manure

[Gemizzel]

Can someone clarify this for me.....

a lot of veggies say you cannot plant in freshly manured beds. How long does this freshly manured stage last? does it mean it shouldn't have had manure on it for weeks/months/years?

If we were wanting to manure our raised beds now, would that affect what we can grow in them this year?

Sorry, I don't know if I have worded that in a way that makes sense.

[Shadylane]

If the manure is fairly fresh or only partially rotted I would leave it a year before planting roots ie carrots and parsnips. Onions like it, as long as it is very well rotted. What other veg were you thinking?

[adam1888]

I feel this manure thing is bit of a mystery, seems like its quite a complicated process for a newbie ie is it rotted enough when to apply it and for which vegetables. I just took over my plot and realistically do I have time to get it turned over and manure in so I can grow this year? I'm considering just not using it but using compost instead. would this be ok?

[Potstubsdustbins]

Long term 7-7-7 pelleted fertiliser would work.

[Bigmallly]

I've found a sprinkle of chicken pellets in the planting hole works well.

[Shadylane]

It's not really complicated. The only veg that really dislike it are parsnips and carrots because it causes them to fork. If it's fully rotted it shouldn't smell and be more like compost. I've never aquired muck in this form. It's always been fairly fresh and steaming. I've always applied it in the autumn and by spring it's still not fully rotted, but I've planted anyway and all's been well.

As for whether you need it, then I'd say no, compost should be fine but an extra boost of fish blood and bone or chicken pellets wouldn't hurt. My mum never uses muck in her tiny veg patch, just the compost from her dalek and her runner beans always go mad.

[hamesy]

I've never had a problem with manure, whether it's rotted down or fresh. I dig it into the beds and the plants love it. The only beds that I don't dig manure into, are the carrot and parsnip beds.

[muddled]

You're going to get as many different answers to this as there are different gardeners, which is why it seems so complicated when you're new

The thing is, manure changes.

When it's fresh, it looks like balls of mud. It smells horsey. It has some fertilising qualities. At this stage I personally wouldn't put me dinner in it. Therefore, as shadylane says, it's good to put on beds not being for a while. The weather will break it down and the worms will drag it under the surface so you don't have to dig it in.

When manure is 'well rotted' it doesn't smell of anything but earth. It's dark and crumbly and looks like the compost you can buy in bags from the garden centre. At this stage, I personally don't feel it hold that many nutrients anymore but it is an excellent soil improver. It help to retain water and air in the soil which in turn, help you to achieve that mythical 'friable loam' the gardening books talk about
At this stage I reckon you can put it anywhere you like.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm considering just not using it but using compost instead. would this be ok?

They both are soil improvers (I assume you mean homemade garden compost, and not potting compost). They aren't plant feeds per se, they help to make the soil more water-retentive, they attract beneficial organisms, etc etc.

You don't need any manure at all, but compost is a must (if only as a way to dispose of all the prunings and trimmings your garden will generate)

[Mark Lottie]

I bought a load this autumn and it was 3 year old manure mixed with some bedding. I reckon it was left outside as it was still a bit damp but it didnt smell at all; if anything had a slight whiff of compost.

Like others said I just avoid using it on roots

[Bigmallly]

I bought a load this autumn

Bought?..............I pulled the tractor driver up from't local stables & he tipped me 8 tons outside the house for nowt.

[alldigging]

Bought?..............I pulled the tractor driver up from't local stables & he tipped me 8 tons outside the house for nowt.

You are lucky! If we want it free we have to go and fetch it and tbh I'd rather only move it once!

[Bigmallly]

I used to go & collect it in the car but the tractor was passing so I just stood in't middle o't road & stopped him.................

[adam1888]

thanks for the advice folks, all very helpfull.

[Mark Lottie]

Bought?..............I pulled the tractor driver up from't local stables & he tipped me 8 tons outside the house for nowt.

I live in North London, no local farm is going to give me free manure