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#1
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Compost
"Jack" wrote in message ... "George.com" wrote what do you mean by not ready until september? Is it hot composting at present or is it cold? If it has completely cooled down after a nice roast it can most likely be used now. Hi, Rob, thanks for your reply. I got the manure in mid-September, and apparently it was fresh. It had lots of straw and wood chips in it, and the supplier said it needed to be stacked for a year. It's piled up, uncovered, about 3 feet high. I've never seen any steam off it and it's always felt cold. It's actually quite crumbly, although some parts of it are still recognisable as horse poop. I've had conflicting advice because some people say it should be stacked for a year, whereas some people say to chuck it on now and let the worms pull it down. Being a bit squeamish about germs and diseases and whatnot, I'm nervous about using it so soon on my allotment. so say its 3-4 odd months old and has been exposed to an autumn and early winter. Best way to check it out is with a shovel and dig away at it. See if the inside is warm and dry, if so it may have hot composted within. Maybe try an smaller pile with some high nitrogen additives like grass clippings or coffee grounds and see if it heats up. I say that as I had a pile of horse poop I wanted to compost quickly. I mixed it with grass and coffee and watered it/soaked it with **** and after a few days it heated right up. After a cooling I mulched it across my garden. That was 3 odd months ago and a spring and soil bacteria did the rest. Depends when you want to plant. Applying it now and leaving it over winter and early spring for 3 odd months should see it broken down quite nicely in the soil and it will start to have an impact on the soil structure and health. If your soil is rubbish it will take a while for manures/compost to really make a difference. I threw 2 trailer loads on horse poop in to raised garden back in April. It went through the 1/2 half of autumn, winter and early spring and I planted in to it late september with no problems. You may want to wait closer to planting to make the most of the manure as a fertiliser (ie keep it out of the rain) you could always plough some compost in to the soil. Provided the compost is not fresh it should be ok to use. My compost is never fine when I use it. If I wanted to wait 3 years maybe it would be jowever it always has twigs and the odd matted leaf or clumps of matter still being eaten by worms. As a mulch it has always gone fine and broken down fairly quickly once used. The stuff you buy in bags (at least the stuff I do) comes with hunks of pine bark (nitrogen stabilised they call it) in it and that is supposedly finished compost. If I want to use compost with twig and other partially decomposed organic matter may as well use what is cheap, my own. If you want to leave the compost for a while but are itching to dig organic matter in to the gardens try finding some free green mulch (like fine tree prunings) or some saw dust (if someone has chopped down a tree). I have used a mixture of aged saw dust (untreated and free from a local saw mill) with some cat shit supplied by my mogs and coffee grounds on gardens and in a few weeks it was nicely mixed together. rob |
#2
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Compost
"Jack" wrote in message ... This is probably a silly question but here goes! I have a council allotment with heavy clay soil (two spade depths down and it's pure yellow-orange clay). Also, the soil structure has been ruined due to heavy equipment on the plot. I've built raised beds and done my best with what I have, but now I'd like to enrich the soil and improve its structure. I have 2 compost heaps on the go, but they won't be ready for months. I also have a huge pile of manure but, again, it won't be ready until next September. what do you mean by not ready until september? Is it hot composting at present or is it cold? If it has completely cooled down after a nice roast it can most likely be used now. Unless there is something in the manure that you really really want to get rid off it can be used after a season of standing to improve soils. If you want to grow in it you may want to stand it longer if unsure of the source or if the poop is still hot. As with compost, it doesn't need to be finely browken down like raked top soil to be useful in improving soil. If it is brown and earthy smelling and the ingredients no longer recognisable (save for twigs and prunings) it can be used. If wou want to save the compost/manure as fertiliser closer to planting, and your plot is lying fallow for a while, sow some green manure like clover (if possible) and harvest it a few weeks prior to planting. That will improve the soil quite nicely. rob |
#3
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Compost
This is probably a silly question but here goes!
