How to prepare manure for application to garden beds: important rules

To get a good harvest from your garden, you need to fertilize the plants. Often, this is done use manureBut preparing it before adding it to the garden bed will help ensure proper procedure without harming the crops. Farmers have explained the specifics of this process, so there won't be any complications.

Preparing manure before applying it to the soil

If a gardener has a lot of natural fertilizer, it needs to be properly prepared from the start. This is not surprising, as fresh manure cannot be added to the garden bed. Therefore, it is necessary:

1. Spread the manure out a bit and observe it. If you can see light steam with the naked eye, aerobic bacteria have begun to work. They help heat the manure, raising the temperature inside the pile. This will kill weeds and many pathogenic bacteria. However, the "combustion process" is only possible in the presence of air and moisture. Therefore, the manure should be periodically turned, watered, and covered with straw for about 10 days.
2. Once the manure has warmed up for the first time, it should be spread into a thinner layer (approximately 20 cm) and covered again. At this stage, farmers recommend watering the manure again with organic waste supplemented with special biopreparations. This promotes the colonization of beneficial bacteria, and their numbers increase.
3. After 30-45 days, the manure will gradually begin to turn black. When its color changes from reddish-brown and the distinctive unpleasant odor disappears, it is ready for use. In this semi-composted form, it is practically a ready-to-use fertilizer, suitable, for example, for warm garden beds.

By the next planting season it will have completely rotted and will become an excellent fertilizer for tomatoes.

Read alsoHorse manure as a fertilizer: rules of use There are many ways to fertilize plants for a bountiful harvest and healthy growth. One of them is horse manure, and we'll discuss its uses in this article. According to…

Why you shouldn't fertilize your garden beds with fresh manure

Fresh manure should not be added because it contains large amounts of harmful gases and their compounds. These include ammonia, propane, and others. They can be detected by their distinctive odor, and when they reach the soil, they form toxic compounds.

Toxins destroy beneficial microorganisms and worms, so this fertilizer will be of no benefit during the first year of use. Natural conditions will undoubtedly complete their work by the second year, and the manure will decompose anyway. However, this planting season, it will cause outbreaks of diseases such as brown spot and late blight.

Read alsoHow to use rabbit manure correctly The main benefit of organic fertilizers is that they enrich the soil without inhibiting the vital activity of soil microflora. Guano and all types of manure—cow, horse, and other—are used for fertilizing.

Manure is an effective fertilizer for garden crops. However, it can also harm plants, so it needs to be prepared before applying. Experienced farmers can help with this.