Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: garddwr on August 17, 2009, 09:09

Title: Adding humus to the soil ?
Post by: garddwr on August 17, 2009, 09:09

Hi,

How do you add humus to the soil ? What contains it - manure ?

Thanks

Garddwr

Title: Re: Adding humus to the soil ?
Post by: Pompey Spud on August 17, 2009, 09:46

Manure and Green manures.

Look up the Manures in the info section here on the site.

PUP!!

Title: Re: Adding humus to the soil ?
Post by: garddwr on August 17, 2009, 10:30

Quote from: Pompey Spud on August 17, 2009, 09:46

Manure and Green manures.

Look up the Manures in the info section here on the site.

PUP!!

Thanks.

Now I am confused  :)

Here is the situation-

I am planning ahead for next year, I know where I want to put my broad beans and peas - the same place as the runners and french beans are this year. So I don't need any more nitrogen there but I need a lot of humus as John's book say they need humus.

What would you advise as there is such a long list of green manures and I don't have any knowledge of them! Grazing rye is the only green manure that will do the trick and it sounds more of a pest than a help.

Help please  :)

Thanks

Garddwr

Title: Re: Adding humus to the soil ?
Post by: poppies on August 17, 2009, 10:48

Hi
   you should really rotate your crops so that you dont plant the same thing in the same place 2/3 years running, for beans you could dig a bean trench and leave it over winter gradually filling it with kitchen waste, shredded paper and manure and when full pile the earth you dug out back on top, I started doing this last year and I get loads more beans - in fact so many I don't know what to do with them

Title: Re: Adding humus to the soil ?
Post by: Bombers on August 17, 2009, 11:25

Good advice from Poppies, Garddwr. ;)

Humus can be added in different ways..

Definition of Humus (Courtesy of the thefreedictionary.com)
A brown or black organic substance consisting of partially or wholly decayed vegetable or animal matter that provides nutrients for plants and increases the ability of soil to retain water./i]

This can be Compost (new or spent), leaf mould, or manure. the ability to hold water can be the 'key' to a good crop I think. By adding Newspaper/cardboard to the bottom of the trench, it increases it's water retention. Hope this helps.