Fresh Manure.

[Andy-W]

Hi everyone.

Today I hot hold of a very large amount of fresh/semi rotten manure (its from 3 - 6 months old and has shavings/straw in)

I am going to be putting much of it in a heap to cover/leave to rot for a while however i have so much of the stuff i was thinking outside the box a little.

My plot is very new and very very weedy. I have been working hard digging but the reality is this year i will use half of the plot at the very most. While I understand not putting fresh manure down on what i plan to grow can I spread it over the rest of the plot that is being unused as a weed suppressant and to let it rot down into the soil over the next 6 months - 1 year? The ground has allot of cooch which i am working out as I go along but I have wanted to cover a great deal of the site anyway so was thinking the muck may kill 2 birds with 1 stone - feed the soil and cover the weeds?

Will this work, Will it do any harm, will it do any good?

[Muddy_Boots]

Hi Andy-W

I'm no manure expert but I recall reading that manure with straw in it can do something to the nitrogen in the soil (it could be something else as I say I'm no expert) I would say it would do alot more harm than good using it and would err on the side of caution using it as a weed suppressor. You also have to be sure its not full of grass seed which will only make your plot worse as those will germinate. Rotting it in a pile will produce heat which should kill any germinating grass seeds or that's the theory anyway.

To suppress the weeds you would be better using thick black plastic sheet which will kill the growth through lack of light, don't use old carpet as its a mare to get up when its sopping wet through and if it starts rotting its even worse. Using old carpets is banned in our allotments for that reason.

[hellybore]

You can put a thick layer of cardboard over the area you are planning to leave a while, and spread the fresh compost over it. By the time you want to use the land it will have all rotted down and all weeds should have been killed off, including couch grass. Go for it!

[skeggijon]

You could use it to make a hotbed.

[Grumpy Gardener]

Agree with hellebore. Cover plot with cardboard and then put 3 to 4 inches of manure on top. It will break down over a period of months and not only clean the plot of all but the most tenacious perennial weeds but will also leave you with some well fed soil. Just make sure you keep the annual weeds down on the manure with a hoe. In November you can top up the manure again and by next spring you'll have a perfect bed but for the odd perennial that will need forking out.
I did nearly 300m2 a couple of years ago and it works a treat.
John

[Undercaker]

I've recently covered an area of strimmed grass and weeds of about 5 or 6 square metres with fresh (not rotted) manure to use as a mulch for a period of 6-12 months. A neighbouring plot-holder passed by and expressed that he wouldn't have done that as it sucks the nitrogen out of the soil. I kind of knew this at the time but went ahead gung-ho nonetheless.
Now then. What to do? Can I cover the manure with grass cuttings and other compostables so that there's other organic material in there?
Will the manure rot down to a sufficient level if it's just left out flat like it is?
Can I / should I cover it over with a black sheet or just leave it?
Should I rake it all up and put it back/put it in a compost bin?
Have I done something a bit daft?
Is this enough questions for you?
Help.
Cheers.

[Jay-ell]

I use similar manure to grow my pumpkin in. Got nice pumpkins last 2 years, loads of courgettes plus nice soil at the end of it as the worms went wild on it. Remember that the manure will probably have weed seeds in it if it's horse muck

[Undercaker]

Great. Thank you. So it's ok to leave it in a large, flat bed like that? And it's ok for it to be fresh and not wethered down at all? Stuff won't be contaminated by the fresh poo?
If I cover the manure over with my grass clippings and a bit of compost from the other end of the plot would that be sufficient to grow squash and courgette?
Sorry for the list of questions - total novice, me.

[ESBkevin]

I also agree with Hellybore, cardboard weighed down by a few inches of manure, next year it will be very fertile, easy ti dig (if you must but not required) and relatively weed free.

Look up Charles Dowding on the web and Yootoob, he is the master of this technigue and gets phenominal results, also it means you only have to handle the manure once and no digging.

[damian1225]

Hi and welcome, I'd say the same as everyone else, card and poop and leave it to break down and hoe off any weeds if and when they pop up, I have just got another plot and plan on doing exactly that! good luck mate

[Undercaker]

Thanks guys.
I've jumped the gun and put the manure straight onto the soil - no cardboard. Will it have the same effect or should I rake it off and start again?

[Jay-ell]

The card is there to suppress the perennial weeds and grass a bit so that they don't grow through the manure. You'll get weed seeds germinating from the manure which are easily hoed off but the existing perennial (e.g. bindweed, couch grass) will be stronger and you will probably still have to deal with them.

This year the bed I'm putting the competition pumpkins the main perennial "weeds" are a bit of bind weed which is lessening each year and Elephant Garlic - if only all my weeds were worth £1 each like Elephant Garlic cloves. Because of this I didn't bother with the cardboard and put a 6" thick layer of hos muck straight on. I haven't put any grass clippings or compost over that, but will give it a mulch of straw later on.

P.S also trying spuds in bags in the manure as well. They're growing OK so far and I'l topped them up all the way, I'll just have to see if I get Scab with it. There may still be time to plant a few spuds in some of the muck.

[Snadger]

The card is there to suppress the perennial weeds and grass a bit so that they don't grow through the manure. You'll get weed seeds germinating from the manure which are easily hoed off but the existing perennial (e.g. bindweed, couch grass) will be stronger and you will probably still have to deal with them.

This year the bed I'm putting the competition pumpkins the main perennial "weeds" are a bit of bind weed which is lessening each year and Elephant Garlic - if only all my weeds were worth £1 each like Elephant Garlic cloves. Because of this I didn't bother with the cardboard and put a 6" thick layer of hos muck straight on. I haven't put any grass clippings or compost over that, but will give it a mulch of straw later on.

P.S also trying spuds in bags in the manure as well. They're growing OK so far and I'l topped them up all the way, I'll just have to see if I get Scab with it. There may still be time to plant a few spuds in some of the muck.

I grew my spuds in the same hoss muck last year and didn't have a picking of scab! Clean as a whistle they were. There's a lot of sawdust in the muck so that keeps em clean and as far as I know sawdust mixed with hoss pee is acid with a low pH so keeps the scab away. Win, win!

[bhups]

Hope you don't mind myself tagging onto this thread.

I'll be collecting some fresh horse manure today and piling it into my compost big.
This will be my first time with proper composting so I'm not sure what to expect.

From reading around, I understand that the manure will (or should) turn into a hot bin if it is piled up and regular turning (one or twice a week).
If this is true, would it be fine if I mix in my garden and kitchen waste into the manure for composting? Or will it come in the way of composting?

I also understand that I can add wee to the bin to help it speed up the process?
I've purchased "Vitax 10Kg Compost Maker" which I will be adding to the mix too.
If Vitax will not be necessary, I can return it as it's unopened.

Any advice welcome.
Thanks!

[Super Sprout]

I'm planning on putting cardboard & manure on the section of my new plot that I didn't get dug in time this year. Do you cover the manure with plastic, or leave it to the elements to do it's thing? Presumably worms will munch on the carboard & manure, and somehow take it down into the soil.

Thanks!