can you use too much horse manure?

**Bigmallly** · 08-05-2014, 10:38 PM

Manure is a contentious subject but in my mind you can never have enough "well rotted" manure, even if it is stored for later use.

**toby6668** · 09-05-2014, 06:45 AM

I used lots on my raised beds last year. I had to spend a lot of time pulling out twitch roots but the soil is better now. Someone told me that cow muck is better because it is less likely to carry seed. I'll be using cow muck from now on if I can.

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**arpoet** · 09-05-2014, 07:15 AM

I collect hos muck from a friend with 2 old ponies, and as long as its well rotted its fine. I heap mine for a year and then spread it on the ground to over winter.

**alldigging** · 09-05-2014, 07:57 AM

No. Never.

Don't put it on carrot or parsnip beds. Root veggies like sandy soil else they fork a lot.

Use it as a mulch round permanent planting, dig it into a bean trench, dig in it to beds when you can.

**Richard Eldritch** · 09-05-2014, 09:20 AM

I'm not a fan of manures as they can introduce all sorts of nasties into your ground. I prefer the sterile Manure style compost that my Hotbin creates and to maintain a closed loop. I'm not keen on buying plug plants for the same reason.

**Bill HH** · 09-05-2014, 09:32 AM

You do need to know the source of the manure, some horses may have been fed on hay contaminated with a very nasty weed killer(Aminopyralid I think) that persists through the animals digestion and can wipe out a garden for several years. I think it is now banned but hay still exists that is contaminated.

Weedkiller in manure/RHS Gardening

To be safe if unsure use some on a test patch and let the rest rot for a year until you know.

**Richard Eldritch** · 09-05-2014, 09:49 AM

Originally posted by Bill HH View Post

You do need to know the source of the manure, some horses may have been fed on hay contaminated with a very nasty weed killer(Aminopyralid I think) that persists through the animals digestion and can wipe out a garden for several years. I think it is now banned but hay still exists that is contaminated.

Weedkiller in manure/RHS Gardening

To be safe if unsure use some on a test patch and let the rest rot for a year until you know.

Then there's the slugs, snails, and assorted critters that come with it! This Hotbin thing is like having a pig at the end of the garden, It gobbles up mountains of cardboard, food scraps ( cooked, raw, It doesn't care...) and produces something that smells like shi... manure.

**petep** · 10-05-2014, 05:41 PM

Slightly connected to the notion that horse manure might contain contaminants: I had an interesting couple of chats with fellow dog owners and some horse owners about the possibility of dogs being poisoned by horse dung if it was eaten by our disgusting dogs.

The upshot of it was that because of the high doses of worming tablets etc that horses take, and the percentage of it that can pass straight through the horse's digestive system, there is a real risk of a poo eating dog getting quite ill. If you don't know the medical history of the horse whose poo they're eating it's quite worrying.

With regards to using manure on vegetables in your garden/allotment; I would be a little concerned that something similar could happen to my edibles. I know manure isn't necessarily just dung, but there is the real possibility of medications getting into our food chain. I suppose it's the same with cow or chicken manure.

I was thinking I was lucky in having a field of cows over the fence from my raised beds, a chicken farm a mile away, and several horse fields within the same distance, but maybe not quite so lucky as I thought.

**Snadger** · 10-05-2014, 07:22 PM

According to Two Sheds you don't need the stuff!

I'm not convinced, and believe that any type of unpolluted FREE organic matter will enhance you soil!

**Two_Sheds** · 11-05-2014, 06:25 AM

Originally posted by Snadger View Post

According to Two Sheds you don't need the stuff!

I'm not convinced, and believe that any type of unpolluted FREE organic matter will enhance you soil!

I've never used horse manure, and I'm in my 18th year of allotmenting. I think that's quite clear, you don't need horsemuck.

I do make my own garden compost and use green manures on the allotment. At home I compost the dogs' poop (because sealing it in plastic & landfilling it is, imo, environmentally irresponsible).

But the original question was, can you use too much manure? Yes, you can, and it acidifies your soil. That's why gardeners are manuring one year, and liming the next, to cancel each out with the other.

**Snadger** · 11-05-2014, 07:33 AM

Originally posted by Two_Sheds View Post

I've never used horse manure, and I'm in my 18th year of allotmenting. I think that's quite clear, you don't need horsemuck.

I do make my own garden compost and use green manures on the allotment. At home I compost the dogs' poop (because sealing it in plastic & landfilling it is, imo, environmentally irresponsible).

But the original question was, can you use too much manure? Yes, you can, and it acidifies your soil. That's why gardeners are manuring one year, and liming the next, to cancel each out with the other.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one TS!

I grow stuff in pure well composted hoss muck with nothing added and things thrive in it. Its full of worms and very like a good peaty topsoil.
If my back would allow it, and if it was free I would put as much on as possible and rejuvinate my topsoil on the whole plot.
I only lime my brassica beds if required.

I am at the moment transporting trug loads of composted hoss muck into my greenhouse bedsoil to rejuvenate it. I am even filling large pots solely with t to grow peppers and cukes in.
I agree you can do without it, but if its free in quantity, fill yer boots I reckon.

**Two_Sheds** · 13-05-2014, 07:10 AM

Originally posted by Snadger View Post

We'll have to agree to disagree

I agree you can do without it

I think you're agreeing with me

I've never said don't use it, I say you don't need to use it

**bretty666** · 13-05-2014, 02:00 PM

my nextdoor neighbour is a race horse breeder so i get sooo much poop..i love it. my ground is so nice this year for using it..but as said..dont use it in parsnip bed. i dont think you can have enough. my neighbour lets all his rot a bit then gets a massive lorry delivering mushroom compost over the top of it then he brings me a few loads on the front loader..bonus!!! and also,can you ever have enough? depends on your supplier i suppose.

**pigletwillie** · 13-05-2014, 02:56 PM

Even in my garden I can produce a cubic metre of compost annually. My allotments produced 2-3 cubic meters each annually. As two sheds says, you don't need it but if its there why not. I prefer to use my own compost in the garden and use a no tread no dig system. The beds are hanging with worms and my plants thrive. Personally I would only use manure on very poor or very clay based soil as it is unbeatable in conditioning that.

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