Van kombuisafval tot tuin-wonderkos (Agri Monitor)

’n Groen revolusie in tuinbou
Rooi erdwurms breek organiese materiaal af deur dit te vreet en dit in 'n ryk, voedsame kompos te omskep.
Elvira Hattingh
Belangstelling in vermikompos is wêreldwyd besig om teen ’n vinnige pas te groei in mense se soeke na meer volhoubare en omgewingsvriendelike landboupraktyke.

Vermikompos is ’n goeie opsie – ’n ryk, organies-gebaseerde soort bemesting wat deur erdwurms geproduseer word en uit afvalmateriaal soos bees-, perde- of skaapmis, plantmateriaal en selfs kombuisafval geskep word.

Rooi erdwurms, plaaslik bekend as rooi wibbelwurms (red wigglers) of tierwurms (tiger worms) word hiervoor ingespan. Die wurms breek organiese materiaal af deur dit te vreet en dit in ’n ryk, voedsame kompos te omskep.

VOORDELE

Vermikompos is ’n uitstekende bron van organiese bemesting vir plante. Dit is ryk aan voedingstowwe soos stikstof, fosfor, kalium en verskeie mikro-elemente. Hierdie voedingstowwe bevorder plantgesondheid en verbeter die grondstruktuur.

Die organiese materiaal in vermikompos verbeter ook die vrugbaarheid van grond deur die tekstuur daarvan te verbeter. Dit help grond om water beter te laat deurvloei en te versprei, verminder erosie en help die grond terselfdertyd om water beter te behou.

Vermikompos kan ook help teen vermorsing. Terwyl organiese afval uit kombuise en restaurante gebruik kan word om die erdwurms te voer, kan dit ook op groter skaal gedoen word deur tuinafval, veldgras en mis uit bees- of skaapkrale en selfs papier te benut.

In teenstelling met sommige ander bemestingprodukte wat chemiese stowwe kan bevat, is vermikompos ’n natuurlike produk wat bydra tot die bewaring van die omgewing en gesonder produksie.

Die teenwoordigheid van erdwurms in die tuin bevorder gesonde mikrobiologiese lewe in die grond. Hierdie wurms lok ook ander organismes, wat ’n positiewe invloed op die tuin se biodiversiteit kan hê.

Daarbenewens verhoog dit die produktiwiteit van plante op ’n soortgelyke manier was wat chemiese kunsmis sou, maar sonder die gepaardgaande nadele.

BEGIN

Alhoewel erdwurms tans nie volop is nie, is dit tog by sekere verskaffers beskikbaar. Sou jy hiervan in die hande kon kry, is dit maklik om jou eie vermikompos te maak.

Vir ’n groentetuin in jou erf het jy niks meer as ’n geskikte komposbak, wurms en ’n mengsel van organiese materiaal nodig nie. Groenteafval, koffiekorrels, blare, mis en karton is uitstekend vir die beginfase.

Erdwurms hou ook van nat toestande en wil in ’n omgewing woon wat minstens 80% vog bevat. Hou die wurms en hul kos klam, maar nie sopnat nie.

Bronne: Universiteit van Hawaii, urbanwormcompany.com en National Institutes of Health.

[email protected]

