[m1ckz]

my plot is all dug over    when should i spead chicken manure pellets over it   now or spring or both   ty

[brianc]

Chicken pellets are expensive things. instead of spreading them over your plot i would wait until
i was ready to plant next spring and put afew pellets in the planting hole or row this way your plants
would get the benefit  and not the weeds.

[mumofstig]

I've topped my beds with homemade compost and a good sprinkle of chicken pellets, before covering with weed control fabric.

The beds should be ready for planting into in the Spring.

[8doubles]

I would leave the pellet fertiliser till early spring, the nutrients are needed at root level not taken too deep by winter rain or washed away completely.

[JimB]

.

Hi,

Wait until the spring as there is very little nutriment value in chicken pellets to start with,most if not all food value would be washed out in the winter rains!

Watched a bit about fertilizers and potatoes on GW once, about whether it was better to put the fertilizer under the tubers or to scatter over a wider area and so make the roots go serching for feed and so get any that was in the soil around.

Sadly I never saw any follow up to, as per usual GW , so am none the wiser which bit is best!

Cheers!

[mumofstig]

I just think that, as I can't get manure, adding some pellets in the Autumn gives the worms some organic matter to work on over winter, so it helps the soil - even if it doesn't directly feed the plants.

I rake in more fertilizer when planting in Spring. It seems to work on my plot 

[Goneterseed]

I always think of chicken manure as having a high lime and nitrogen content as well as the organic matter.
The bed intended for brassicas will get a few handfulls on it this autumn. Our site sell a 20kg bag of 6x chicken manure pellets for £9 so it's cheap enough.

[JayG]

Think it partly depends on what sort of soil you have - I don't add anything over winter on my sandy soil because even compost or manure gets leached away almost completely.

Although the nitrogen in dried chicken poo is comparatively slow release compared to inorganic fertilisers like Growmore, I suspect much of the nutrient content may be lost if applied to most fallow soils in winter.

Some of you may be interested in THIS US article (more of an advert really  ) about dried chicken manure.

[Ema]

The nutrients in the chicken pellets will wash out of the soil over winter. Best put on the ground when your plants go in the ground.

You can normally get deliveries of manure for a small fee.

Don't forget seaweed there's loads around at the moment