Compost Carbon Fertilisers has combined microbial fertiliser technology with organic wastes to develop a range of dry fertilisers that:
- Enhance sustainability by recycling organic nutrient sources
- Deliver a more comprehensive nutrient package
- Mitigate against nutrient leaching
- Enhance soil structure
- Replenishe soil organic carbon
Many people think of compost as a source of enzymes, hormones and plant growth promoting materials. While those materials are important, they do not maintain their efficacy for long in soil nor in compost.
Enzymes, hormones and plant growth-promoting materials are created by the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and micro arthropods that make up the soil food web. What you want to be adding to your soil is the correct biology to ensure the ongoing creation of enzymes or hormones that your plants need to thrive.
If you are growing plants in soils where the biology is not in a balanced state, you can only achieve plant growth by using agrichemicals to overcome the diseases that attack stressed plants; and by using fertilisers to feed the plants the inorganic nutrients they need.
Plants depend on beneficial micro-organisms to:
- protect them from pathogens
- retain nutrients in the soil so they do not leach from the root zone
- cycle nutrients into plant available forms (mycorrhizal fungi do this)
- improve uptake of soil and/or foliar nutrients
- build passageways that enable air and water to penetrate deep into the soil for plant roots to grow — enabling them to obtain water and nutrients all year long, regardless of drought.
If the organisms that perform these key functions are missing, they need to be replaced.
Compost biology
Compost organisms perform a number of important processes during composting. But their relevance doesn’t stop there – those same organisms survive and live in soil, on leaf surfaces, and around roots, leaves, stems, blossoms, etc. and create a protective layer.
Bacteria and fungi – retain nutrients in the compost and ultimately in your soil.
Protozoa and nematodes – mineralise the retained nutrients held by the bacteria and fungi. In compost, these mineralised nutrients serve to help other organisms grow and utilize the carbon sources in the organic matter put into the compost pile.
Bacteria and fungi build micro and macro-masses in the compost while the protozoa and nematodes help build the larger pores in the compost. Air passageways and water infiltration hallways are built by these organisms.