COMPOSTING

COMPOSTING: EFFECTIVE WAY TO PROVIDE A GOOD PLANTING MEDIUM FOR SEEDLINGS

When you hear of compost, what comes to your mind first?
Composting can simply be described as a mixture of organic materials (such as greens, kitchen waste, harvest scraps, animal droppings, woody stem, etc.) in a systemic structure or hip under free air flow, that is later converted through natural decomposition into a very rich-in-nutrient material.
The outcome of composting is known as compost which is characterized by its dark, crumb-like and earthly-smelling nature. To make a very good compost, one requires a 50% mix of materials rich in Carbon and 50% of that rich in Nitrogen.
The bedrock of successful vegetable farming especially for crops that requires nursery is the establishment of quality seedlings. Seedlings require good nutrients within the early stage of sprouting and maturity prior transplanting. And likewise, their root requires a good medium to easily penetrate and form well.
Hence, the planting medium is a vital material that can provide such nutrients that can be made available to these seedlings without having adverse effects on them and a suitable structure for root formation.
Many times, farmers are faced with the challenges of what to mix together for a planting medium when raising nursery. The common mixtures has in times past given some level of output but compost has been discovered to give the best results so far.
Why compost?
The choice of compost for raising seedlings is not farfetched from the fact that it;

• Improves the growth and health of plants.
• It makes available the required nutrients for plants in a stable organic form.
• It increases the depth at which plant root forms.
• It helps to conserve moisture.
• It reduces leeching of nutrients from the nursery trays.
• It limits the use of additional fertilizer or manure as the nutrients in the medium is sufficient for the seedlings.
  The importance of compost as a planting medium can never be over emphasized when considering raising good and quality seedlings.
  One of the things we learnt in Thailand during our 2023 trip was how to make suitable compost for potting soil, easy seedling process and plot preparation and maintenance techniques. We would love to share details with you at KUCH99 Agricultural Training Institute. For more inquiries, contact us at…