Poo for the plot

[Normans Mum]

Hi all
Ridiculous though this may sound, I probably won't be able to get any horse manure for my plot this year.
However, I do have bountiful supplies of pelleted chicken manure. Will this do ? Normally have good rotation, although this year the spuds are going in a newly dug part of a new plot. I can maybe throw some bags of compost in for good measure....
Advice please !

[jonny the plant pot]

Better than horse poo .
I had cracking results with chicken pellets just one thought you get a lot of chickweed so be careful.

[Veggielot]

Nutrient wise no problem, you will miss out on the added humus but that's not the end of the world.

[cptncrackoff]

Hi Normans Mum,

I found that with the horse manure that gets delivered to our allotments, even if I rotted it for a 6 months plus, and if the pile got really really hot.. sometimes it got too hot to handle, I was getting a lot of weed seeds coming in on it, certain grasses etc.

I know a lot of people love horse poo, but for me it wasnt working..

This year I have gone for green manures to add humus and nutrients, but I will also be adding an amount of 6X fertilizer to plants that I plant out, eg. sweetcorn, squashes, cucumber..
I tried the 6X last year and was really impressed, you literally need a cup full. Great stuff.

[WendyC]

Better than horse poo .
I had cracking results with chicken pellets just one thought you get a lot of chickweed so be careful.

How do you know the chickweed came from the pelleted chicken manure? I was under the impression it was heat treated so that it would kill weed seeds. Also I'm not sure the hens it comes from have ever been near chickweed, but I guess that might depend on the brand you buy.

[Normans Mum]

HI cptncrackoff

I have thought of using a green manure.... have never heard of 6X. Might have to google that un.

[alldigging]

I think so much depends on your soil. If it's clay or sandy then it'll benefit from large quantities of organic material. If it's lovely loam then bugger off making me jealous!

[Normans Mum]

It's not so bad to be honest, it belonged to a lovely old chap befor I got my hands on it and he kept it very nice. Soil is very workable, so I guess I am lucky !