Good info. I don't know the whole process of fertilizers.
I know it works my yard likes it & I've thrown some urea in compost pile to get them cooking.
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pickupguy07
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 7:06 pm
- Location: GA
I have a question about using pallets to make your compost bins.
I saw several drawings and pictures of ones people had built.
Looked like the 'top' side of the pallets were turned in to hold the compost better. I also saw where the gaps between the top boards were filled in... maing the surface against the compost pile fairly solid. Only small gaps - maybe 1/4 inch or less between boards. This all makes perfect sense since you want to keep the compost from falling through the cracks.
Now I read that the pile needs plenty of air... if you don't fill in the slots, obviously the compost will fall out, seem to attract more pest, vermin, etc.
But I was curious how much air is 'enough'... and if the gaps filled in will inhibit the composting process.
I have one bin built as I described above. Kinda need to stop building any more I think until I get some various ideas on this. Hate to go to a lot of work and it be detrimental also.
I saw several drawings and pictures of ones people had built.
Looked like the 'top' side of the pallets were turned in to hold the compost better. I also saw where the gaps between the top boards were filled in... maing the surface against the compost pile fairly solid. Only small gaps - maybe 1/4 inch or less between boards. This all makes perfect sense since you want to keep the compost from falling through the cracks.
Now I read that the pile needs plenty of air... if you don't fill in the slots, obviously the compost will fall out, seem to attract more pest, vermin, etc.
But I was curious how much air is 'enough'... and if the gaps filled in will inhibit the composting process.
I have one bin built as I described above. Kinda need to stop building any more I think until I get some various ideas on this. Hate to go to a lot of work and it be detrimental also.
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Hitched_Gibson
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- Location: Conroe, TX
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Hitched_Gibson
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- Location: Conroe, TX
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pickupguy07
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 7:06 pm
- Location: GA
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toxcrusadr
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Rainbowgardener wrote:
The N component (ie ammonium nitrate) is made by reacting nitrogen and steam at high temperature and pressure (the Haber process) which takes a lot of natural gas. Sources indicate 3-5% of the world's natural gas production goes to producing 100 million tons per year of ammonia, ammonium nitrate and urea.
P and K are from mined materials like phosphate rock, potash and bat guano.
Of course, all of this takes a lot of petroleum to ship the stuff all over the place, but there is no petroleum in fertlizer.
Not to be fussy but I thought this would be interesting for everyone:Synthetic fertilizers are petroleum based.
The N component (ie ammonium nitrate) is made by reacting nitrogen and steam at high temperature and pressure (the Haber process) which takes a lot of natural gas. Sources indicate 3-5% of the world's natural gas production goes to producing 100 million tons per year of ammonia, ammonium nitrate and urea.
P and K are from mined materials like phosphate rock, potash and bat guano.
Of course, all of this takes a lot of petroleum to ship the stuff all over the place, but there is no petroleum in fertlizer.
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pickupguy07
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- Location: GA
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rainbowgardener
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"The N component (ie ammonium nitrate) is made by reacting nitrogen and steam at high temperature and pressure (the Haber process) which takes a lot of natural gas" natural gas is also a non-renewable resource.
Synthetic chemicals are produced with extremely high levels of petroleum inputs and concentrated to allow mass production, easy transport and application, and high response rates from plants. The high concentrations of nitrogen, the major nutrient for plant growth, cause plants to grow rapidly, but the faster growth does not mean better plants or food, just more of it. Everyone is familiar with tasteless tomatoes, bland corn, oversized, watery lettuce, and other commodities that lack the flavor and nutrients of food grown with better attention to the health of the soil, the plant, and the quality of the fruit or vegetable. https://www.ediblecommunities.com/shastabutte/online-magazine/winter-2011/we-speak-organic-here.htm
Synthetic fertilizers use non-renewable fossil fuels. The energy consumed to make synthetic nitrogen for U.S. farmers for one year (13.1 million tons) would heat about 5.5 million Midwestern homes all year long....Twelve years ago, the U.S. was the world's largest exporter of N fertilizer; now we are the largest importer. More than half the nitrogen our farmers now use comes from places like Trinidad, Russia, and the Persian Gulf, where natural gas is cheaper than in the U.S. https://www.organicvalley.coop/why-organic/synthetic-fertilizers/
The above is a really nice article about why to use organic instead of synthetic / chemical fertilizers.
Synthetic chemicals are produced with extremely high levels of petroleum inputs and concentrated to allow mass production, easy transport and application, and high response rates from plants. The high concentrations of nitrogen, the major nutrient for plant growth, cause plants to grow rapidly, but the faster growth does not mean better plants or food, just more of it. Everyone is familiar with tasteless tomatoes, bland corn, oversized, watery lettuce, and other commodities that lack the flavor and nutrients of food grown with better attention to the health of the soil, the plant, and the quality of the fruit or vegetable. https://www.ediblecommunities.com/shastabutte/online-magazine/winter-2011/we-speak-organic-here.htm
Synthetic fertilizers use non-renewable fossil fuels. The energy consumed to make synthetic nitrogen for U.S. farmers for one year (13.1 million tons) would heat about 5.5 million Midwestern homes all year long....Twelve years ago, the U.S. was the world's largest exporter of N fertilizer; now we are the largest importer. More than half the nitrogen our farmers now use comes from places like Trinidad, Russia, and the Persian Gulf, where natural gas is cheaper than in the U.S. https://www.organicvalley.coop/why-organic/synthetic-fertilizers/
The above is a really nice article about why to use organic instead of synthetic / chemical fertilizers.
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rot
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- Location: Ventura County, CA, Sunset 23
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Where's the Helpful Gardener when you need him.
I thought the biggest problem with industrial fertilizers was they mess up the soil biology and chemistry. The plants get a big boost, maybe too big of a boost but then once those nutrients are gone, and they're gone soon, you have screwed up soil with little life in it and now nutrients so you get addicted to these industrial fertilizers.
It's kind of like getting hooked on coffee. It keeps you up at night so when you get up in the morning, you need more coffee to get going.
The angle of approach I'm trying to take is to feed the soil which will then feed the plants. I think I'm doing something right because I now have robins hunting for worms our yard where they weren't for a while when we first moved in. I've got pill bugs all summer in once what was hydrophobic beds. I've also got bulbs that came to life apparently from pervious owners that I didn't know were there. And all I'm doing is mulching with everything I can get my hands on from compost to coffee grounds to grass clippings. Now I'm on a campaign to reduce water use.
Feed the soil and everything else will follow.
to sense
..
Where's the Helpful Gardener when you need him.
I thought the biggest problem with industrial fertilizers was they mess up the soil biology and chemistry. The plants get a big boost, maybe too big of a boost but then once those nutrients are gone, and they're gone soon, you have screwed up soil with little life in it and now nutrients so you get addicted to these industrial fertilizers.
It's kind of like getting hooked on coffee. It keeps you up at night so when you get up in the morning, you need more coffee to get going.
The angle of approach I'm trying to take is to feed the soil which will then feed the plants. I think I'm doing something right because I now have robins hunting for worms our yard where they weren't for a while when we first moved in. I've got pill bugs all summer in once what was hydrophobic beds. I've also got bulbs that came to life apparently from pervious owners that I didn't know were there. And all I'm doing is mulching with everything I can get my hands on from compost to coffee grounds to grass clippings. Now I'm on a campaign to reduce water use.
Feed the soil and everything else will follow.
to sense
..