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Horse or Cattle manure???
Which one is better for my flowers?
Lori |
Horse or Cattle manure???
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Horse or Cattle manure???
If you can help it do not use horse manure.......it is good stuff but very
weedy.....cow is better......HW wrote in message ... Which one is better for my flowers? Lori |
Horse or Cattle manure???
On Sun, 16 Mar 2003 11:36:20 GMT, "Anne Middleton/Harold Walker"
wrote: If you can help it do not use horse manure.......it is good stuff but very weedy.....cow is better......HW wrote Which one is better for my flowers? Something about a cow's stomach(s), or perhaps its culinary preferences, makes cow manure less weedy than horse. Both benefit from composting or aging. Choose old over fresh. And don't step... |
Horse or Cattle manure???
Xref: news7 rec.gardens:214046
paghat wrote: In article , (Frogleg) wrote: On Sun, 16 Mar 2003 11:36:20 GMT, "Anne Middleton/Harold Walker" wrote: If you can help it do not use horse manure.......it is good stuff but very weedy.....cow is better......HW wrote Which one is better for my flowers? Something about a cow's stomach(s), or perhaps its culinary preferences, makes cow manure less weedy than horse. Both benefit from composting or aging. Choose old over fresh. And don't step... If it's properly composted it ain't gonna be weedy. I've even used rabbit raisens (which is so poorly digested rabbits will eat what they crapped a second time if they can get at it) & though fresh it would sprout weeds, composted it does nothing of the sort. I do realize some people do indeed spread manures streaming fresh & it's probably not all that dangerous even allowing that there are many potential unhealthy ramifications. I wouldn't think anyone with a home-garden they will actually have to smell would use any of it uncomposted though, unless they have a spike farm & need to feed the flies. The problem with fresh manure is not so much the weeds OR health problems (although they may be of some concern) but the high ammonia levels (read: nitrogen) which can and will burn plants. The compost process or aging the maure will allow a good portion of this to volatize, reducing the potential for burning. Both llama and rabbit manure can be used fresh without problem - very low ammonia levels and the mainstay of their diets is alfafa, which is an excellent source of organic nitrogen. I do compost my rabbits' manure because it is mixed with their timothy hay bedding which IS seedy, but it composts very quickly, even in a static pile. pam - gardengal |
Horse or Cattle manure???
Fresh or composted, it does not matter. Work it into the soil in fall. Cows best
Ian |
Horse or Cattle manure???
"Ian" wrote in message
om... Fresh or composted, it does not matter. Work it into the soil in fall. Cows best If you work fresh manure into the soil in the fall it gives the bacteria in the soil time to reduce the nitrogen levels, or atleast turn the ammonia and urea into nitrite and nitrate compounds. Using fresh manure in the spring is generally considered a bad idea. The nitrogen level is too high and can burn the plants. Sameer |
Horse or Cattle manure???
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Horse or Cattle manure???
Yes fall incorperation of manure is best. I'd say composted manure is
easier to handle also. I would not be concerned too much about the incorperation of fresh cattle manure in the spring because it generally does not have too high of ammonia levels, but pig and chicken manure could cause you trouble. Ian |
Horse or Cattle manure???
In article , wrote:
On Sat, 15 Mar 2003 22:58:13 GMT, wrote: Which one is better for my flowers? Lori Both are good. Cattle is better of the two. Horse manure needs more composting and often used to grow mushrooms. But some of the mushrooms it grows naturally are quite edible and yummy. IIRC, "horse mushrooms" are agaricus sp. (The little white button mushrooms you buy in the grocery store are also an agaricus variety.) Horse apples are a little higher in N. Both are good, but, as a rancher, I *really* recommend hot composting, to kill weed seeds. Our cow manure grows hemp nettle and chickweed, neither of which you want in your garden. Jan |
Horse or Cattle manure???
Ann wrote in message . ..
