Features of the use of horse manure

Send

Very often, experienced gardeners and gardeners give recommendations on the use of horse manure. However, if you are not deeply versed in the topic of top dressing, it is quite difficult to understand why this fertilizer is better than others. But in fact, horse manure is not just good as a dressing for warm beds, but also has several advantages over other types of manure. Read about the benefits and uses of horse manure in this article.

Content:

What are the benefits of horse manure?
What is horse manure?
Using horse manure
How to apply horse manure?
The use of horse manure as a fertilizer
How to prepare horse manure yourself
Horse manure in beautiful packaging

What are the benefits of horse manure?

If we compare horse manure with cow, which is more familiar to us, it turns out that the first is drier, lighter, faster in decomposition and has more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in its composition. It heats up better, quickly gives off heat, differs in fewer seeds of weed plants and is practically not affected by the various pathogenic microflora characteristic of manure.

According to the degree of increase in productivity, it is the first not only in front of cow, but also in front of pork, and in front of chicken, and especially in front of goat, sheep and rabbit manure. It loosens heavy soils well, and when applied to the lungs, increases their water retention effect. And what is also important, it does not contribute to the acidification of the fertilized territory.

What is horse manure?

Despite the fact that for many of us the name “horse manure” does not carry any special associations, this organic mass has its own quality indicators based on its litter and ripening time.

The best option for this type of manure is the mass of horse feces seasoned with peat. In the last place is manure mixed with sawdust. And the most optimal, and the most affordable, is the option of straw. It is able to absorb more moisture, retains nitrogen well and more efficiently fluffs the soil.

Horse manure can act as a fertilizer both fresh and semi-matured, and overripe, and in a state of humus. Its freshness is easy to determine by eye: the younger the organic - the stronger the litter is visible in it, with its characteristic color and structure, the older - the darker the organic composition.

In most cases, fresh horse manure is used as a soil dressing (this is due to the fact that it emits more heat and nitrogen), but the one whose maturation lasted 3-4 years is no less effective.

It is during this period that the litter present in the manure manages to transform into a form accessible to plants, the manure itself is saturated with useful soil microorganisms, loses the smell of horse feces, and acquires a crumbly lumpy structure and natural moisture.

Using horse manure

Due to the combination of unique qualities, horse manure has its own indications for use, and the main one is the refueling of greenhouses and warm beds.

The recommendation for such use is based on the specificity of the decomposition of a given organic composition. Lower moisture content (in relation to cow manure), rapid heating, high combustion temperature (from +70 to +80 ° C), slow cooling (horse manure can hold a high temperature for about 2 months), characterize it as especially hot refueling material that is able to more efficiently release heat and carbon dioxide, quickly give out nutrients and actively stimulate plants to grow.

How to apply horse manure?

In order for horse manure to work to its full capacity, it is laid in a layer of 30–40 cm with the spring organization of the greenhouse, and 50 cm in the preparation of greenhouse beds in the fall, covered with straw from above and covered with a layer of earth 30–35 cm.

Horse manure can also be used as a greenhouse biofuel in combination with other organic fertilizers. So, for example, for early greenhouses, a good composition will be its mixture (in equal proportions) with straw or kitchen residues, in any ratio - with cow, goat or sheep manure, as well as peat or sawdust (60x40%, respectively).

For spring greenhouses, the doses are slightly different. It can be 50x50% horse and cow dung or 70x30% horse dung and dead foliage.

In large open areas, this type of manure is best applied for autumn plowing, and if in the spring, then only for crops with a long growing season. At the same time, the dose of fertilizer application per square meter should not exceed 6 kg, and it must be plowed immediately after spreading, in order to avoid losses with the property of volatilizing nitrogen.

Horse manure is also used as a mulching material, but only well-rotted, having a dark color and loose structure. To do this, it is laid out on the ground with a layer of 3-5 cm.

The use of horse manure as a fertilizer

Horse manure is also good as a root top dressing. However, in order to use it in the form of liquid fertilizer, it is recommended to make an aqueous solution. To do this, add 1 kg of sawdust and 2 kg of manure to 10 liters of water, allow the mixture to infuse for 2 weeks, stirring regularly, and then irrigate it. Only, before applying this fertilizer at the root, the soil of the beds must be moistened profusely.

Considering the validity period of this organic fertilizer, it is worth noting that it will be different, depending on the type of soil and the climate of the territory in which it is applied. So, the colder the climatic zone and the heavier the soil, the stronger the direct effect of horse manure, the warmer - the higher its aftereffect (in the first year on dry loose soils horse manure is ineffective).

How to prepare horse manure yourself

If you have the opportunity to collect and store horse manure yourself, you must either dig a hole in the garden or build a fence for the dunghill. Next, it is necessary to observe the layering of mass formation: the first layer (20-30 cm high) - peat bed (for collecting slurry), the second (15 cm) - horse bedding, and the third (30 cm) - sawdust, fallen leaves, grass And, finally, the earth (20 cm). And so - from the second to the fourth, until the pit is completely filled or a stack of about 1.5 m high is formed. For the winter, it is good to cover the formed mass with lapnik or oilcloth.

If it is difficult to follow such a sequence, you can resort to other combinations: alternate the layer of manure and peat, or manure and land. In addition, to better preserve nitrogen and phosphorus in the mass formed, it is good to add phosphorite flour or superphosphate to the formed composition (at the rate of 20 kg per ton of manure). In hot weather, the dunghill must be watered and pierced several times a week with a pitchfork.

Horse manure in beautiful packaging

All of the above is, of course, good, but what about those who have no time to bother every day in the beds, form a dunghill, insist on dung tea, but still want to use this type of fertilizer? The answer is simple - you can buy already prepared and packaged horse manure from various manufacturers.

I wonder which of our readers uses horse dung in the beds and in the garden? Share your experience using it in the comments or on our Forum.