Horse Manure and Spuds?

[Jonnyt]

Having just got an allotment I have found out that there is access to lots of Horse Manure for free. Whilst this is fresh can I bung it on some beds now, leave it be for a couple of months then grow some potatoes?

Or do I really have to put it in a pile and let it rot for months on end?

[Jimmy]

Could try making a hot bed frame !
Jimmy

[ESBkevin]

I'd stack it for now, add in some sawdust/woodchip/brown cardboard if there is none in it to help the hot composting kill and weed seeds. Larger stacks work better and 3ft min height and width is required. If it's left in the main source stack for now will it still be there later?
Once it's had a couple of months stacked (turning will help) I would be tempted to heavily mulch the potatoes rather than bury the muck, there will be some weeds (from the hay feed) but on the surface they are easy to cull as they sprout and the worms/weather will take the goodness down to the spuds. By the time you need to ridge up the mulch will be ready to be buried (you could apply more afterwards too).

[Thelma Sanders]

Having just got an allotment I have found out that there is access to lots of Horse Manure for free. Whilst this is fresh can I bung it on some beds now, leave it be for a couple of months then grow some potatoes?

Yes .

[Penellype]

I'd make a hotbed for 2 reasons.

1. you can use it to create warmth while it rots down, and therefore grow early salads or other early crops. Courgettes grow well in hotbeds in the summer.

2. some horse manure is contaminated with aminopyralid weedkiller. If you haven't had manure from this source before, spreading it over your plot would be disastrous if it did happen to be contaminated. Confining it to a hotbed and growing some crops in it will confirm that it is safe (or not) and you can spread it on the plot in the autumn.

[bario1]

^^^Yep this happened to me and it was soul destroying!^^^

[mrsbusy]

I was warned off horse manure because the horses are wormed regularly - which is true as my daughter has a horse at livery and all the horses have to be wormed at the same time. Which was a blow to me as it was a good free source. I now get organic cow manure from a local farmer, but it is not free. However we do get free composted garden waste from our council twice a year - and altho I was sceptical about it as it looked very rough I got a tremendous crop last year using just the council compost in raised beds.

[Nicos]

Another reason for me giving up on horse poo us that it tends to be full of undigested weed seeds.
Leaving it to heat up does kill some of them off though....

[Nicos]

The worry with council compost is that you have no idea if they have used selective weedkiller....and it's still in there...

[Penellype]

Exactly - loads of people must weed and feed their lawn, mow the lawn and put the clippings in their green bin. Even bought compost is not immune, as Dan found out in his allotment diary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsLCv2STqC8

[mrsbusy]

Indeed just can't win...

[Snadger]

We have access at the allotments to hoss muck. It has been delivered for years without any aminopyralid problems, in fact some of it is covered in weeds!
The stuff we get is mainly sawdust and hoss wee. Its fantastic for tatties even uncomposted. I think the acidity is enjoyed by the tatties and its basically like growing them in a cocoon of muck. Last year I dug planting holes in barren soil, dropped a tattie in and filled hole with hoss muck.

I had a tremendous crop of tatties which came out lovely and clean and hoss muck was in a similar condition to when I added it i.e. damp sawdust. I also spread a load on top for good measure.
Surprisingly there has been very little weed growth, just good tatties!

I did beef up the nutrients by putting half a handful of, high potassium fertiliser in each planting hole though!