how long to rot ?

[silverback]

Just a quick question.

How long does it take for manure to rot before it is safe to ut on beds ?

P.s. mixed with straw

Any help would be appreciated.

[silverback]

[krisali]

I'm so glad that you posted this question and I so need to know the answer.  The 'old man' down my site, yes, he who says that worms don't like onions and leeks  :-\  reckons that it takes a year to break down.

I collected 10 barrows full yesterday.  I sat down with a cuppa afterwards and watched the steam coming off the top of the pile.  I have to say that it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, I just felt so happy.  I admit that I am a bit weird like that , though  :-[

Ali x

[loulou]

i hope this helps you  i found it on the internet to day whilst looking for my self

How to Know When Compost Is Ready for Use
The composting process begins as soon as you begin to pile up your manure. Almost immediately, microorganisms begin their work and temperature increases are often noticeable within a few hours of forming the pile. With adequate airflow and moisture the pile's temperature should increase rapidly to 120°F-160°F and may remain in this range for several weeks. As active composting slows, temperatures gradually drop to around 100°F and then to ambient air temperature. Compost should "cure" for at least a couple of weeks before use. Finished compost is a crumbly, evenly textured, earthy-smelling, dark material that looks like a commercial potting soil mixture. It will probably take about one to three months for each pile to compost during the summer and about three to six months in the winter. If you monitor your piles with a thermometer you will see a gradual drop in the higher "active" composting temperatures as it begins the curing process and becomes ready for use.

[Roy Bham UK]

I had a pile delivered about this time last year, about a month or so later I put some under my spuds and runner beans and had a bumper crop. A year on and I still have some left and it is black now and at its best. ;)

[sandersj89]

Straw based manure will age enough in 6 months to start using, especially as Roy has done under runners and the like. Ideally leaving it for a year will turn it into a rich dark near odourless black gold.

Wood shaving based manure will take longer to breakdown.

If at all worried leave both until you cannot see the straw or shavings.

If storing manure for any length of time it is best to cover it with a tarp to stop rain water leaching nutrients out.

HTH

Jerry

[froglets]

I know it rots quicker if you have one big heap, but I bag the stuff up so I can transport it in the car. I have been using soem of the bags stacked around my expensive potted plants waiting to go into the ground in spring, as it helps stop the roots from freezing.  It still composts down if a bit more slowly & acts as a luxury hotel for all the worms through the winter.

Feel a bit silly as I always relocate the stray worms if I have to move bags, but worms is valuable.

[keef]

Is it cows or osse's. Cow's can be used straight away really. I'd leave osse's at least year, ie get it in late autum keep it all year (covered) for digging in the following winter.

[pakaba]

hi
I know this is a silly question :P, but how do you get hold of it?  I got the alloment last june and asked around but no-one seemed to use it, only this barley stuff, so I was just wondering how you go about getting hold of the stuff.

Pakaba

[Roy Bham UK]

hi
I know this is a silly question :P, but how do you get hold of it?  I got the alloment last june and asked around but no-one seemed to use it, only this barley stuff, so I was just wondering how you go about getting hold of the stuff.

Pakaba

Check out your nearest Farm and call in or phone if you have a number ;)

[keef]

hi
I know this is a silly question :P, but how do you get hold of it?  I got the alloment last june and asked around but no-one seemed to use it, only this barley stuff, so I was just wondering how you go about getting hold of the stuff.

Pakaba

Check your local freeads or adtrader.

[Doris_Pinks]

Local stables/riding schools?

[froglets]

Keep your eyes peeled for small hand scrawled signs outside houses down lanes or farms, for horsey anyway.

[bupster]

Not having a car makes life very difficult with this sort of thing. Does anyone have a horse that would like to come and live on my allotment for a bit?  :)

[growmore]

It gives You a feeling of well being seeing a pile of Manure Steaming on your Lotty .
So if Your weird Krisali theres a few of us about...

I have used fairly fresh manure under Tatties with good results ...Also used it fairly fresh as a mulch with no probs...But if You want it black and friable as to sieve it to sow seeds or to put in your tomato buckets etc, it will take a few months ..
You can speed it up by using an activator cheers .Jim

[silverback]

Thanks for all info it was all useful.

I've been stockpiling it from the local stables my wife is always complaning i stink of horse.

She wont complain when the garden does well next year fingers crossed.

[allanwoolley]

Obviously a large heap of year old compost is the ideal but if you find yourself depleted of such perfection I wonder if it is such a bad idea to heap up your manure like now and either dig it in before sowing in March or use later in the season as a mulch.   I realise the theory is that unrotted manure actually draws the existing nitrogen from the soil in order for the rotting process to function, but surely in terms of logic if you bolster the soil in this way in a 'year on year' basis you must achieve an on-gong balance in terms of how much nitrogen is in there.   Burning of the roots with less than well-rotted manure seems to be at odds with the old idea of placing a bag of the fresh stuff in a barrel of water and using as a liquid feed!   After all that is just what the rain washes down from your mulch to your roots.

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's the actual contact with unrotted manure, not contact with diluted liquid, which does the damage. I don't think decent manure is going to deplete nitrogen, it's more the woody stuff which does that.