What should be a compost pit and how to equip it yourself

Arrangement of a pit for operation

The first question that gardeners and summer residents ask is a compost pit or a heap. There are pros and cons in each version. The main reason why many summer residents lean towards heaps is that it is easier to work with them. During the season, the compost must be mixed at least four times. This can be done simply by pouring the pile from place to place. In this case, the pile can be localized using several tires.

Proponents of composting in pits appeal to the fact that huge heaps of garbage do not decorate the garden. In addition, ripening agents are sold in specialized stores - their use in pits gives excellent results. There remains only one question - air access, but it can also be solved if the compost pit is arranged correctly.

Placing a compost pit in the country, you should adhere to a few simple rules. First, it should be located away from the source of drinking water, at a minimum distance of twenty-five meters. In addition, if the garden or dacha has a slope, then the level of the compost pit should be lower than the level of the well. Secondly, the pit should be located on the mainly leeward side so that the smell of compost does not irritate either the owners of the site or their neighbors in the country. Thirdly, the pit is arranged in the shade, since excess solar heat can negatively affect the maturation of the compost.

What does the pit consist of

The conditions necessary for the correct maturation of the compost are: access to earthworms, access to air, sufficient humidity, a variety of waste, the absence of certain types of waste in the pit. Earthworms and other soil microorganisms are needed to process organic waste and make fertilizers. They can penetrate into the pit from the soil, but for this the bottom of the pit should not be closed, and it should not be too low in the ground.

The compost pit can have different depths, but optimally - up to a meter. This is due both to the fact that it is inconvenient to mix compost and extract humus from a deeper pit, and to the fact that earthworms dig holes in the ground to a depth of one and a half meters, but this rarely happens, they usually live in a higher soil layer ... When creating a capital pit made of concrete, wood or plastic, it is correct to leave special holes in the walls for worms to access. Or worms, in particular, a bred breed that has a great appetite, are put into such pits on purpose, and they also use means that reproach the decomposition of organic waste.

Air access is achieved through a shallow depth that allows the contents to be loosened, through holes in the walls, with a drain placed on the bottom. Branches, straw or needles laid on the bottom are used as drainage - soil organisms freely penetrate through them to waste, and excess moisture goes into the ground.The options for completely insulating the pit with laying the film on the walls and bottom are not entirely constructive - in such a pit it is difficult to maintain the desired moisture level, and without access to the contents of the earthworms, the fertilizer ripening will take too long.

Video "Arrangement of a compost pit"

Do-it-yourself description of the formation and arrangement of a compost pit in a summer cottage

As for humidity, if the summer is dry, then the compost pit needs to be watered, just as you water a vegetable garden. For irrigation, it is permissible to use both plain water and the remains of fertilizer solutions, for example, superphosphate. To retain moisture and maintain an optimal temperature inside the pile, it can be covered with black plastic or protected with a tire guard, leaving small open areas for ventilation.

It is possible and necessary to add to the compost weeds cut before flowering, chopped dry branches, last year's leaves, cleaning vegetables and fruits, straw, needles, sawdust. It is categorically impossible - weeds with set seeds, live roots of wheatgrass and horsetail, seeds of fruit trees. Infected parts of plants (tops and leaves with late blight or powdery mildew) also have nothing to do in the compost pit. This year's dead leaves will take longer to process than the rest of the compost mass. Any protein waste has a strong unpleasant odor and attracts animals.

Do it yourself

A do-it-yourself compost pit is not such a complicated structure. The easiest way to equip it is to dig a trench up to seventy centimeters deep in the ground, pour dry branches, straw and leaves on the bottom, then lay food waste and weeds in layers. The compost will mature in a year and a half, although you can use agents that accelerate maturation. You can also make the pit round and put a couple of old tires on top.

How to make a compost pit permanent? Strengthen walls and protect them from debris. Reinforcement options - using planks such as old pallets, slate, car tires, concrete or bricks. The bottom of the hole should remain free, and branches and leaves are laid on it for drainage.

The pit in the country can be about a meter deep, up to three meters long and a meter and a half wide. On average, the vegetable garden produces so much waste that there is just enough waste to fill such a volume. The arrangement of a compost pit with two isolated sections is more convenient - this way it will be possible to put new waste in one part, and in the other, from last year, there will be ripe humus.

When constructing a pit from boards, wooden posts are fixed at the corners of the trench. Further, boards are attached to them with nails, staples or self-tapping screws. A one-piece shield is placed between the two compartments. You can build a pit out of concrete or ready-made well rings. Finally, you can simply place a large plastic container in the dug hole.

This is an option close to the Finnish technology - maturation of compost in dry closets. When sawdust and decay stimulants are added to the faeces. Such compost is too concentrated, and therefore it is used as fertilizer mixed with sand and peat so that the garden can get the maximum benefit from such feeding.

For a simpler pit, you can use a few old tires. This is a simple and useful option for both disposal of used tires and a neat fence of the compost heap that does not litter the garden. Several tires (no more than four) should be stacked one on top of the other, and filled with waste during the season - according to the usual algorithm for working with compost. By spring, the waste will be compacted, and the contents of the bottom of the tires can be used to fertilize the garden. Whatever the structure of the pit, it must be closed from above.

What should be

So, the compost pit should not turn the garden into a trash heap, but should be:

• compact,
• insulated (using boards, concrete or old tires),
• divided into sections for the annual receipt of fresh fertilizer,
• with easy and convenient access to humus,
• with an open bottom - for earthworms to access the contents.

Video "Slate Compost Pit"

Description of the arrangement of the slate compost pit. Installation of walls, a method of fixing and fastening them.