We started by finding small chips of charcoal from the kitchens, and then we put the smallest wood chips which we found near the KCCEM road where the saw milling activity has taken place.  And then we made a mixture of those chips of wood and charcoal, ready for the orchids to be potted into.

The importances of each components that are used to make compost

• wood chips: it play good role in holding water near the roots of orchid,
  facilitate aeration into the pot because the orchid does not like the compacted root zone

• charcoals: it play  role of providing the carbon content to the orchid,
  charcoals also have the capacity to absorb water and be kept at long time to be used by orchid, charcoals also play the role of controlling the pests including the mites ,termites, and aphids

Not only those components are used for planting the orchids but also there others like chips of erthrina abyssinica is its common  name (red bean trees) its kinyarwanda name is UMUKO belonging in fabaceae family which is an indigenous species in Rwanda.

by

Jean luc NSENGIYUMVA

Pascal SHYAKA

Jean Claude NTWARI

Emmanuel NTAWUZIRYAYO

Jean Pierre NDAGIJIMANA