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Manitoba,Canada

Was wondering what manure would be the best to use on the pumpkin patch. What manure would you use if you had the choice? Cow, sheep or horse? And why?

Thanks

10/13/2010 2:18:10 AM

3 acre corner in Whittaker,Mi USA ([email protected])

Well composted cow manure with minimal bedding mixed in would be my choice because the cows have a better digestive system(I.e. More than 1 stomach) and they process their food better thus producing less ineffective material such as plant and weed seeds...just my opinion!! I am currently putting down llamma manure on my patch though!!

10/13/2010 5:08:39 AM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

The above is correct in regards to weed seeds, although any really well composed manure that has composted at high temps should have low weed seed counts. Manure that has had a high amount of bedding i.e straw or waste hay, tends to be higher in organic matter relative to the amounts of nutrients applied, such as horse manure. This is desirable because the main reason to apply manures for our purposes is to raise and stabilize OM levels. Addition of large amounts of highly concentrated manures such as pig or chicken, drive nutrient levels too high to quick, especially phosphorous.

I would suggest any well rotted manure, that was high in bedding content initially! Best manure...is free manure.

10/13/2010 7:20:03 AM

Mercersburg, PA

If you have well composted manure, is there any advantage to waiting until the spring to spread it? I am just wondering if it loses anything over the winter due to freeze/thaw, and seepage from snow/water.

10/13/2010 7:24:57 AM

South of Buffalo

I recently applied composted chicken manure from an egg farm. They claim its fully composted and pellitized and ready for application, which it seemed to be. It is used in local organic farms and on the crops that the egg farm also grows. Overwintering should drop any extreme nutrient values to acceptable levels by spring as I mixed it with compost and tilled it in. I found that depending on who you read online and in texts format you will get different nutrient values for a given manure. I used this as chicken is rated as one of teh highest overall nutrient values and it was easy to obtain but not free, it was however cheaper than bagged dehydrated bovine manure.

10/13/2010 12:24:40 PM

British Columbia

Any manure spread in the fall will have some loss of nutrients over the winter from bacterial and fungal growth, plant growth and simply leaching by rain. I think the amount of loss would be very hard to measure without some careful study. If you are feeding a green manure crop then you are certainly retaining some in the vegetable matter of the crop you are growing, especially if it is a nitrogen fixing plant you are gaining a little extra there. There is certainly a gain from adding organic matter that allows for aeration of the soil which allows better water passage and better environment for worms and such. Also, some materials can take a longer time to break down or might not work out in your compost bin. You don't want to pass up on organic matter for the soil just because you don't have a large enough compost area.
I spread manure in the fall and compost it for spring application. Here on the Wet Coast we have a lot of rain so I actually cover my compost pile for winter to keep it from getting to wet. As an aside I actually water it in the summer to keep the microbes wet enough to grow and cause the decomposition. Remember you don't grow plants you grow soil and you do that by growing microbes.
As to manures an old time, even older than me, told me that they use to say in regards to types of manures that, " horses made the land go backward, cattle made it stay the same and sheep made it go ahead." Back meaning worse and ahead meaning better. Don't know if that is true or not, but it might have to do more with the animals eating habits than their droppings.
I am lucky in that I have a source for well rotted sheep manure each spring, but it ain't cheap. Chicken is great but it is hot and needs to be well rotted. A lot of horse manure is loaded with dewormers and can be hard on the earth worms and some horse stalls get cedar litter which you want to avoid.
Hope this helps a bit.

10/13/2010 4:15:36 PM

Columbus,ohio

alpaca if you can find it...Its good stuff..low in nitrogen..I scoop a lot of it. Composted or pellets fresh out the animals is fine.

10/13/2010 8:09:54 PM

Manitoba,Canada

Thanks guys, I think I will stick with the good ole cow manure.

10/13/2010 8:23:22 PM