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My veg garden in in a terrible state, all the rain has probably leached most of the nutrients out. I have not got much home made compost and I don't trust the local manure due to axy thingymijig. Would a few tubs of chicken manure do the trick (the kind sold at garden centres in pellets). When would be the best time to treat my plot? I'm a bit old to be double digging it in could I just sprinkle it on the soil.

There is no point putting any chicken manure on soil now...chicken manure pellets are actually meant to use as fertilizer and used when there is plants growing in ground to use the nutrients up. If you sprinkle it this time of the year...rain will just wash it away and there is nothing left from it by spring.

Thanks goodlife, I am very relieved that nothing should be done yet. The thought of going out there in the fog, rain and frost sent shivers down my back. I shall sit comfortably till march and then do the job properly. 

Mulch the ground with any organic compost; plenty of leaves around everywhere right now. Over winter the worms will take it down and it will act as a sponge for any fertiliser both in the ground now and for any you put on in the spring.  I don't know if it's too late to sow winter green manure. Maybe field beans or even broad beans if you can get the seed cheap. You can pull them up in the spring if you don't want to crop them, use the stems for compost and in the meantime the roots will have stopped nutrients washing away and created a structure in the soil. They'll fix a bit of atmospheric nitrogen for free too.

Speaking of chicken manure, is it still to strong to use immediately if it has been composted?

My friend has just got chickens and doesnt garden, so I think I'll be on to a good source there :o)

QuoteMy friend has just got chickens and doesnt garden, so I think I'll be on to a good source there :o)

This time of the year you can use chicken manure (and the bedding) straight on the ground..yes, its strong..but over the winter it will mellow out, though majority of the 'fertility' will be gone, it will still bulk up the soil structure.
I use fresh stuff all the time..but stop putting on about month before any plants are to be planted or sowed and I don't use while there is plants growing....unless the manure is composted form.

QuoteSpeaking of chicken manure, is it still to strong to use immediately if it has been composted?

It should be fine for things like brassicas, potatoes, sweetcorn and squashes/pumpkins..all those hungry crops.

Thanks for the reply

I think a visit to my friends to check out the supply is in order

Chicken manure is quite hot when composting and has quite a high lime content,i dig a trench,put the fresh manure,including the straw or wood shavings used for bedding into it cover with soil then mark the rows where the manure is and plant my brassica`s in the spring i rarely get clubroot although it is very common on our site,i hope this is of help to you.

Thanks :o) Do you dig the trench lower than the roots will go, or where they will be touching the manure?

Quote from: daveylamp993 on December 04, 2012, 12:32:44
Chicken manure is quite hot when composting and has quite a high lime content,i dig a trench,put the fresh manure,including the straw or wood shavings used for bedding into it cover with soil then mark the rows where the manure is and plant my brassica`s in the spring i rarely get clubroot although it is very common on our site,i hope this is of help to you.

To be fair to the producers of pelleted chicken manure - I've never seen any 'burn' from it - but obviously you use at most half what you would use of cow manure.

Fresh chicken (or any bird) manure is a fowl of a completely different character - most gardeners wouldn't use it fresh - mix it in the compost heap and next year your compost will be as potent as good cow stuff.

Oh, Queenbee, if you are worried about leaching then you must be on very light (sandy?) soil...

You should check out "terra preta" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar .

I wouldn't recommend buying it - what they sell is just charcoal mixed with compost (at 10 times the price). Find a local producer and beg borrow or buy his waste 'slack'. If theres no visible tar or tarry smell you can dig it in straight away, if not then *

Alternatively if your site tolerates smoky fires (they shouldn't) then take advantage of it by burning nearly dry waste in a trench (a bit drier than the idiots burn) and then smothering it with the dug-out soil as soon as it is going well.

Dig it out and *mix in the compost heap where the tarry bits will be broken down.

The charred stuff will still be there 6 months later (actually 60-600 years later) and when it is dug in it will store your fertility in its spongy structure where leaching can't get to it but plants can...

Cheers.