a mulch, heating and cooling is much slower.
This property creates protection of the root system from recurrent frosts, and in case of heat it helps to prevent burns of the root neck. Nutrients from the mulch gradually reach the roots of the plant when watered or rained.
Mulching the surface of the beds with humus allows not only to deliver nutrients to the roots of plants, but also stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria. Another important advantage is the ability to prevent the formation of a crust on the surface and prevent the soil from “floating” in case of excessive moisture.
What is humus and compost
Often you may encounter the fact that gardeners confuse such concepts as compost and humus. To avoid discrepancies, you should immediately define the terms.
Humus consists of a complex of compounds of organic origin, formed as a result of the activity of worms, fungi and microorganisms living in the soil. Formed substances have exceptional nutritional value and the ability to dissolve various minerals and bring them into a state that is digestible for plants.
Humus is formed as a result of complex transformations and biochemical reactions in the soil. Fallen leaves, grass, remains of plants and animal life act as initial products. The formation of humus occurs in the surface layer of the soil. That is, the creation of humus is a natural process that takes place in the soil, regardless of human intervention.
Compost is the mass of decomposed remains, predominantly plant origin. This process takes place under artificially created conditions, since gardeners build a pile or box in which they put not only weeds and tops of cultivated plants, but also food waste except meat and fish, as well as paper.
There is an opinion that the more ingredients are included in the heap, the better the compost will turn out and the richer its composition will be. To speed up the decomposition processes, EM preparations can be used, and the pile is covered with roofing felt or black polyethylene.
bird droppings
The concentration of nitrogenous compounds in rabbit or chicken manure is many times greater than in cow manure. The advantages of such a fertilizer include the absence of the need to mix with other components (for example, vegetable).
Most gardeners use manure to prepare breeding to feed cultivated plants. It is diluted in a ratio of 1/10 with water and infused for a day, and then the resulting liquid is again diluted 5 times, after which the plantings are watered.
Breeding bird, rabbit or sheep droppings is necessary because of the high amount of nitrogen they contain. Alternatively, when cleaning a chicken coop or rabbit cages, you can put waste on the compost heap along with plant residues, which will greatly enrich the composition of the compost.
How to cook humus
Making your own humus is quite simple. The main condition is the availability of all the components at hand to start creating high-quality fertilizer. Most often, cow dung is taken as the basis. Consider the sequence of actions in this case:
Manure is laid out on the surface of the earth without tamping. You should get a non-compacted heap.
In the next 5 days, you should not stir up manure and do anything, because death occurs during this period harmful insects and weed seeds due to heating of manure to a temperature of 60 degrees.
On the sixth day, the heap is compacted and covered to stop the access of oxygen and stop the so-called burning, since it causes a decrease in the content of potassium and nitrogenous compounds.
A small layer of earth (at least 15 cm) is thrown over the shelter to preserve the properties of humus after wintering. In the spring, the film is supposed to be removed.
The period of full maturation of humus is from 18 to 24 months. During this period, it is important to prevent the mass from being washed out by water flows from atmospheric precipitation and to ensure moderate ventilation of the heap. To do this, make holes for ventilation in the boxes, and small holes in the polyethylene.
A small amount of moisture is not critical and will not affect the quality of the final product. A sign of humus ready for use is its reduction in volume by 3 or 4 times, compared with a fresh pile.
To speed up the maturation of the mass, you can periodically mix it with a fork, trying to pick up the deep layers. The location of the compost heap also plays an important role. It is advisable to place it in a place inaccessible to the north winds. The use of bacterial preparations that accelerate the decomposition of organic matter also reduces the formation of high-quality and valuable fertilizer.
In the absence of manure and the presence of a large amount of leaves or grass, vegetable humus can be prepared. In autumn, during abundant leaf fall, birch, maple, rowan and other leaves are collected. Further actions occur in the following order:
The leaves are placed in a box or bag made of polyethylene with holes for air circulation.
The mass is compacted and water is added to accelerate the maturation of humus.
Mowed weeds, other garden waste and green manure (if any) are added.
It is useful to add a solution of soil microorganisms or just manure.
The container is covered with foil.
To improve air circulation, the mass should be periodically mixed.
The rate of maturation of such humus is from six months to a year. Ripened fertilizer resembles garden soil in terms of appearance and smell. It is worth noting the particular effectiveness of plant humus in soil structuring, since, in addition to its physical and mechanical properties, such humus especially attracts earthworms, which also significantly improve soil aeration.
