Allotments 4 All

I have just emptied my one year old compost heap onto my raised beds.    Will this compost do the same work as manure, or are there different nutrients in each?

I think compost is better than manure as it has more variety of nutrients in it ?

Although I am aware that there are some nutrients in both home made compost and farm yard manure I tend to ignore this because the quantities are so variable.

I look upon them as soil conditioners and not feeding.

I would hate to rely upon their nutrient content and find later on in the season that my plants have starved because of insufficient nutrients.

To ensure fertiliser availability, I top dress with a general fertiliser such as; fish,blood & bone.

In this way I find that have never the need to feed my crops again all season.

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Slide%20Shows/Soil%20preparation%20ss/soil%20preparation%20ss.html

But there are other I am sure who will have a different opinion on this subject.

I think that there are different nutrients in each - obviously the compost has a lot of different components whereas manure is made either from grass/hay/feed which is fed to animals!

I use manure in the compost heap as an accelerant along with seaweed which is also an accelerant along with shredded paper, all vegetable waste tea bags etc grass clippings - the whole works really!!!

Some manure is mixed with wood chippings which can remove nitrogen from the soil if they aren't properly rotted down - whereas with straw bedded manure you may get seeds from the straw.

So - no real answer - probably depends on where you get it from! I am not using manure this year except via the compost heap!.

Old Bird

;D

Thanks for the replies.