Compost Column Essay, Research Paper

?Compost Column?

The purpose of this project was to make a comparison of two different columns using different ingredients.

I made a hypothesis that two columns would decompose at a slow rate depending on the environment, heat, water, air etc. And at the end I would end up with soil in both the columns.

I used several ingredients in the making of my column; I used leaves, grass clippings (fresh), and pawn water. To make the column I followed the attached instructions.

Equipment used: Scratch awl, triple beam balance, P.H. tester, stirring stick, scissors and knives.

For results refer to calendar attached.

Differences in temperature, light and moisture had a major effect on the column. If I had too much water it would kill the microbes, If I had too little it would kill the microbes, so it was important to keep it as wet as a rung out sponge. If the temp. Was too high it would dry out and I would have to add more pond water to the column to keep it stable. If it had had any light it probably would have dried out faster but also would have given it heat to help to microbes grow.

Bad odors also occurred from rotting grass, which produced an ammonia smell.

During decomposition I predict the grass, and leaves will form into soil by decaying, and maybe there might be some fruit flies.

The outcome was somewhat successful, there was some decomposition of the columns and I ended up with a quarter soil and 3 quarters still decaying material. It was not exactly as I predicted but it did show some relation to my hypotheses, there was some decomposition and heat and water did make a difference.

I made several mistakes during this project, that may have resulted to the column not fully decomposing. I did not put the same number of air holes in both the columns to increase the air flow, did not put the exact same amount of ingredients, and the grass dried out before I could get all of the ingredients in the column.