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persiannerd

Manure usage

persiannerd
10 years ago

Recently I went to Disney's Flower and Garden Festival, where i spoke with one of there landscaping specialists. i have four trees in my yard, a fig, an orange, a key lime and a lemon. he told me the best thing to do is to go to a local cow or horse ranch gather a pail of pooh fill the bucket with water stir it up and water the trees with it. he said to keep adding water to the existing poo until the water is relatively clear then get more pooh and continue. is this a good idea

Comments (8)

  • jimmy56_gw (zone 6 PA)
    10 years ago

    It's one of the oldest and best tricks that I know of.

  • Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
    10 years ago

    Thanks for this tip! Definitely will try!

    We have two horse ranches at the bottom of our hill. Shouldn't be too hard to wrangle a pail of the stuff. I could offer a baby fig tree in exchange..........

    I need to go knock on some doors.

    Suzi

  • alan haigh
    10 years ago

    Seems like less work just to spread some on top and water it in, or better yet, spread before a rain. If you have sandy soil the organic matter may do as much good as the nutrients.

    What comes from a horse may or may not fulfill the nutritional needs of your trees, but if the response is good and there are not obvious signs of deficiency over time, it ain't broke.

  • curtis
    10 years ago

    horse poo is loaded with seed. That is why the dude said to use water. Using an old t-shirt as a filter would be safer.

  • armyofda12mnkeys
    10 years ago

    Its sounds like you just getting fresh manure... is that correct? Isnt the manure thats too fresh will burn the trees?

    I thought you need composted manure so its aged and isnt as potent/toxic (plus composting gets rid of alot of seeds anyway too).

    Any thoughts?

  • alan haigh
    10 years ago

    I don't know if that's why he dude said to use water as it is an old idea to use manure tea because it delivers the water soluable nutrients quickly to the roots.

    Good point about the seeds though, but then you are talking about disposing of the manure when you are done which sounds like a bad idea to me. You might as well start with a known chemical fertilizer.

    He might just as well have been worried about smothering the perfect sod beneath the trees.

    I say, use the manure tea if you can compost the manure somewhere on your property when you are done or maybe give it back to the horse farm.

  • bamboo_rabbit
    10 years ago

    "Its sounds like you just getting fresh manure... is that correct? Isnt the manure thats too fresh will burn the trees?
    I thought you need composted manure so its aged and isnt as potent/toxic (plus composting gets rid of alot of seeds anyway too"

    It really depends on the critter it came out of. Cow manure fresh? bad idea..poultry?...bad idea. Horse manure is not as processed by the animal so it is not as concentrated so not a hot manure and it can be used fresh. Sites that say not to do so have either not tried it and are just repeating what they have heard or they are saying not to because of the weed seeds the manure can contain. Rabbit is another one that can be used fresh and is one of the best manures you can get and no seeds.

  • campv 8b AZ
    10 years ago

    I use manure everywhere in my yard grass, roses, fruit trees, grapes, veggies etc.
    I don't use fresh because of the seed/hot etc issues and have no way to acquire it.
    I buy the stuff .98 cents a bag. Easy w/o worries.
    Not free but close enough

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