What can I say. I love bromeliads They require little care. They grow in my sandy soil. They simply provide beauty with a variety of hues and shades.
The photo below was the first bromeliad I bought. The lower leaves turned brown and spotted and I thought it was dying but once it settled in and took root it has continued to grow.
A year ago I bought a rotating-drum compost bin from Loews. The frame soon weathered and fell apart leaving me to roll the drum around the yard – without much success in making compost. A month ago I set up a compost pile using one of the simple plastic bins provided free to any household that attends a compost-making session in Hillsborough County. I followed the directions as suggested by one of the master gardeners. (Read Make Compost Like Yoghurt).
I had enough hay and another bag of compost to set up another compost bin, but didn’t have another plastic bin and couldn’t find one to buy locally. I decided that the only function of the plastic compost bin was to hold the compost-making ingredients together, so I experimented with my own design. I used chicken wire to form the frame and then filled it with layers of hay and compost. Within 12 hours, the temperature was already almost 100 F, which is in the “steady active” range and means conditions are good for the microorganisms to break down the hay into compost.
Because the construction is so open, I will have to be careful so the outer layer doesn’t get too dry. A spray of water now and then will help to keep it just moist enough for the compost-forming process to continue.
The black plastic compost bin in the background was provided by Hillsborough County. The chicken-wire frame in the foreground is my design.
My compost pile is the envy of the neighborhood – or so the package that comes with the compost thermometer tells me. I set up a compost pile based on the directions of one of the highly successful vegetable gardeners in the Master Gardener program. His directions reminded me of making yoghurt which includes adding a spoonful of the best yoghurt to whole milk to produce the next batch of yoghurt. I told him that I don’t have any grass, so I don’t have enough materials to start a compost pile other than some vegetable scraps and coffee grounds. Although some people add shredded newspaper, I didn’t think that was a good idea since newspaper doesn’t have any nutrition in it. The purpose of a compost pile is to produce fertile soil to grow healthy plants. Starting a compost pile without much nutrition isn’t very productive and has never been successful for me.
He said to alternate layers of hay with compost. “Use compost to make compost?”, I asked. His answer was yes but to buy the cheapest brand available. A teacher friend helped me to find a bale of hay and I bought a cheap bag of compost. I alternated layers of hay with the compost in the plastic bin provided by the Hillsborough Extension Office compost workshops. The mixture just about filled the bin. As directed, I made sure the hay was damp but not soaking wet. I did the setup on Saturday and by Tuesday I could feel the heat coming from the pile although I didn’t measure the temperature until a week later. When I finally measured the temperature it was just above 140°F. Temperatures of 120-140°F are in the green and very active range, so being at the high end is extremely good and means there is a high rate of compost formation in the pile.
He also said that although modern advice says to turn, or mix, the compost to ensure the inner layers get enough oxygen, he never turns it and it always produces good results. In fact, he said that within 4 months that it will be reduced to a healthy and nutritious soil. He plants his vegetables directly in the resulting soil. Hopefully, my compost pile will be as productive as his since I plan to grow my tomatoes in it next spring. Maybe everyone in the neighborhood will envy my tomatoes as much as they envy my compost pile.