I have a council allotment with heavy clay soil (two spade depths down and it's pure yellow-orange clay). Also, the soil structure has been ruined due to heavy equipment on the plot. I've built raised beds and done my best with what I have, but now I'd like to enrich the soil and improve its structure. I have 2 compost heaps on the go, but they won't be ready for months. I also have a huge pile of manure but, again, it won't be ready until next September. Gardening advice is to add lots of "well-rotted manure or compost" to the soil but what, exactly, is "compost"? Is it the multi-purpose stuff you can buy in big bags from B&Q, etc? Thanks. |
#4
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Compost
"George.com" wrote what do you mean by not ready until september? Is it hot composting at present or is it cold? If it has completely cooled down after a nice roast it can most likely be used now. Hi, Rob, thanks for your reply. I got the manure in mid-September, and apparently it was fresh. It had lots of straw and wood chips in it, and the supplier said it needed to be stacked for a year. It's piled up, uncovered, about 3 feet high. I've never seen any steam off it and it's always felt cold. It's actually quite crumbly, although some parts of it are still recognisable as horse poop. I've had conflicting advice because some people say it should be stacked for a year, whereas some people say to chuck it on now and let the worms pull it down. Being a bit squeamish about germs and diseases and whatnot, I'm nervous about using it so soon on my allotment. Thanks. |
#5
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Compost
"Jack" wrote in message ... This is probably a silly question but here goes! I have a council allotment with heavy clay soil (two spade depths down and it's pure yellow-orange clay). Also, the soil structure has been ruined due to heavy equipment on the plot. Sand (LOTS of it), gypsum, lots of manure and mulch. |
#6
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Compost
"George.com" wrote in message ... "Jack" wrote in message ... "George.com" wrote what do you mean by not ready until september? Is it hot composting at present or is it cold? If it has completely cooled down after a nice roast it can most likely be used now. Hi, Rob, thanks for your reply. I got the manure in mid-September, and apparently it was fresh. It had lots of straw and wood chips in it, and the supplier said it needed to be stacked for a year. It's piled up, uncovered, about 3 feet high. I've never seen any steam off it and it's always felt cold. It's actually quite crumbly, although some parts of it are still recognisable as horse poop. I've had conflicting advice because some people say it should be stacked for a year, whereas some people say to chuck it on now and let the worms pull it down. Being a bit squeamish about germs and diseases and whatnot, I'm nervous about using it so soon on my allotment. so say its 3-4 odd months old and has been exposed to an autumn and early winter. Best way to check it out is with a shovel and dig away at it. See if the inside is warm and dry, if so it may have hot composted within. Maybe try an smaller pile with some high nitrogen additives like grass clippings or coffee grounds and see if it heats up. I say that as I had a pile of horse poop I wanted to compost quickly. I mixed it with grass and coffee and watered it/soaked it with **** and after a few days it heated right up. After a cooling I mulched it across my garden. That was 3 odd months ago and a spring and soil bacteria did the rest. Depends when you want to plant. Applying it now and leaving it over winter and early spring for 3 odd months should see it broken down quite nicely in the soil and it will start to have an impact on the soil structure and health. If your soil is rubbish it will take a while for manures/compost to really make a difference. I threw 2 trailer loads on horse poop in to raised garden back in April. It went through the 1/2 half of autumn, winter and early spring and I planted in to it late september with no problems. You may want to wait closer to planting to make the most of the manure as a fertiliser (ie keep it out of the rain) you could always plough some compost in to the soil. Provided the compost is not fresh it should be ok to use. My compost is never fine when I use it. If I wanted to wait 3 years maybe it would be jowever it always has twigs and the odd matted leaf or clumps of matter still being eaten by worms. As a mulch it has always gone fine and broken down fairly quickly once used. The stuff you buy in bags (at least the stuff I do) comes with hunks of pine bark (nitrogen stabilised they call it) in it and that is supposedly finished compost. If I want to use compost with twig and other partially decomposed organic matter may as well use what is cheap, my own. If you want to leave the compost for a while but are itching to dig organic matter in to the gardens try finding some free green mulch (like fine tree prunings) or some saw dust (if someone has chopped down a tree). I have used a mixture of aged saw dust (untreated and free from a local saw mill) with some cat shit supplied by my mogs and coffee grounds on gardens and in a few weeks it was nicely mixed together. rob Jack You may find this chart interesting, it tracks the hot composting process of horse poop (3 cubic yards whatever that is in metres). It outlines temperatures, periods for turning, and the changes in life amongst the pile. After 100 odd days the pile is complete. Not absolutely necessary to have finished useable manure compost/humus however it does lay the process out in a manner I have not seen before. rob http://www.soilandhealth.org/06clipf...stng.chrt.html |
#7
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Compost
"Jack" wrote in message ... "George.com" wrote what do you mean by not ready until september? Is it hot composting at present or is it cold? If it has completely cooled down after a nice roast it can most likely be used now. Hi, Rob, thanks for your reply. I got the manure in mid-September, and apparently it was fresh. It had lots of straw and wood chips in it, and the supplier said it needed to be stacked for a year. It's piled up, uncovered, about 3 feet high. I've never seen any steam off it and it's always felt cold. It's actually quite crumbly, although some parts of it are still recognisable as horse poop. I've had conflicting advice because some people say it should be stacked for a year, whereas some people say to chuck it on now and let the worms pull it down. Being a bit squeamish about germs and diseases and whatnot, I'm nervous about using it so soon on my allotment. Use it now. worms are wonderful wee workers so let them work for you. |
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