Comments

Namibian Sun 2024-11-05

No comments have been left on this article

Please login to leave a comment

Premier League: Fulham 2 vs 1 Brentford | Manchester United 1 vs 1 Chelsea | Tottenham Hotspur 4 vs 1 Aston Villa | Wolves 2 vs 2 Crystal Palace | Southampton 1 vs 0 Everton | Nottingham Forest 3 vs 0 West Ham | Liverpool 2 vs 1 Brighton | Ipswich Town 1 vs 1 Leicester City | Bournemouth 2 vs 1 Manchester City | Newcastle 1 vs 0 Arsenal Katima Mulilo: 22° | 38° Rundu: 22° | 36° Eenhana: 20° | 36° Oshakati: 21° | 35° Ruacana: 20° | 36° Tsumeb: 24° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 33° Omaruru: 19° | 35° Windhoek: 17° | 33° Gobabis: 16° | 35° Henties Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 05:12, Low Tide: 23:16, High tide: 17:15 Swakopmund: 14° | 15° Wind speed: 18km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 10:50, High tide: 05:10, Low Tide: 23:14, High tide: 17:13 Walvis Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 10:50, High tide: 05:09, Low Tide: 23:14, High tide: 17:12 Rehoboth: 15° | 35° Mariental: 14° | 35° Keetmanshoop: 13° | 33° Aranos: 14° | 36° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 10° | 30° Oranjemund: 15° | 31° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 19° | 36° Lubumbashi: 17° | 32° Mbabane: 12° | 22° Maseru: 6° | 26° Antananarivo: 17° | 28° Lilongwe: 24° | 33° Maputo: 18° | 26° Windhoek: 17° | 33° Cape Town: 13° | 22° Durban: 15° | 20° Johannesburg: 16° | 29° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 21° | 35° Harare: 19° | 31° Currency: GBP to NAD 22.61 | EUR to NAD 19 | CNY to NAD 2.45 | USD to NAD 17.44 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.26 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.13 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.64 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 132.76 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.33 | USD to EGP 49.07 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1664.36 | USD to ZAR 17.45 | USD to ZMW 26.95 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1876.57 Up +0.49% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14300.12 Up +0.21% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30650.04 Down -0.59% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9845.11 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 737.56/OZ UP +0.05% | Copper US$ 4.46/lb UP +1.11% | Zinc US$ 3 097.80/T UP 1.79% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 76.20/BBP UP +0.81% | Platinum US$ 997.74/OZ UP +1.75% Sport results: Premier League: Fulham 2 vs 1 Brentford | Manchester United 1 vs 1 Chelsea | Tottenham Hotspur 4 vs 1 Aston Villa | Wolves 2 vs 2 Crystal Palace | Southampton 1 vs 0 Everton | Nottingham Forest 3 vs 0 West Ham | Liverpool 2 vs 1 Brighton | Ipswich Town 1 vs 1 Leicester City | Bournemouth 2 vs 1 Manchester City | Newcastle 1 vs 0 Arsenal Weather: Katima Mulilo: 22° | 38° Rundu: 22° | 36° Eenhana: 20° | 36° Oshakati: 21° | 35° Ruacana: 20° | 36° Tsumeb: 24° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 33° Omaruru: 19° | 35° Windhoek: 17° | 33° Gobabis: 16° | 35° Henties Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 05:12, Low Tide: 23:16, High tide: 17:15 Swakopmund: 14° | 15° Wind speed: 18km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 10:50, High tide: 05:10, Low Tide: 23:14, High tide: 17:13 Walvis Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 10:50, High tide: 05:09, Low Tide: 23:14, High tide: 17:12 Rehoboth: 15° | 35° Mariental: 14° | 35° Keetmanshoop: 13° | 33° Aranos: 14° | 36° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 10° | 30° Oranjemund: 15° | 31° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 19° | 36° Lubumbashi: 17° | 32° Mbabane: 12° | 22° Maseru: 6° | 26° Antananarivo: 17° | 28° Lilongwe: 24° | 33° Maputo: 18° | 26° Windhoek: 17° | 33° Cape Town: 13° | 22° Durban: 15° | 20° Johannesburg: 16° | 29° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 21° | 35° Harare: 19° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.61 | EUR to NAD 19 | CNY to NAD 2.45 | USD to NAD 17.44 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.26 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.13 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.64 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 132.76 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.33 | USD to EGP 49.07 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1664.36 | USD to ZAR 17.45 | USD to ZMW 26.95 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1876.57 Up +0.49% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14300.12 Up +0.21% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30650.04 Down -0.59% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9845.11 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 737.56/OZ UP +0.05% | Copper US$ 4.46/lb UP +1.11% | Zinc US$ 3 097.80/T UP 1.79% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 76.20/BBP UP +0.81% | Platinum US$ 997.74/OZ UP +1.75%