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Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 23:22
| I just had 6 cubic yards of compsoted cow manure brought in. I plan to use it to amend my native soil (sand). Will its' nutritional value leach out if left uncovered? Gracin |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Any potential remaining nitrogen could leach out with sufficient rain or irrigation flowing through it. Otherwise, it should maintain whatever nutrient values it has left uncovered. It will probably smell less uncovered, because any further gases released from any more composting it does won't be trapped under the cover. Hopefully, not covering it will be OK with everyone whose "view" is impacted by a pile of poop! Have fun! Kim |
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| G-in-fl -- How long will it take you to incorporate the composted manure into your soil? Assuming your plan is to use all of it right away, leaving it exposed poses no problem. If your question was precipitated by comments Jeri and I made on the "pegging v pillaring & heavy feeders" thread, I'll just say that the early article I referenced there was not specific to horse manure, but spoke to the reduced "manurial value" of ALL farm manures over time. The writer indicated that the inevitable reduction in nutrients is quite rapid in manure that remains unprotected from the elements. |
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- Posted by floridarosez9 10 (My Page) on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 9:09
| Gracin, from experience, if you are not going to use it pretty quickly, cover it. Number one, any weed seeds that blow in are going to sprout pretty quickly, and you will have difficulty shoveling it--we're talking huge, healthy weeds here. Two, weed seeds that are already in the manure will sprout. Three, weed seeds and grass seeds that were UNDER the pile when it was dumped will sprout. I have found the grass seeds that sprout from the bottom cause more problems with shoveling than the weed seeds because it spreads all through the pile. I'm generally talking Burmuda here. I actually put a tarp under and a tarp over if I'm not going to use it right away for this reason. It is shocking how quickly they sprout, especially if they get a little moisture on them. Of course, I'm in the country and have very heavy weed pressures. |
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| deffo - if the pile is going to be left unused, cover it - it will continue to compost nicely as long as optimum moisture levels are maintained - drying out is the biggest problem I have with my heaps so I use old carpet to cover them in summer to keep the sun off, and in winter, to keep winter rains from leaching nutrients. The darkness can have an impact on seed germination although, in my experience, this can go both ways. |
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| It is going to take me a good while to use up, so I think I will cover it. Its a good distance from the house, so smell will not be a problem. And fortunately, I am at the end of the road, with no neighbors to object to the pile of poop - or the ugly blue tarp covering it. Thanks all. Gracin |
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- Posted by sherryocala 9A Florida (My Page) on Sat, Feb 23, 13 at 1:45
| Gracin, if it's really composted, I don't think it will smell. I'm getting horse manure now that is partially composted, and it smells of strong ammonia but not so the neighbors would notice. I would put a tarp under it just to make sure I didn't lose any, but I've never had it dumped on the ground, and I'd cover it, too. Can you get topsoil in bulk from this source, too? That would be great. Have fun!! Sherry |
Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...
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