dry cow manure

Sep 27, 2004 4 Replies
L

I told my children i wanted some cow manure for my birthday and got it; loads of the dried material from the floor of ancient but still usable barn. This material never got wet through the years and I am wondering if it might be quite strong with uric acid???? wondering if it needs to be put through a composting time or whether it is, being quite aged, aleady suficiently "composted." (I had expected fresher stuff but thought this would be fine...)



I used some of it to make compost tea with an air pump to aeriate it and i think it may have burned a couple of plants but then let it keep 'working'and tried it out, diluted, on a little Tradescantia fluminensis mouse ear that wasn't doing as well as i thought it should, and it livened up tremendously!



do i need to compost it or is it already considered to be ok to use as a top dressing on the garden???? thanks in advance.. leo/lee


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P

My guess: If it smells wholesome when you wet it, it is fine. If it smells like cowshit, it should be composted.

-paghat the ratgirl

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D

It should be safe to use as a mulch. Don't apply it close to peonies or bulbs. They get Anthracnoie..

snipped-for-privacy@shaw.ca

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S

it depends. Melons love it as-is, for example. If you have access to dead leaves to mix in, they will mellow the manure in a matter of one month. and top dressing is generally quite a mild application, it will take two years for it to be completely absorbed by the soil - so for most plants you will have no prob topdressing now.

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L

sounds quite plausible! guess i'd better do a little sniffing . and derryl, if it doesn't stink, will get the shovel and start mulching!

simy1, I do have a lot of leaves and leaf mold so will try an area with a mixture of leaves if the smell is ok and if not, will just add it to the leaves and let them do a bit of composting. --thanks to all--leo/lee

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