[daddyAndy]

Hi, I'm fairly new to allotmenteering, but have been growing fruit and veg in my small garden for a few years.

Now that I have something a bit bigger I'm taking the condition of the soil a little more seriously. I have tested the soil on the plot and it appears to be sadly lacking in most nutients.

My questions are: what are the best ways for improving soil and if I want to add horse manure, how long should it rot down for. Most information I've found doesn't go any further than saying 'horse manure should be well rotted'. If I acquire 'raw' manure today, how quickly can it be used?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Andy

[DD.]

I leave mine at least a year, covered to keep the moisture in.

[muckyboots]

I agree with DD, just make sure they were bedded on straw as the chemicals in wood chippings can cause more damage than good,so I was informed by a farmer mate.Ihave used horse muck from the brewery shires where I used to work,(I did work honest) and got loads of nettles so rot it well.

[corynsboy]

I've had "fresh" manure on parts of my plot since October and it will have all been taken into the soil by the worms by the time spring comes along.  I'm fortunate that the worms do this work for me and I'll just be getting in the way if I interfere with their work by digging.

Rotted manure is always better as it is more easily used right away.  You have to be careful with PH levels with all manure but particularly fresh manure.  So I always test the soil before I plant anything in it.

Sadly manure is not a panacea for of our soil woes.  It's great for soil structure but it's not as full of nutrients as we would want to believe.  Where I can I supplement manure with fertilizer in the form of blood fish and bone and the less organic Growmore. 

As with most things it's all about balance.  Growmore on top of manure, on top of shredded seaweed, on top of blood fish and bone and you might end up with a chemical soup where nothing will grow. 

Think along the lines of setting up your plot soil for the crops you intend to grow that season.  As a simple example: Hungry crops like tomatoes squash potatoes and sweetcorn need lots of food.  I manure the beds for these plants as soon as I can.  I prep with growmore a couple of weeks before planting out the bed and feed regularly during the growing season.

Don't manure a bed if you intend to grow root crops in it.  You’ll end up with short hairy parsnips and carrots.

Sort out your crop rotation first (which is always an excellent search subject on the forum) and plan your soil treatments accordingly.

Good luck.

[Steve.B]

I agree with DD, just make sure they were bedded on straw as the chemicals in wood chippings can cause more damage than good,so I was informed by a farmer mate.Ihave used horse muck from the brewery shires where I used to work,(I did work honest) and got loads of nettles so rot it well.

Can you give any more info on the wood chip manure? We have tons & tons of it!

Thanks

[Ivor Backache]

I have now got access to fresh horse manure and clean sawdust, and spent a lot of time googling 'horse manure compost' and 'sawdust compost'  and there is masses of information to be had. The ones I found useful I have saved in my favourites. I now mix sawdust, vegetable waste  horse manure in the ratio of 2:1:1 and get a continuous supply of good compost throught the year.

Dealing with just horse manure the minimum times I have obtained from the internet are:
3 months when the crop does not touch the manure, eg peas, sweet corn etc.
4 months when the crop does touch the manure. eg. Potatoes, onions.

[daddyAndy]

Thanks to everyone who's replied.

I think for the purposes of my plot I'm best getting some manure and letting it rot down in time for next year's planting, although there may be one or two plants that will be happier with the shorter timescales.

Andy