Is it safe to plant in a plot with horse manure

[snakeshack]

Beware also composting your lawn clippings if using weed and feed type treatments on your lawn.
Unfortunately much of this goes into council composting and is then recycled into the cheaper MPCs that a lot of people buy

[roitelet]

Welcome to the vine. Just put your root veg in the area that you haven't manured. Best of luck

[Spunky]

Judging by the experience of some of our members I would be very care of playing down the effects of the 'myth' weed killer.

We might as well give up growing and just buy stuff from the supermarket then with an attitude like that?
It seems like it's all coming to an end before it's even started lol i was trying to be positive and give the the person who started the thread a bit of hope before half of you decide to scare the life out of him with things that I'm pretty sure wouldn't happen to him unless he was very unlucky......... Still if it floats your boat then carry on

[Potstubsdustbins]

No what you was doing is to feed incorrect information and make light of a potentially serious situation.

The point I was making was check where your muck comes from, try to find out if the grazing has been sprayed if this information is not available do a seed test before putting it on your plot.

You want to find out before you spread not afterwards. I suggest you check the RHS web site they seem to think its worth looking out for.

[Jay-ell]

Last year threw the fresh manure straight onto the pumpkin bed. Came third in the site pumpkin competition despite not thining down the pumpkins.

Hoping that the next horse muck delivery coincides with the pumpkin bed being cleared of weeds and my day off so I can pile it up.

Gotta move fast when there's horse muck about.

[Snadger]

Last year threw the fresh manure straight onto the pumpkin bed. Came third in the site pumpkin competition despite not thining down the pumpkins.

Hoping that the next horse muck delivery coincides with the pumpkin bed being cleared of weeds and my day off so I can pile it up.

Gotta move fast when there's horse muck about.

Bet I beat you to it!

[Jay-ell]

Bet I beat you to it!

I think you got most of the last load - and probably the one before

[veggiechicken]

Does anybody else get any - or are you 2 hogging the lot?

[Snadger]

Does anybody else get any - or are you 2 hogging the lot?

Luckily I collared the guy delivering it last time and said "Just dump it there mate"..............right outside my plot gate!

[Jay-ell]

Does anybody else get any - or are you 2 hogging the lot?

2? I haven't gotten any this year, it's all gone to the other end

[Alison]

We might as well give up growing and just buy stuff from the supermarket then with an attitude like that?
It seems like it's all coming to an end before it's even started lol i was trying to be positive and give the the person who started the thread a bit of hope before half of you decide to scare the life out of him with things that I'm pretty sure wouldn't happen to him unless he was very unlucky......... Still if it floats your boat then carry on

It's important to understand the risks and whatever you choose to believe, it is a real risk that has caused a lot of people a lot of problems. You don't have to use manure at all, lots of us don't for a variety of reasons but if you do get a contaminated load then it will give you significant problems and I know too many people this has happened to to believe it's that rare. You can choose to keep your head in the sand but I don't think that's the way to go.

[Snadger]

It's important to understand the risks and whatever you choose to believe, it is a real risk that has caused a lot of people a lot of problems. You don't have to use manure at all, lots of us don't for a variety of reasons but if you do get a contaminated load then it will give you significant problems and I know too many people this has happened to to believe it's that rare. You can choose to keep your head in the sand but I don't think that's the way to go.

Do you not use any organic matter on your plot Alison? Even if it was safe and FREE?

I know TS didn't but I've always found the addition of organic matter improves the soil structure making it friable, soil seems to hold water better and weeds are easier to pull out.
The downside, especially with hoss muck I spose is the amount of weed seeds that germinate.

[Alison]

Do you not use any organic matter on your plot Alison? Even if it was safe and FREE?

I know TS didn't but I've always found the addition of organic matter improves the soil structure making it friable, soil seems to hold water better and weeds are easier to pull out.
The downside, especially with hoss muck I spose is the amount of weed seeds that germinate.

I use some chicken manure and a heck of a lot of leaf mould and home compost. I have used pony poo in the past but having questioned farmers locally I'm not 100% sure any of the general farmyard stuff I can be easily is clean. Not looked for a year or two so it might be better now but find I can get good results without so don't feel the need. Might depend on your soil type, I'm a bit silty but not bad.

[Jay-ell]

Yes there are other ways than using horse muck.

In my first plot I used a lot of the council green waste compost because they dumped it regularly at the gates. All I had to do was Barrow it from next to plot one up to plot 120.

We also had horse muck dropped off which I carted over to mine and my neighbours plot.

My second allotment meant that I had to source and cart everything by hand into the site - I used a lot of home made compost made itensively (bokashi all the weeds plus kitchen waste loads of cardboard and plenty of mixing) and used green manure as and when able.

When I took on this plot there was a massive pile of manure ranging from well composted up to still steaming. Most of this this was put into the beds until they couldn't take any more.

Now I'm having horse muck dropped off at the bottom of the plot (if other plot holders don't divert it to the bottom of theirs).

So if it's free and easy (and doesn't kill my plants ) ill have it. Don't think that the weed problem is any greater than the weeds coming from unmanured soil - but then again last year the plot next to mine was a wilderness without manure and now has at least 4.7 million poppy seeds scattered around so the manure isn't the problem.