[new_2_veg]

can i dig fresh manure into my lottie?

a few peoplde on my site are but i didnt think it was something that could be done?

thanks

nathan

[noshed]

You're not really supposed to, on the grounds that the decomposition process will tend to rob the soil of nitrogen and the ammonia in the manure will burn any plants you've got in the soil.
You could just spread it on the surface and dig it in the spring I suppose but a better scheme would be to pile it all up, cover with a bit of carpet, plastic bags etc and then dig it in the spring.
The manure gurus on our site do the latter - some put it in old compost bags and leave it for years.

[new_2_veg]

i thought i was right in thinking its a no go!


whats spent mushroom compost like?

just got a good price on a ten tonne load

[noshed]

I've never used spent mushroom compost - it might be more of a soil condtioner than a compost, I'm not sure. I'm sure it will be good for over-wintering, you can always tweak the fertility in the spring.
There's some good advice here: http://www.allotment-garden.org/fertilizer/index.php

[woodburner]

I've more often seen it spread on allotments over winter and dug in in spring.

Could be it's an attempt to deal with the possible/probable contamination with pyralid.

I'd do the same if I was in the habit of using manure, as it is I'm going to be scuppered if I haven't got enough compost and green manure ready by spring!  :?

[p00rstudent]

out of intrest where are you getting the mushroom compost from?

[new_2_veg]

a contact i have why?

[p00rstudent]

just curious if it is that cheap, where i could get hold of some.

[new_2_veg]

where abouts are you?

[p00rstudent]

southampton hampshire

[new_2_veg]

best bet is to have a ring round all the turf and soil suplyers,

i can get it by the 10 tonne load but not to where you are sorry

[p00rstudent]

fair enough, thought it was worth ago tho

[vegmandan]

All I would add is that most mushroom compost is composted wheat straw,horse manure and chalk or gypsum and therefore it can be highly alkali due to the chalk/gypsum content.

So I'd avoid using it on lime hating plants.

It's a great source of humus and will have some slight nutrient values also.

P.S you can sometimes get a good crop of mushrooms coming up too if it's not completely spent.

[new_2_veg]

oh ok,

im not sure on the whole levels thing like whats good for what etc.

what crops would mushroom compost be good for and what would it make a mess off?

thanks

nathan

[vegmandan]

I think it would be ok for most veg.

Potatoes don't like lime or alkali soil too much as this encourages scab, and carrots don't want to be sown in freshly composted/manured ground due to them forking but apart from that I think you should be ok with mushroom compost.

As for nutrients I believe it just has a very low percentage of the basic N P K values so It shouldn't really affect anything too much.

You can just do a quick soil test in Spring to see where you are .