In a past YouTube video I discussed having an automated compost heap complete with heating, watering, and moisture detection. After a bit of research and trial and error, I’ve found a much better way to build the automated compost so that its better looking and more practical for an automated system.
The Soil
The soil will be low quality store bought soil of the lowest grade and quality. The point is to demonstrate that poor soil can be enriched as you decompose food items into it, aerate it, and water the soil when its dry. After a period of about two months the originally bad soil will be transformed into better soil, after five months of treatment I expect the soil to be ready for planting as the proper amount of nutrients have been added.
Worms are a cornerstone of the entire system as they help decompose the food items as well as add nutrients via their excrement, which is sold in stores as an expensive natural soil fertilizer. The tunnels they dig as they move throughout the compost ensures air is delivered to all depths of the compost heap & further aids the decomposition process. I buy all of my worms from Rainbow Mealworms and have had them for over six months now much to my delight. When I first got them in the mail I didn’t expect them to do very well and thought that after about a month or two the worm colony would collapse. Much to my surprise they were absolutely flourishing and vastly exceeded my expectations, leading me to want to buy a second colony to boost the colony numbers.
Boosting the soil nutrient density requires I layer the compost with alternating layers of green food items which include all fruits and vegetables and brown biodegradable material such as paper bags, straw &/or ink free paper. Greens are rich in nitrogen and other nutrients required for proper pl[ant growth & health while brown items are great carbon sources that ensure the compost heap doesn’t smell. I’ve had the misfortune when first starting out to have all greens buried in the soil only to find the center of the compost smelling nothing short of a stomach. The smell was powerful and acidic as if it would burn your nose hairs. The smell was simply unholy and was not of God. I nearly puked smelling it and quickly realized that not having a carbon source was a very bad idea. The smell didn’t leak outside the storage container, but it was still pretty bad.
A great source of nitrogen is found in coffee grounds, so to go above and beyond I suggest you contact you local Starbuck’s & request they save their coffee grounds throughout the day. I’d call several local locations the second they open and make sure to contact their manager and have them take down my name and number. Its free of charge and saturates the soil with nutrients for bacteria to break down as they will be breaking down the food in tandem with the worms. Layer the compost with soil- browns- soil- greens- soil- coffee grounds and repeat until the soil reaches a desired level.
Microcontroller Settings
The micro controller is the system brains and is able to process data while also monitoring and responding to changes in its environment via sensors. There will be two systems working together to deliver water, the compost micro controller and the reservoir micro controller. The following features will be part of the completed system:
Compost Microcontroller
- Monitor compost soil moisture
- Open communication with the water reservoir and request / stop water flow as needed.
- Activate alarm every thirty (30) days as a reminder to restock compost materials.
- Monitor ambient compost air temperature & activate heaters when temperature is too low.
- Log temperature, moisture, & calendar settings periodically for analysis.
Reservoir Microcontroller
- Monitor all incoming signals and deliver water to necessary systems
- Filter & sterilize water for long term storage to mitigate risk of bacteria buildup.
- Monitor water levels & halt all operations if levels are below sustainable limits.
In the next post I’ll show all the required materials and how to make the water reservoirs and microcontroller. Stay tuned on my YouTube as well as this website!