Sunday, October 28, 2018

Carton Box Compost for the small area gardening

I have a little gardening space in front of my apartment. I planted tomatoes, watermelon, but the soil is poor, and space on my side is shady, I planted flowers but they would not grow another flower bulb or just withered.

I wanted to try "Cartonbox Compost" I read in Japanese. It's a compost system made in a carton box so it doesn't need big space, you can put fruit rind, peel, vegetable scraps, it's eco, environmental, so I tried.

You need,

1) Carton box, you need one more layer of carton box at the bottom for the extra reinforcement.

2), 3) Peat Moss and Charcoal (ground) ratio 2:1



Espoma PTM8 8-Quart Organic Peat Moss




Wakefield Biochar Soil Conditioner - Premium - 1 lb Bag

4) Mix with vegetable/ fruit/food waste and mix every day.

5) Cover with big t-shirts the box to prevent bugs to get inside.

6) Put the box on an upside-down basket or grates for the airflow under the box.

in 2-3 weeks, the compost is ready!

You are supposed to use "Rice husk charcoal" but I couldn't find it. Maybe this is the closest one, it's not the charcoal though.




Rice Hulls - Organic Use - Weed Free - 1lb Bag

If the compost is successful, it gets fermented and warm. You might find some fruit flies, bugs, when you find those, add some rice hulls or fish guts to make compost extra fermented and kill off the bugs, or I sprayed some essential oil (like peppermint),  with alcohol and water mixture.