Topic: Sowing seed potatoes +chitting+horse manure?

[scotch-mist]

Thought I'd make the most of this thread, ;D

1st question:when chitting seed potatoes,
what length does the shoots have to be before planting?

2nd question: do I sow first earlies and mane crop at the same time?
and just pull at differant times?

3rd question:how do I get fresh horse manure into well rotted?

I have been offered as much fresh horse manure as I want(Free)
The only snag is I transport it myself! :o 

I can also have well rotted but they only have a trailer load. ;D ;D ;D
 would be very grateful for any help.      Thanks

[windygale]

Hi SCOTH-MIST, hope this helps,
chitting will take about six weeks and you should start around february,  the lenght of shoots on potatoes when planting chitted should be around 1inch (25cm) and dark green,
northern areas do not plant out untill mid april, so adjust your time's

early's sow in feb/march   harvest in june
main    sow in april/may    harvest in october

how to make well rotted manure, leave it for around three years, keep turning it every six months, but the longer you keep it the better it gets,

get the well rotted in one heapbin then start filling up otherbins for the following years,
all the best
windy

[sandersj89]

Depending on location Feb/March may be a bit early to get spuds in the ground. The date of your last frost is important, especially if you cant get out to the plot in the evening if a frost is forecast and the leaves are showing as they can be nipped back by frost.

Even here in Sussex I wont be putting any in the ground until April probably as I am on heavy soil and in a bit of a frost pocket.

For the manure the rotting times will vary depending on the bedding material. If the horses are bedded on wood shavings it can take 2 or 3 years but if on hemp or straw then it will breakdown in a year. Hemp is the quickest to breakdown.

You can still use fresh though, it is ideal to make a hot bed for instance.

HTH

Jerry

[Hyacinth]

3rd question:how do I get fresh horse manure into well rotted?

I have been offered as much fresh horse manure as I want(Free)
The only snag is I transport it myself! :o 

You're not thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing with our syndicated horse's waste products, are you, SM?  I've heard of horse rustling, but this...... :o ;D ;D

Thank you v. much for asking the q. re: chitting, and thanks, Windy, for the reply. I'm having a bash at growing different tats this year &  Misty's asked all the right questions for me, too. - Lishka

[scotch-mist]

Yup Alishka, fraid so,needs must, :-[

Its not so bad, I have a hose in the yard  ;D

And OH can run me a hot bath afterwards with lots of nice smellies in ;)

The worst thing is the thought of it YUK! :(

But, I'll get over it (and hopefully not in it!)

If you like I'll post you some for your lottie???? ;D ;D ;D

[Hyacinth]

 ;D ;D ;D

[Linda32]

Thanks for asking the question and the answers, I wanted to know that as well  ;D

[Jitterbug]

Thanks for all the good advice.  Ahem.... just thought that I would point out that 1inch = 2.5cms (not 25 cms) - the poor women would have a whole potato plant going there before planting it out.  ;D

[grawrc]

I'm intending to get first earlies at least in this month (in Scotland) but I'm planting deep, protecting with fleece and will be there every few days to ensure they are well earthed up till April when our "normal" last frosts are.

[scotch-mist]

Thanks for the advice everyone, ;D

Sandersj89 and Grawrc, the way its snowing here I'll be lucky to get firsts in before Xmas  :(

Jitterbug , don't worry about the cm's thing I can only count in real money  ;),  I didn't notice as I was looking at inches,

UPDATE:
After scrounging the free horse manure, a cocky local farmer has informed me that this is notgood manure to use as it will produce "chicken weed?" and I would be better using cow dung.

What is that?
Is there such a thing?

[Robert_Brenchley]

It appears to be a Caribbean weed, if an internet search is anything to go by. Presumably he means a homegrown weed of some sort.

[mat]

he isn't by any chance a cow farmer with muck to get rid of by any chance?  :o

Chicken weed could be referring to two things in my mind:
1) Horses are the least efficient in using nutients in their feed (hence the nutrients and heat in the manure)  Some people believe undigested feed can occur, hence I think "chicken weed" is referring to growth of barley, etc, from undigested grains.  However we do not feed whole barley, etc to horses nowadays; it is crushed.  Generally oats are crushed too before being fed.
2) There IS a risk of "chicken weed" if horses are housed on straw, as there is a risk of grains still being present (if the horse hasn;t found them and eaten them!) which could be transferred to the muck heap.  However, I think the risk of this (very low) and the time to hoe out any unwanted plants (very easy to pull out cereal plants) is offset by the benefit of horse manure

Oh, and I havn't had any chicken weed in any muck piles I have had/seen  ;)

I did have the NPK values of all types of farm manure, but cannot find it at the moment.  You may find something similar on the NET.  cattle manure is very good, but wet and cold to handle.  If you have a good source of it, use it.

I hope this makes sense....
mat

[myrtle]

I'm planting my 1st earlies today 'cause the forecast is good for next week down here, warming up and rain!! Shan't get a chance for at least another fortnight else.

I was wondering about cow manure, my hubby rang me from work a couple of weeks ago huffing and puffing down the phone and when I asked what he was doing he said he was picking up cowpats from the field and putting them in a sack for me while waiting for a tanker to arrive. I've put some shredded paper in with it and shall leave it to rot down.  Do you reckon 12 months will be enough?  Or could I perhaps bury it in the hole for my pumpkins as a sort of hotbed?

[Alimo]

I'd go for the hot bed for squashes/pumpkins.. ;D

Alison

[keef]

Just out of interest, Is chicken weed the same as fat hen?

[sandersj89]

No, fat hen is a lant that can make it as high as 3 or 4 feet tall:

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/fathen.JPG

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/assets/organicweeds/fat_hen2.jpg

It flowers late summer and then spreads seeds. It also has a distinctive smell and I belive the Germans use it as a herb but not 100% sure.

Chickweed is a ground hugging plant that grows pretty much 12 months a year in the south with small white flowers.

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/chickweed.JPG

HTH

Jerry

[Wicker]

Chickweed grows here (Central Scotland) pretty well 12 months of the year too!!  A lot of people dig it in as green manure but I don't - pull it when I see it and make sure it doesn't flower and reseed itself!  Believe that hens love it freshly pulled but I can't have hens on our site :(

We used to be able to get cow manure and it was fine but not available to us now - not keen on horse dung unless really well rotted down.

[tim]

Why??

Know nothing about this, but -

1. Horse has less weeds than cow?

2. Horse in shavings is fine after 2 years.

3. Horse on hay/straw - surely no difference from cow?

4. Chickweed? No problem ever - just turn it in. You have far more weed seeds in the ground than you'll ever put in yourself.

5. NPK of any 'farm muck'? Forget it! It's humus.

E&OE!!

[supersprout]

Or just count your blessings if you get the chickweed?

This friendly herb is among the few plants possessing a rich copper content which makes it a highly beneficial cress in the diet of man, beast and bird ... it was hawked through the streets of London, sold in bundles to make salads, to be cooked as a tender vegetable, or to make the effective poultices for curing abcesses and carbuncles. It was infused into a tea used as a soothing eye lotion, or to be drunk to comfort troubled stomachs, or to slim fat citizens

Audrey Wynne Hatfield, How to enjoy your Weeds

 ;D ;D ;D

[grawrc]

It grows better than anything I plant so it's a d**n weed. ;D ;D