We use horse manure as fertilizer

Almost all farmers and gardeners try to periodically feed the soil. Currently, you can pick up any organic or chemical fertilizer. Specialized stores offer a variety of complex fertilizers, which include useful trace elements. Despite this, farmers still prefer to use organic matter. Horse manure is considered the most useful and nutritious soil fertilizer.

To obtain a result, namely increasing the fertility of the soil, horse manure should be applied according to the rules. You will learn about the main aspects of the use and storage of this fertilizer in this article.

What are the beneficial properties of horse manure?

As you know, horse manure contains a huge amount of useful trace elements and substances. Most often it is used for heating greenhouses. In winter, the soil freezes over, especially at a low temperature threshold, and horse manure retains heat transfer and, due to its component composition, heats the fertilized part of the soil.

Far from every city or village you can find pure horse manure. Basically, it can be purchased on horse farms, but, unfortunately, there are not so many of them now. Progress does not stand still, and horse manure began to be made for sale in specialized retail outlets. Today, you can buy liquid fertilizer, granules or manure, packaged in bags. The quality of organic fertilizer depends on the method of its production, or rather, on the type of litter used. Peat, sawdust or straw can be used as a litter. The best option - the manure obtained on the peat bedding. It is not recommended to purchase fertilizer with sawdust. Inexperienced gardeners should be aware that excessive use of such fertilizer can adversely affect soil fertility and the condition of the planted crops and trees.

For the most part horse manure consists of water. Its content is approximately 70%. Organic nutrients account for approximately 26% of the total fertilizer composition. Horse manure also contains nitrogen, potassium, and phosphoric acid. The use of such fertilizer will give the desired result no earlier than in 2-3 years. It all depends on the planted crops in the fertilized area.

Top dressing of a soil cover by such manure not only improves its quality, but also has a number of other advantages:

• increased carbon dioxide levels;
• loosening of the soil, especially clay;
• moisture retention;
• improvement of the chemical and physical composition of the soil cover.

Types of horse manure for top dressing soil

As already mentioned, horse manure feeding can be performed in various forms and at different times. It is advisable to feed the land in the fall along with digging up the top layer. If for some reason you did not succeed in digging up the ground in the fall, then it must be done in early spring, at the same time you should fertilize it so that the manure can decompose and be a little rotten.

Horse manure can be purchased in dry or liquid form. Of course, it is better to use natural organic raw materials. Experts classify such raw materials into four subgroups depending on the decomposition period and stage of decay. Horse manure can be fresh, half-burnt, completely rotted, with humus.

Fresh horse manure is best not to use, because due to the rich saturation of nitrogen the soil can be burned, and the roots of the planted plants simply burn. In addition, various parasitic, helminthic, fungal organisms may be present in fresh fertilizer. Visually identifying fresh manure is quite simple: its structure is not changed and the type of litter used is clearly visible. Most often, fresh manure is used to feed the roses. In this case, it is diluted in a ratio of 1:10 with water. Then about a day fertilizer should be insisted and only after that use. It is desirable to dilute the resulting concentrate with water in equal proportions.

Half-ripe manure also needs to be applied in a semi-liquid form. Often it is used to fertilize roots and roses. For example, in the first year you can fertilize the soil where cucumbers, cabbage, zucchini, spinach are planted. But next year you can plant potatoes, beets, tomatoes, carrots on the fertilized soil. Half-ripe manure has a good effect on strawberries.

Completely rotted manure can be used as a universal fertilizer and added to the soil during its digging. Gardeners and farmers use completely rotted fertilizer to feed the soil in which the seedlings are grown. In this case, you need to dilute the concentrate in proportions of 2: 1. At the same time it is necessary to plant ground. The best type of organic fertilizer is humus. It can be used to fertilize any soil cover. Land fertilized with humus, it will be better to bear fruit. All planted crops on such a soil will acquire a more saturated taste.

We use organic fertilizer correctly

People who first encounter the process of fertilizing the soil, ask many different questions: what are the features of horse manure as fertilizer and how to apply it?

Let's see how to fertilize soil with horse manure. As a rule, farmers and gardeners use manure dressing in the fall when plowing or digging a land plot. It is allowed to use horse manure in spring, but not at all sites. It can be used only in those places where cabbage and potatoes will be planted. These crops have a long period of growth and development, so by the time of fruiting the fertilizer will have time to be rotten and will not harm the root system of vegetable crops. In order for the effect of fertilizer to be positive, about 5-6 kg per 1 m should be used.². If you plan to prepare the manure mixture yourself, then you should definitely take into account that no more than 7 kg of manure can fit in one 10-liter bucket. And if the manure has impurities of sawdust, then no more than 5 kg.

Most often, the manure substrates, which are sold in bags, contain sawdust. Experienced gardeners are advised not to use exclusively horse manure as fertilizer. You can fertilize the soil with other minerals. If you still decide to fertilize the soil solely with manure, then do it in advance: at least in the fall.

When is it not recommended to use such a fertilizer?

As you already understood, horse manure can be used to fertilize various fruit, vegetable and berry crops. However, not always its use can lead to the achievement of a positive result. Farmers do not use this fertilizer in the event of a disease of the soil. For example, if there is a fungal plaque on the surface layer, then manure loses its properties and will not be able to warm up the ground properly.

It is undesirable to use non-fermented horse dung in greenhouses where cucumbers grow. Ammonia released can poison a crop. Also, gardeners are strongly advised not to feed potatoes such fertilizer. This is due to the fact that as a result of feeding a scab may appear. If in the greenhouse there is a soil with a high density, then the use of such organic matter is contraindicated. Litter will be bad to rot, resulting in the soil will accumulate methane and hydrogen sulfide, which will poison the root system of the culture.

How to store horse manure?

Horse organic manure can be stored in two ways:

• cold;
• hot.

In the cold mode of storage, the manure is placed tightly in the compost pit and covered with soil, while in the hot mode, the fertilizer is placed without the use of compaction. It is recommended to use the cold storage method, because in this case, manure will retain its nutrients and beneficial properties:

1. Take a special place dig a hole.
2. Lay dry leaves or peat layer first, then a thin layer of manure (about 15 cm).
3. Next, use phosphorous flour.
4. All layers are stacked in the specified order.
5. From above the hole can be covered with foil or leaves, for example, reeds.

Horse manure is one of the best organic fertilizers due to the high content of minerals and trace elements. If you use it according to the rules, then a rich harvest for the next year will pleasantly surprise you.