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Horse Manure as soil additive
Horse Manure as soil additive
Posted by Tina E
from Ind
on 2001-03-23 17:25:27
five acre lot in northwest Indiana,
zone 5. As the soil on my lot is quite
poor (sandy-low organic matter), I
would like to use the large volume of
manure that they generate to enrich the
soil. Do I have to compost the poop
first at this time of year before
applying it to the garden? Any advise
out there?
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Horse Manure as Additive
Horsemanure is great stuff in the
Posted by Byron from 4a/5 on 2001-03-23 17:32:43
garden.
BUT it really should be composted for a
year. Just pile it up and let it rot.
Haveing been involed with horses, I can
tellyou that fresh from the horse
manure will not burn a thing, Rest of
the worlds critters do.
2 problems.
1. There are a lot of undigested seeds
in horsemanure.
2. Most horse folks use sawdust or
shavings for bedding, When wood
products rot down they "Lockup"
nitrogen in the soil.
It is great stuff if composted for a
year.
Byron
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Horse Manure as Additive
All you will need to do is pile it with
Posted by Jeff from OH on 2001-03-23 17:31:16
the used bedding and it'll compost. You
do run the risk of having two much
nitrogen and may need a suplemental
source of high carbon materials (saw
dust, leaves, straw ect.) I also
believe most people would suggest you
let it compost at least a year before
directly appling to a garden.
A local horse farm here directly
spreads the maneur on an unused
pasture. The soil is really good there.
But field grass is a tougher plant than
a tomato
Hope this helps
Jeff
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Horse Manure as Additive
I don't have vast experience on the
Posted by Tom from SC on 2001-03-23 17:30:07
subject yet since I've only been
gardening 2 years now. BUT, the first
year I was over run with weeds and
decided never again. I found an endless
supply of horse manure and used it last
year as a mulch. I started late in the
game and didn't have anytime to let it
compost. I applied it as a mulch on the
plants and in the paths even as it was
still steaming and had a strong ammonia
smell. I made sure to water (spray)
thoroughly after applying and
everything worked fine. I've now gotten
ahead of the situation and allow
several months composting time which is
the prefered option. If you're adding
now and planting greater than a couple
of weeks from now I'd say go ahead, you
may tie up nitrogen and need to
supplement.
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Horse Manure as Additive
Composting that manure would be better
Posted by Kimm from MI on 2001-03-23 17:28:50
to help eliminate the problem Tom talks
about with weeds and the ammonia smell
(that's nitrogen loss) and to provide a
more balanced nutrient load for the
soil than just applying the manure
would. Using manure only is similar to
you going on a high protein / low
carbohydrate diet, not very healthy in
the long term.
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Horse Manure as Additive
If you use it directly on the garden,
Posted by Karen from Mi on 2001-03-23 17:26:49
it could burn existing plants. The best
time to put it on is in the fall, mixed
with leaf litter. Otherwise, I would
compost it for a year first. It should
amend your soil quite fast, but you
have to continue to add organic matter
at least in Spring and Fall for a
couple of years before you get the soil
you want. ALso, if you are using it
direct, you should have your soil
tested. You may over fertilize, which
is just as bad as not fertilizing
because of the Nitrogen leeching.
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Horse Manure Info
Posted by RB from on 2001-03-26 20:24:46
Here's the best info I've read on horse manure to date. Type in www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/agf-fact/0212.html
Good luck.
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