Composting - The Natural Way to Make Food for Your Garden

The main reason why we need to add compost to our garden is, to spruce up the soil that's not healthy or that it just needs a boost when the existing  nutrients are absorbed by the plants...

The first and foremost thing factor one has to take into account before starting on a  garden, is taking care of the soil quality , that your plants are growing in. The composting of waste materials provides a natural system of 'reuse', ultimately by returning the nutrients to the soil...

The compost that is normally produced from green waste is believed to hae  low levels of Nitrogen, however as the compost continues to degrade further it produces nitrogen that is very essential for the plants. If one has the convenience to make one's own compost by using Vegetable waste, Fruit peel and other degradable kitchen waste, there is nothing like it.In fact it is the best form of nutrient for the plants with absolutely no side effects since there is no use of chemicals.The garden waste is in fact the best compost for the plants.

I personally I use up all kitchen wastes, vegetable peel, fruit peel and dry leaves to make compost. I have dug a pit and use it for making organic manure at home. I layer it with soil and leave the whole thing to nicely turn into compost over a period of time. It takes  2-3 months; all I need to do is sprinkle some water regularly over it.

It is as many gardeners claim  'The natural way to make food for your garden'  and an economic way of gardening without the use of any chemicals. All kitchen wastse can be used  to make  compost including used tea leaves, fish bones and any other waste like rotten food etc; All that is  needed to be done is to layer the waste matter  with soil and some wood chip or wood waste if available ,dry leaves that can be found in your garden .

On the advise of some garden experts , I have also tried mixing multi purpose compost that is available in garden centres with the home made organic compost and found the results very satisfactory. But whereas one can safely use the "organic compost" for all kinds of plants, I am not too sure about the readily available compost that is mostly made up of chemicals, as it has added nutrients, which may not be suitable for certain kinds of plants.

I was not too happy with the results of these nutrients on Begonias. I used a multipurpose compost when I had to repot a perfectly healthy variety of Begonia.After a week, the perfectly healthy looking plant  started developing yellowish spotted leaves .  I changed the soil back to homemade organic mixed with a lot of sand and  I could see it growing healthier leaves and now it is doing well..

I personally feel  that one can use the multi purpose compost for almost all the plants, except for a few exotic varieties, grown in pots and delicate variety of plants that are difficult to cultivate. From my own experience , I have seen that  it gives better results for plants grown in prepared flowerbeds outdoors.

 I still prefer the Home made compost, it is the healthier and cheaper option for any plant and especially for those grown in flower pots .  There is a lot of satisfaction and happiness in making your own compost at home and growing healthy plants.  And going by the fact that plants need to be repotted at least once  in 18 months or in some cases  2 years, making ypur own compost is  quite economical.

But  the greatest advantage with a multi purpose compost that you buy from a garden centre is that it is ready to use and available when you want it, whereas one has to plan beforehand and wait for a few months at least  the organic compost till it is ready for use....