How to apply humus to the soil
It is necessary to use ripe humus in accordance with the needs of each garden, garden or indoor crop. If an increased amount of fertilizer is applied under crops such as peppers or tomatoes, then they can begin to “fatten”, that is, please with an abundance of green mass instead of fruits, the same applies to some indoor plants.
It is good to use humus in an amount of 2 to 4 buckets per square meter. m. Soil fertilization for a variety of crops can be carried out in different times year: both spring and autumn. In this case, it is appropriate to simply spread the available fertilizer evenly over the entire area and then plow the land.
As a fertilizer for indoor plants, you can add up to 30% of humus to the soil in which the plant will be planted. This amount increases to 50% when preparing the substrate for seedlings. vegetable crops and flowers.
Some gardeners successfully practice adding a handful of humus to the hole in which they plan to plant seedlings.
Conclusion
Humus from both the manure of farm animals and the use of plant residues is extremely useful for soil fertility and affects it in a complex way. Such a fertilizer not only structures the earth, but also improves its biochemical composition, increases the number of beneficial microorganisms and worms, which inevitably has a positive effect on the fertility of each garden and garden crop.
Humus or humus is an effective organic fertilizer containing long-term microelements. Humus has a general strengthening effect on the earth and creates a favorable environment for plants. However, not many gardeners know what it is. Let us consider in more detail what humus is, its composition, and how it differs from compost.
Humus is a useful organic fertilizer, which is formed as a result of the complete decomposition of manure. To turn into humus, manure of birds or herbivores must lie for at least two years. It does not have an unpleasant odor, but it looks like a black substance that has an admixture of plants and smells of fresh earth.
The humus is completely harmless. Thanks to him, the soil is enriched with all essential trace elements and minerals, as a result of which you can get a rich harvest of fruits and vegetables on your site. It contains humic acids useful for plants. They dissolve well in soda, ammonia, alkalis, sodium pyrophosphate and do not dissolve in water. In addition, humus contains substances such as fulvic acids, which are highly acidic and can dissolve in water. Another group of substances, humins, do not dissolve in anything.
Benefit
This fertilizer contains a lot of nutrients. It absorbs moisture well and helps keep it. At the same time, the particles of humus remain the same elastic, and between them there are air gaps necessary for the respiration of the roots. Fertilizer helps to ennoble the soil: in sandy soil, it helps to retain water and nutrients in the root zone, and makes heavy clay soil loose, nutritious, airy.
If humus used as mulch, favorable conditions are created in the upper soil layer. It does not form crusts with capillaries, which, like a sponge, draw moisture from the soil. Under the mulch, beneficial bacteria and earthworms begin to colonize, increasing the efficiency of the roots. The soil under humus cools much more slowly and also heats up slowly, that is, the temperature changes quite smoothly. It allows you to survive thermophilic plants: with the onset of autumn, they have time to prepare for wintering, and in the spring they do not wake up ahead of time and therefore do not fall under the blow of frost.
In extreme heat the surface of the soil, mulched with humus, does not burn the root neck of the plants. But it is through the damaged area that pathogens of pepper verticillosis, clematis, garden strawberries and other crops can penetrate. The nutrients in the humus mulch begin to gradually penetrate to the roots of plants with rain and watering, resulting in one step beds are fertilized and moistened.
In addition, humus is indispensable fertilizer when growing indoor plants and seedlings. Humus as part of the substrate(raw humus) is of great benefit:
- pelargoniums;
- hibiscus;
- begonias;
- eggplant;
- cucumbers and other cucurbits.
Varieties of humus
There are three main types of humus, the use of which gives the maximum result as a result of fertilizing the soil in a garden plot:
- from manure;
- from bird droppings;
- leaf humus.
After maturation, humus from manure is a wonderful plant nutrition, rich in all the necessary trace elements. It is recommended to fertilize the soil with such humus 2 times a year while digging the garden. In autumn, unripe humus can also be distributed into the soil. By the planting season, it should decompose, as a result of which the seedlings will receive all necessary elements for their growth and development.
Leaf mulch is the safest and most common fertilizer that gardeners use, but it contains no nutrients. This top dressing is used to improve the composition of the soil. It is not capable of harming plants and it can be fertilized in any quantity, but for fear of an overdose. And preparing leaf humus is very simple..
How to cook humus?
From manure
In gardening markets, any summer resident can buy ready-made humus, sold in bags, but it is quite expensive. It is much more profitable to buy manure on the farm and prepare the humus yourself. To do this, manure must be put in a compost bin or in a pile where it will ripen. If a box is used, then it is covered with shields, roofing material or a dark film from above, and it should be ventilated through the sidewalls.
