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Pa

my fall soil test had my organic matter at 4.5 i added my much needed manurer to reach 7.0. can you get this to high and at what point?

11/22/2005 5:51:13 PM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

You have to be carefull not to apply too much manure too fast. You can reach toxic levels on nutrients but you can't overdue the OM! Last year I applied about 40 tons of composted manure in the fall to a 75' X 90' patch. I raised my OM from 4 to 8% in one year. Because the manure was composted, I didn't have a problem with excessive nitrogen. My phos, potassium and Mag also came up significantly. This fall I added about 60-70 Tons of mushroom compost to an expanded patch of 75'X 135'. Some folks think I overdid it! I'll tell ya next fall....

11/22/2005 8:34:02 PM

Pa

thanks for the info! is there a ph diff. in cow or horse
manure? i can get chicken manure easy, but was told to go very light with that.

11/22/2005 9:31:28 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

You want to go easy on the Chicken manure because it is so high in Nitrogen.

Most manures will end up at a near neutrel pH afetr they are fully composted.

The contained Nitrogen is reduced during composting. So the older (or better composted) manure is, the more we can use at one time.

Here is a simplified but accurate explaination of manures.

http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm

11/22/2005 10:25:34 PM

Ontario, Canada.

The simple answer is Yes. You can get too much Organic Matter(OM). Many problems can arise, from nutrient overloading to nutrient lock up. It is best to add amendments which are composted well and broken down. If not you run the risk of common lockup issues which can starve your plants roots of vital requirements of Calcium, Nitrogen or Magnesium.

Many growers strive for Om levels of 10% or more. Balancing is the key as many folks will tell you. Fresh manure provides too much nitrogen and produces run away wild plants that don't set fruit. Too much OM can also tie up nutrients as mentioned above and cause splitting problems.

I like to follow OM applications with mollasses to feed the benficials in the soil as they help to break down the OM faster. Browns such as leaves require Nitrogen to prevent tie up issues in the break down period.

11/26/2005 6:53:51 PM