Make compost to keep soil healthy
Tips for getting better results
Compost is a soil improver that provides a reservoir of plant essentials and a crumbly soil texture.
Garden soil with a crumbly texture is coveted for plants because it allows water, air, nutrients and plant roots to move through easily.
Compost increases the soil’s capacity to hold onto nutrients and water, which enables a better utilisation of these plant essentials and less wastage.
Homemade compost is also teeming with soil probiotics which can help to suppress pests and diseases. In contrast, bought compost has diminished microbial life due to the natural delay between manufacture and use.
Using nutrient-rich kitchen scraps to make compost results in a soil improver with an enhanced reservoir of nutrition. Compost made from garden waste is less nutritious.
You can produce nutrition-dense compost routinely using everyday kitchen waste. Nourish and improve your soil with it, no matter what soil you have. Save money on fertilisers and pesticides, while growing healthy plants.
Compost works as a soil improver only in its mature form, so let freshly made compost mature before use.
An abundance of earthworms is a sign of healthy soil. Plants grow better in healthy soil, with fewer disease and pest problems.
The earthworms are underground helpers, doing their good work out of sight. They dig deep tunnels, loosening the soil for water and air to flow through, while plant roots can extend further to reach more minerals.
Earthworms ingest organic matter and soil, excreting worm casts which are clumps of plant nutrition, beneficial microbes and ingested soil. Their casts regenerate the soil, so the more earthworms you have the better.
How do you get more earthworms in your garden? All you have to do is provide a steady source of rich organic matter, ideally already broken down to a soft state they can swallow. This is where compost comes in handy, as it is prime for earthworms to feast on.
Compost made from nutrient-rich kitchen scraps is more nutritious than that made from garden waste. It is excellent for feeding to earthworms, building their numbers and keeping your soil healthy.
The fresh compost gathering in Bioverter’s basket is ready to be served to earthworms. Transfer the compost to a sheltered spot in your garden, cover it with standard garden mulch and mesh or netting (to make it safe from birds). Free-range earthworms make their way to feast on the compost, multiply and continue to look after your soil health.
Traditional compost bins are well suited to garden waste. They typically have room to fit bulky wastes from the garden.
Layer your carbon and nitrogen waste alternately. Get good nutritional balance in traditional compost bins by making carbon layers twice the thickness of nitrogen layers.
Aerate by mixing the waste. Regular aeration is necessary to bring in oxygen due to a lack of air flow in traditional compost bins.
Water the garden waste to provide moisture for composting, but ensure your wastes don’t go soggy and stinky from overwatering.
Traditional compost bins are a perfect companion system to Bioverter. Kitchen scraps will stink and rot in your old compost bin if mixed inadequately, but Bioverter can handle them without any outside help.
Compost bins are handy for dealing with hard waste such as corn cobs, avocado and mango stones, and food-stained pizza boxes. Excluded from Bioverter, these wastes are useful for diversifying garden waste in compost bins.
Soldier flies are tiny black insects that don’t bite or carry disease, but are a real nuisance in large numbers.
A soldier fly infestation occurs only when your compost is unbalanced due to either a recent large input of mainly nitrogen waste or consistent moderate excess in nitrogen waste.
You may first notice small larvae crawling over your waste. Whitish in colour at first, the larvae change to dark brown as they grow bigger. Soldier flies breed incredibly fast, so take corrective action before you see too many larvae.
The larvae thrive on food rich in nitrogen. Their rapid increase indicates an overabundance of nitrogen waste, so start to restore the imbalance with a top (5cm) layer of carbon waste. For the next 4 weeks, starve them out by adding waste mixes with more carbon than nitrogen waste.
It may take several weeks to get rid of the larvae and adult flies.
Some larvae may make it to the next life cycle stage and form a protective casing or cocoon. You may see cocoons in your compost harvest, but it won’t affect your outputs.
To stop them from appearing, use balanced feeds to make compost year after year.
While it can work in either sun or shade, Bioverter works better for you when positioned to account for the climate you live in and the convenience of access.
In Australia, the summer sun can get scorching hot, so try not to put Bioverter in full sun for the whole day. Shade it from the intense midday and afternoon sun if you can.
Shading Bioverter in summer also helps to slow the loss of compost juice by evaporation. You could use potted plants or other barriers to shade at least its base. On very hot days, adding one or two cups of water can help to rehydrate your materials before harvesting compost juice the next day.
On the flip side, catching some morning sun can help to take the chill away in an area with cold nights.
Don’t forget to consider ease of access too. Bioverter's weather protection means it works anywhere, so pick a spot that's not too hard to get to.
You can feed Bioverter as normal right up until you leave. Composting will keep going at a gradually slower rate as the microbial communities inside Bioverter adjust themselves to a slowdown in food supply.
Just remember to empty both your compost collecting Basket and liquid Tray before you leave to make sure they don't overfill.
When you get back, resume feeding and the compost microbes will come back to life.
There are natural compounds which can cause compost juice to froth when you add water to dilute the juice.
These natural frothing compounds can be found to varying degrees in food such as legumes and vegetables like beets. They will not harm your plants.
A little bit of seepage is to be expected. You can spray some water on your Bioverter and wipe the area with a cloth or soft brush to remove the dribbles.
However, if your Bioverter is weeping regularly and developing a bulge, this indicates that you have a sticky mass of matter causing a logjam.
Here’s how to fix it:
- Remove the juice tray and place a piece of cardboard in the cavity to catch the sticky materials.
- Slide out and empty your basket.
- Wearing plastic gloves, pull out as much of your sticky compost as you can reach from underneath. You want to get rid of the blockage.
- If your Bioverter is full, remove sticky compost from above too. Use a garden trowel and a bucket to collect fresh scraps before taking out the gooey materials. Be gentle with the inside walls of your Bioverter - leave some gooey matter on these walls to get your returned scraps cooking quickly again.
- If your Bioverter walls are still bulging after you’ve cleared the problem, pop a $5 luggage strap around the middle join to get it back in shape.
Rest your sticky compost:
- The sticky compost that you have removed can be rested in the usual way. It may look lumpy for a while and will take longer to rest.
- Keep it in the shade and covered in a damp cloth. Resting will turn it into super compost.
Keep Bioverter running smoothly:
- Whole dry leaves, paper and cardboard are high carbon materials that take a long time to break down fully. Inside Bioverter, they can form a very sticky mass when added in excess and disrupt the flow of compost down into the collection Basket.
- Follow our feeding suggestions to help you achieve balanced composting.