Author Topic: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?  (Read 1960 times)

woodypecks

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Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« on: January 07, 2019, 21:30:14 »
I have just been given a wheelbarrow full of beautiful horse manure  :blob7: Now please can someone tell me how I should store it and when I can use it please ?
 I have lots of old compost bags I could fill and keep it dry in ....or should I put it in a pile uncovered somewhere outside..does it need rain to wash through it ?
 I hoping that someone can give a good mini-lecture on what to do with fresh horse manure..that it might help others too .
               Thankyou   :coffee2: Debbie
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lezelle

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2019, 11:15:22 »
Hi woodypecks, With reference to your horse poo, I assume it's fresh,  if you have a compost heap I would mix it in with the veggie bits etc and leave it a good 6 months, I would not put it on the ground fresh as it will contain weed seeds and as I have found out to my cost they will spread for years. If you compost it some heat will build up and hopefully kill them off a bit. I get fresh horse poo and that is how I deal with it. You could also leave it in a pile to rot down, covered up of course and kept dry as the rain will wash out the goodness, but again leave it for 6 months. That's why I compost it along with veggie peeling some weed stuff,  a bit of shredded cardboard and newspaper etc. Hope that helps and good luck

woodypecks

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2019, 13:09:34 »
Aha ! Thankyou Lezelle ,Yes it is really ,really fresh ! I think I will try your second method .   :coffee2: Debbie  :wave:
 
Trespassers will be composted !

Tee Gee

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2019, 15:13:07 »
I know what you all say is by the book, but with horse manure I don't think the rotting down process is required!

Horse muck is generally quite fibrous rather than wet like say cattle or pig manure, so I tend to dig it in as soon as I get it and let the worms and bacteria do their stuff!

Added to this if you get it a few months before the ground is planted out the rotting process can be done in the soil and the winter weather can get at it and break it down, plus it acts as a sponge soaking up the melting snow/ice which  forms a good reservoir of moisture that suits young plants/seedlings. 

Even with the other types of manure I mentioned I like to get it into the soil fresh or not,while the soil is still relatively warm in autumn and let it rot down in the soil till planting out time.  Coincidentally this often the ' proverbial six months rotting down period that the experts say is needed!

Think of it this way:  If you do your digging in spring you are actually turning the cold soil on the surface to  the bottom, and the warmish soil to the top, meaning the soil is cold for a spit down (unless you are a no-dig wallah!) and it takes longer for the summer warmth to get down to where the tender young roots will be forming!

Another thing is if you plan on adding lime around your brassicas which should never be added at the same time as manure, you can do this in spring i.e. months after the manure has gone in....a win win situation i my opinion!

Now you can see that  I am not a gardener that always goes by the book!  :glasses9:


hippydave

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2019, 16:22:19 »
I do the same as Tee Gee add it this time of year and the dig in feb march time.
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ACE

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2019, 18:38:54 »
Just chuck it on the plot and spread it about, a wheelbarrow full is not going to do much harm anyway.

ACE

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2019, 18:44:46 »
Mine has been all spread and dug in now.

hippydave

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2019, 19:51:10 »
That looks very good muck.
you may be a king or a little street sweeper but sooner or later you dance with de reaper.

ancellsfarmer

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2019, 20:21:29 »
I have just been given a wheelbarrow full of beautiful horse manure  :blob7: Now please can someone tell me how I should store it and when I can use it please ?
 I have lots of old compost bags I could fill and keep it dry in ....or should I put it in a pile uncovered somewhere outside..does it need rain to wash through it ?
 I hoping that someone can give a good mini-lecture on what to do with fresh horse manure..that it might help others too .
               Thankyou   :coffee2: Debbie
First priority should be to go back ,like Oliver, and ask for more!
While you are there, gently ask if the horse owner or livery stabler knows whether the horse is fed from spray free hay and bedding.Beware aminopyralid contamination. Google 'aminopyralid' and use the search facility above for details.
Once you have made friends with the horse, enquire if there may be some older, possibly 2-3 year old heaps 'round the back'. Dig into these heaps and get the well rotten, weedfree material. Perhaps offer carrots 'in the summer' as a gift to show goodwill. Look out for bale twine, if its free, its valuable too!
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

woodypecks

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2019, 20:28:32 »
Thankyou ..yes I will check .....and hope to be getting  some more   :wave: Debbie  :coffee2:
Trespassers will be composted !

woodypecks

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2019, 20:38:00 »
Thanks TeeGee , Ace and Hippydave for your thoughts on this too .  So much to think about here .I had thought that it was too late for me to spread it onto the veg beds now (Jan 8th) and that it might scorch my plants ?
Trespassers will be composted !

Tee Gee

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2019, 20:38:15 »
Aminopyralid!!!! been there got the tee shirt!

See here

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/A/Aminopyralid/Aminopyralid.htm

galina

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2019, 18:00:26 »
Peanuts, if I remember right, grows all her winter squashes on horse manure without composting it first.  And her squashes are first class.  And I also agree, a wheelbarrow full is of no consequence whatever, just chuck it on now and winter and worms will do the rest.  :wave:

woodypecks

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2019, 09:58:55 »
...Galina ..... I wonder how thickly she lays it on though ?
         
                   Thanks everyone !  .....    I,m off to ask for ........" more ? !"   :toothy10:  Debbie
Trespassers will be composted !

galina

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #14 on: January 10, 2019, 10:57:31 »
I hope she can come on and tell you the exact ins and outs.  From memory it was quite a thick covering on top.  She said at the time that this goes against all advice, but it has nevertheless worked well for her for many years, for these greedy feeders.  :wave: 

Vinlander

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Re: Fresh Manure- how long to be able to use it and storage ?
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2019, 13:07:37 »
A while back I had some very "fresh" manure (lots of golden nuggets) but desperately needed to feed some plants & seedlings straight away.

I couldn't find anything on't'web to say that manure tea from fresh stuff was a problem - all that mattered was getting the concentration right so the nitrates don't "burn" seedlings.

A post on this forum came to the same conclusion so I erred on the side of making it too weak and it worked fine.

The fibrous/slimy leftovers went into potting on greedy stuff - because their concentration after being soaked was so low by then... They worked fine too.

Cheers.
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