I tried the aerobic composting with the cocopeat infused with microbes and here are the results of my experiment. During my last visit to OFYT, I saw a demo of this at the malleswaram stall and decided to give it a try immediately.
Materials used:
1 container with a lot of holes for aeration
Microbes infused cocopeat block
Microbes infused cocopeat block
Organic waste
Method:
I used a small see through container so that I can also observe whats happening and also so that I can fill the waste completely in one go and check the time taken for the composting.
Avoid making holes on the bottom surface of the container to avoid any leakage of the leachate produced. I made holes after leaving about an inch from the bottom. Make sufficient number to holes to ensure aeration of the contents.
I used fruit / vegetable peels / coffee grounds and powdered egg shells for the waste.
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The cocopeat is available in brick form and it needs to be disintegrated into powdered form by soaking it in sufficient quantity of water.
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Start with a layer of cocopeat and then add some organic waste until its about a couple of inches in height and add a layer of cocopeat of similar height on top again.
Keep repeating this until you reach the rim of the container. Ensure that the top most layer is of the cocopeat.
Keep it aside.
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I could see a lot of condensation on the container in a couple of days.
After nearly 3 weeks I could observe the microbes at work and the progress of the composting.
In 5 weeks time, the entire contents had turned a uniform colour and all the organic waste introduced are unrecognisable.
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I added a few drops of water in between when the top layer looked very dry. This might be due to the fact that, it was exposed to the sun for a few hours everyday. It may be better to keep it out of sunlight. This is my observation after the fact.
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I shook the bottle once in between to shake the mix a little a bit, but it wasn’t required.
After a couple of days I also started another batch in plastic ziploc bag like the ones you get vegetables in. Followed the same procedure and viola same result. This batch also got decomposed in 4-5 weeks time.
My observations:
– There were a few black solider flies buzzing around the composting set up. The number of flies were not much and I just ignored it.
– There was absolutely no smell.
– The leachate from the plastic bag setup leaked out a bit. It could be because of using a bag.
– Its good to keep it in a shaded area.
– All though the instructions say all kind of organic waste can be composed using this method, I feel that adding a lot of cooked food / spoiled food may attract flies, so until the system is well established, its better to limit cooked food / spoiled food being introduced.
– The leachate from the plastic bag setup leaked out a bit. It could be because of using a bag.
– Its good to keep it in a shaded area.
– All though the instructions say all kind of organic waste can be composed using this method, I feel that adding a lot of cooked food / spoiled food may attract flies, so until the system is well established, its better to limit cooked food / spoiled food being introduced.
2 thoughts on “Aerobic composting using Microbes infused cocopeat”
Great blog !
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Nice Infomation!! Nice Infomation!!Thank you for sharing such great information.
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