Production of biohumus at home: components, technology. California worms - breeding at home

Biohumus is a granular bioactive fertilizer, obtained from the recycled organic California Worm organic waste. Its use ensures a good development of plants, an increase in yields by 30-70%. Tied fruit is less affected by disease. They are distinguished by a more tender pulp, a pronounced taste and aroma. Production of biohumus at home is not very difficult and does not require significant expenses.

Properties and composition of biohumus, its advantages

Biological humus is a fertilizer that is superior in its composition and nutritional value to normal compost and manure. Its addition to the soil in the ratio of 10-20% to the total volume allows to improve the depleted or containing a large number of salts soil. In the process of processing, complete disinfection of organic masses, their purification from helminth eggs, takes place. Biohumus contains in an optimally balanced form a lot of useful components:

• Mineral elements in a well assimilated species.
• Enzymes. They ensure the conversion of organic residues into nutrient compounds.
• Substances that prevent the propagation of pathogens.
• Phytohormones. They improve the growth and stress resistance of plants.

This kind of environmentally friendly fertilizer contains 4-8 times more humus than cow dung or compost derived from plant debris. Its advantages include good moisture capacity, friability, compatibility with other types of organic fertilizers, no need to use significant energy inputs in the production and use. The ability to realize surplus products allows you to recoup costs and get a certain income.

Components for production of vermicompost

Before starting production of biohumus at home, you should prepare a substrate for the vermicompost and the necessary inventory items. Substrate composition includes:

1. Overripe cow dung and chicken droppings.
2. Plant of plant in fermented (silage) or dried up form (hay).
3. Vegetable cleaning, the remains of unused products.
4. Overbid sawdust, foliage of trees.
5. Peat and lime (2% of the total weight of the mixture) to improve the quality of the vermicompost.

California worms are also needed for biohumus, the function of which is the processing of the nutrient mixture. As an inventory, you need boxes of wooden planks or plastic, a spatula for a set of substrates, a sieve with cells 2 mm in diameter.

Features of cultivation of Californian worms

California worms outwardly hardly differ from ordinary rainworms. But the processing of organic substances in a form convenient for mastering plants, they carry out much faster. When using them, you can get ready fertilizer after 1-1,5 weeks. The cost of one individual varies in different regions of the country: from 25 kopecks to 1 ruble. The following rules should be observed, using for preparation of biohumus Californian worms :

• Breeding at home requires maintaining certain temperature values. Its lower limit should not be below + 4 ° C, and the upper limit - above 40 ° C. Lower and higher values can lead to the death of biological material.
• In winter, worms are placed in containers with a nutrient substrate and brought into a room with the necessary air temperature or covered with a warming material. It ensures the free flow of air into the soil mixture.
• For normal activity of this species of invertebrates, it is necessary to maintain the humidity of the compost pile at the level of 70-80% by regular irrigation with water in hot weather. In addition, they should be protected from direct sun rays by placement in the shade.

To prevent the death of Californian worms in severe frosts will allow covering the place of their maintenance with the arrival of autumn by a layer of compost with a thickness of 40 cm or more. After the fall of snow additional protection will ensure the warming of the mound with a thick snow cover.

Preparation of nutrient substrate

Production of biohumus at home requires special preparation of the substrate before launching worms into it. First, a wooden box, a plastic container or a groove in the ground is prepared. It is recommended that their depth is from 70 to 100 cm. To prevent the penetration of technological worms beyond the pit, it is possible to trim its bottom and walls with any kind of natural material.

Then a mixture is put into the tank or pit, prepared from well-repaired manure, ripe compost, prehistoric plant tops, food waste. The substrate must be ripe. To do this, it is allowed to stand the necessary time, regularly moisturizing with warm water and stirring every 2-3 days. First, under the influence of the processes passing through the mixture, the temperature rises to 40-50 ° C. At the end of the fermentation of components, its values are reduced and remain stable.

Vermiculture technology

When the substrate completely ripens, Californian worms are launched into it . Breeding at home allows you to get them in sufficient quantities for the desired volume of the mixture. The bookmark rate is 700-1500 pieces per cubic meter of substrate. Determine the suitability of the mixture for triggering worms by placing 50 individuals first. If they feel good, add the rest, evenly spreading over the surface of the substrate.