(Frogleg) expounded: Something about a cow's stomach(s), or perhaps its culinary preferences, makes cow manure less weedy than horse. Both benefit from composting or aging. Choose old over fresh. And don't step... Cows ruminate, meaning they grind up their food, that's what they're doing when they're 'chewing their cud'. Rabbit can be used right from the bunny, as can sheep doo and (from what Pam says) llama. Chicken should be well composted, as it is very high in nitrogen and will burn if used fresh. Horse is fine provided you don't mind pulling many, many weeds if it isn't well composted (high heat to kill the weed seeds). You know, this is not my experience. Yes, there may be the occasional oat or wheat plant coming out of horse manure, some clover, and a prostrate cloverlike plant with yellow flowers whose name escapes me, but not much more than that. |
Horse or Cattle manure???
paghat wrote:
: In article , : (Frogleg) wrote: : On Sun, 16 Mar 2003 11:36:20 GMT, "Anne Middleton/Harold Walker" : wrote: : : If you can help it do not use horse manure.......it is good stuff but very : weedy.....cow is better......HW : : wrote : Which one is better for my flowers? : : Something about a cow's stomach(s), or perhaps its culinary : preferences, makes cow manure less weedy than horse. Both benefit from : composting or aging. Choose old over fresh. And don't step... : If it's properly composted it ain't gonna be weedy. I've even used rabbit : raisens (which is so poorly digested rabbits will eat what they crapped a : second time if they can get at it) & though fresh it would sprout weeds, : composted it does nothing of the sort. Properly hot composting cow or horse manure (and bedding) is a serious undertaking and hard to do on a small scale. You have to know what you're doing, and you have to have the right equipment. If you're stuff's good, it's taken work to produce and you're for sure not going to be giving it away. Most 'composted' manure that will be readily (and freely) available in quantity to the home gardener looking for local sources will almost certainly not be hot composted. I would call it 'old manure' instead of compost ;-) Cold composting takes much longer and will eventually produce a good, loose soil additive. But I would never use it as mulch and certainly wouldn't expect much in terms of fertilizer value. Many, many factors will affect the nutritive value. How fresh is the manure is when it's collected? Nitrogen is lost very rapidly. Its moisture content will have a major impact on its ability to reach the temperatures needed to kill pathogens and weed seeds. Weed seed content will vary widely depending on pasture maintenance (are weeds allowed to go to seed?) and hay quality. I've been working on hot-composting our four-horse output for the last three years and still can't say I've gotten it right ;-) Last year's batch cooked for over a year and came out very pretty, fine-textured and dark. Only this year's spring rains will reveal its weed seed content. But I am counting more on the fact that we feed good, clean hay and are fanatical about pasture maintenance than on the success of my amateur efforts at hot-composting horse manure ;-) -- Karen The Garden Gate http://garden-gate.prairienet.org ================================================== ================= "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." ^and cats -- Cicero ================================================== ================= On the Web since 1994 Forbes Best of Web 2002 |
Horse or Cattle manure???
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Horse or Cattle manure???
"Ann" wrote in message
... (simy1) expounded: I suppose it depends on what the horse eats. I used it a couple times (horse) and got the same weed all over the place in my perennial borders. In the veggie garden I don't care much, but I do when it comes to my borders. I'll stick to cow, I've used it for 25 years around here and have had nothing but good luck with it. -- Ann, Gardening in zone 6a Just south of Boston, MA ******************************** At one time my parents used fresh horse manure as a heat source in a hot bed to start seedlings in the spring. A foot and a half deep rectangular hole was dug in the ground in the fall, and it was covered with a south facing wooden structure with an old window on hinges used as a cover. In the spring (middle of March-zone 3) a foot of manure was placed in the bottom of the hole followed by a six inch layer of straw. The seeds were planted in trays and placed on top of the straw. Enough heat was generated by the decomposing manure to keep the structure frost free. On extremely cold nights a horse blanket was put on top of the structure. It was the poor man's way of making a green house. P.S. Well rotted cow manure works great, but I prefer sheep or rabbit manure. John |
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