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USING MANURE AS FERTILIZER TO BOOST SOILS HUMUS CONTENT
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Different manure used for fertilizer Link to other fertilizer pages
Animal manures are one of the most useful organic materials you can incorporate into the vegetable garden. Unfortunately, the nutrient values of manure and organic fertilizers are often based solely on the relative amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium they contain. While the N.P.K. content of a nutrient source are important factors, plant health and soil nutrition are not reliant on these alone and the value of any nutrient source should not evaluated based on these quantities alone. Soil needs continual replenishment of its organic matter to decompose into humus. It is this humus content in the soil that, along with many other benefits, make organic rich soils able to control plant health and vitality.
EVALUATING MANURE Manures vary greatly in their
Bedding manures are available from different animals that are confined either inside or out. When getting bedding manures from anywhere take into consideration the bedding type.
How much is too much, how long is a piece of string. Most home gardeners would never get enough to say they had too much. But I guess if you ran out of soil when folding the manure into the garden you could pretty much say you were there. Sheet Composting If you are lucky enough to have access to animal manure to incorporate into your garden you can spread the manure out over the garden as part of a sheet composting mix and leave it to over winter before folding it into the top 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) with shovel or rotary tiller-hoe. Broadcast Broadcast evenly over plot and spade, roto-till or otherwise work into the top soil preferable at least 30 days before planting. Side dressing For all types of animal manure, spread a band of manure down each side of the row at the edge of the plant root zone and then work lightly into the top 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cm) of soil. For side dressing individual plants, form a shallow trench around the plant and as for side dressing a row work the manure into the soil before replacing the soil. If the garden is mulched, rake it back to the edge of the plant root zone in order to apply the band of manure the same as the method above, then re-cover with the mulch. DIFFERENT MANURE AS FERTILIZER Using cattle manure as fertilizer from either dairy or beef animals are an excellent addition to any vegetable garden.
Chicken manure and the excrement of other fowl are particularly valuable because the liquids and solids of their waste are naturally mixed and breaks down quickest of all manures Bat and seabird manure, are one of the top organic fertilizers available for vegetable gardens.
Rabbit manure makes excellent compost and soil conditioner. It is rich in organic matter and nutrients so it builds the soil while adding valuable nutrients for the plants.
Sheep and Goat manure are very mild smelling. Sheep has very low phosphorous levels.
While horse manure provides bulk organic matter for soil conditioning similar to that from cattle, there are a few problems associated with manure from the trusty steed
Worm castings are their own compost; they are 50% organic material with 11 trace elements. They are not a bulk manure so are best used in the plant nursery for young seedling and such. If you have access to abundance they make an excellent soil conditioner. OTHER PAGES ON FERTILIZER |
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