The acidity of the prepared mixture should be in the range of 6-8 points. Periodical gentle loosening will provide free access to the inner layers of air necessary for the breathing of worms. Regular irrigation with standing water, heated to 20 ° C, will create a fairly humid environment. To maintain the optimum temperature and humidity of the substrate, the container is covered with a layer of straw.

Harvesting a vermicompost

During the first 1-2 months, worms adapt to the new environment. Then they begin to actively multiply and process the components of the mixture into biohumus. Every 10 days, additional feeding of the nutrient substrate is necessary as a fertilizing. After 3-4 months, you need to check the number of worms. If it has significantly increased, you can proceed to their separation and use of the ready-made fertilizer for the intended purpose.

There are 2 ways to release vermicompost from the worms in it. In one of them, sieving of the substrate through a sieve is used. Worms are transferred to another container. In the second method, the addition of fertilizing is delayed for several days. Then add a new portion of the substrate to the surface of the box. When hungry worms rise up, they make their separation with moving to another place.

Application of a vermicompost

The production of biohumus at home is a definite benefit. It can be used not only to fertilize the garden or country plot, but also to realize it. Reduce the cost of obtaining this environmentally friendly and highly effective material will allow the presence of pets that provide the technological process with sufficient quantities of manure.

Surplus vermicompost can be sold to neighbors in the country, farmers. With a significant volume of production - on the market or wholesale lots in its own online store. Worms can be claimed by farms engaged in the cultivation of fish or poultry. In order to sell biohumus, the price for 1 kg of which varies from 10 to 20 rubles, it should be offered to potential customers in a convenient packaging.

Packing of products

In dry form, the vermicompost is packed in polyethylene bags. In the production of liquid humus in concentrated form, the optimal option is bottling in plastic bottles. Like the widely used "Em" preparations, they contain many useful soil microorganisms that improve the fertility of the soil and ensure the production of high yields by the most environmentally friendly methods.

When packing in bags, it is necessary to weigh biohumus. The price for 1 kg can be indicated on the label or can not be stamped for bulk sales of the material. The cost of goods in different regions is significantly different. Just like the liquid preparations "Em", it is desirable that the packaged vermicompost contains an instruction with a description of the properties of the material and the rules for its application.

Instructions for use

Vermikompost is in demand not only for growing fruit and vegetable crops. It is widely used in floriculture, to restore the depleted and lost its natural properties of soil. It can also be used to reduce the number of harmful insects, since the microorganisms included in the preparation are capable of splitting the chitin of their outer skeleton.

In what quantities and how best to use biohumus - the instructions detail all the issues that arise when using fertilizer. The time of its introduction into the soil is not limited. The drug is characterized by prolonged action, giving good results for several years. Concentrated biohumus is diluted threefold. It is recommended to add it to water when watering plants and spraying trees.

Application Features

The preparation is used for preparing soil mixtures. Biohumus for seedlings is especially useful. It is enough to add 1 part of the funds to 3-5 parts of peat. Before planting grown plants in the ground, add about 150 g of fertilizer to the wells, mixing with the soil. The planted bushes are watered abundantly, and the soil surface around the seedling is mulched with a small layer of biohumus.

Protect plants from damage by insect pests by introducing the product into the soil or by surface treatment of their vegetative parts with its aqueous solution. A good effect is the regular feeding of vegetable crops, trees, bushes, flowers. For this purpose, it is sufficient to apply 0.5 kg of biohumus per 1 m ² to the plants every 30 days.

Using a vermicompost for soil restoration

Biohumus quickly increases the nutrient content of the soil, supplementing it with a complex of substances necessary for the good development of plants. The soil microorganisms contained in it promote the transformation of plant and animal residues into easily digestible compounds.

Adding biohumus to the ground, which lost fertility due to the excessive introduction of chemical preparations, increases the content of useful elements in it, improves the structure of the soil, neutralizes the increased acidity. This allows you to create an environment in which earthworms involved in the formation of a fertile soil layer are able to inhabit. The increase in the concentration of humus most directly affects the quantity and quality of the yield.