It's OK if the shelter will slightly let water through, the main thing is that the rains cannot wash through the mass. Manure ripens within 1.5 - 2 years. It is possible to determine that the humus is ripe when its volume has completely become free-flowing and has acquired a homogeneous dark color, and its amount decreased by 3-4 times in relation to the original.
For the humus to ripen as soon as possible, the manure should be kept in a secluded place that will not be blown by the north winds. In this case, it will not freeze for a long time, and the bacteria will continue to work even in winter. In warm weather, the humus should be stirred once a month with a pitchfork, trying to pry it deeper, slightly moistening before that. You can use EM preparations (Siyanie-3, Baikal and others), which are used for the maturation of composts.
From bird droppings
There are several ways to prepare liquid chicken manure fertilizer:
- It is necessary to dilute fresh manure in the following proportion: one part of manure to 15 parts of water. During fermentation, a rather unpleasant odor is released, so the dishes where the fermentation process takes place must be covered. As soon as the solution darkens, it should be diluted with water again. If the composition is too concentrated, then the plants can get burned.
- One part of manure should be mixed with one part of water in a bucket and covered with a lid or film. Put it in a warm place, stirring occasionally. The solution should ferment for several days. Before use, it must be diluted with water: a liter of liquid is used per bucket of water. This solution is used for watering trees and some flowers. If you need to water horticultural crops, then the concentration of the solution should be even less.
- It is necessary to pour a part of dry or fresh chicken manure into the barrel and dilute it with 4 parts of water. Then stir well, cover the container and put in a warm place for several days. It should be insisted for several days, and at this time the fermentation process takes place in the barrel. Before use, 0.5 l of slurry is diluted in a bucket of water. Avoid preparing a solution of strong concentration. If it is prepared correctly, then the color should resemble weak tea.
leaf humus
To prepare leaf humus, you need to collect autumn leaves and put them in the compost heap. You can also use boxes or bags for this. Many summer residents add manure or a solution of special bacteria to the leaves, which speed up the decomposition process. Then the foliage needs to be moistened and covered with a film. From time to time, the leaves must be stirred and mixed. Such humus ripens 6 - 12 months. Ripe humus resembles fresh loose soil without bad smell. It must be borne in mind that oak leaves are not used for the preparation of leaf humus.
This fertilizer is useful for almost all indoor, garden and horticultural crops. The only exceptions are some ornamental crops that require depleted soil (orchids, desert cacti, plants for alpine slides).
In the spring, humus is introduced into the soil for digging, and in the fall - after the crop is harvested and the site is cleared. In autumn, humus (a bucket per 1 m2), two glasses of ash, 2 tbsp. l. phosphorus-potassium fertilizers and 1 - 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate. To find out the spring rate, you need to proceed from the needs of the culture. For planting garden strawberries, flowers, roses, vegetables, humus is added in 2-4 buckets per 1 m2.
Humus, which acts as a component fertile soil for growing seedlings, should be used together with compost, garden soil, peat. For seedlings of flowers and vegetables, humus is introduced into the nutrient substrate by about ½ of the total volume.
Under some annuals (cosmea, ageratum, nasturtium), a moderate dose of fertilizer should be applied, since such plants begin to “fatten” with an excess of organic matter, that is, leaves grow to the detriment of flowering.
Humus for strawberries should be applied in the fall after harvest. It is advisable to mulch the fertilizer layer on top with sawdust or straw. Humus is placed in a layer 5 cm thick, while the plants should not come into contact with humus, as they can rot.
Under productive crops that have an extended fruiting period (zucchini, pumpkins, cucumbers), humus is covered during spring digging of the soil to a depth of 15 cm. It is laid under raspberries from spring as mulch without closing. For many indoor plants, humus is used as an additive to nutrient soil.
What is the difference between compost and manure? The content and proportions of nutrients in both fertilizers are almost the same. But compost differs from humus in that it does not structure the soil and does not have a long-term positive effect on its fertility. In addition, nutrients from soil fertilized with compost are not as actively supplied to plants. Another important point
- when fertilizing with humus, the risk of plant infection is practically zero, since the anaerobic environment created in the ripening mass of humus destroys the germs of pests and weeds.
Thus, humus is fertilizer, which is used by many gardeners as a top dressing various plants because it contains a huge amount of nutrients. It is usually applied to the soil to stimulate the growth and development of plants. You can buy it, or you can make it yourself. The use of this fertilizer is justified on any type of soil.
