Horse manure in new bamboo bed

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Deane
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Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by Deane »

I am putting in a new bamboo bed where a concrete path was, I have had topsoil delivered, my question is can I put fresh horse manure in the trench before I put topsoil in ? I am going to be adding bamboos moved from my nursery that are in the ground
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by needmore »

I used an awful lot of fresh horse manure on bamboo plantings and the only time I had an issue was when I piled it up around a Moso shoot to try to prevent a freeze and instead got a cooked shoot. I used it as a mulch a few inches thick, I probably put down 40-50 cubic yards of it each year for a few years.

Putting it in contact with the root zone though I did not do and I wonder about the heat if you will be planting soon?
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by fredgpops »

My understanding is that you have to be careful not to use any un-aged horse or steer manure. A local bamboo collector that I know put fresh horse manure on his collection and had major leaf burn. Based on my experience 1) I have been able to get free horse manure. I let it age for a few months then feed it to bamboo plants with good results.; 2) I purchase aged steer manure by the bag at my local nursery and feed my plants in late fall just prior to winter rain to encourage root production; 3) Bamboo runs where there is water and fertilizer. I put steer and horse fertilizer on areas where I want bamboo to run. Primarily I have used it to control where my madake runs.
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by Tarzanus »

Horse manure has perfect C:N ratio and composts extremely fast. During this process, it produces a lot of heat which can harm the bamboo roots nearby. If you just pile it next to your grove, you can be sure bamboo will notice the warmth and nutrients and run directly for the pile. By the time it gets there it is usually composted and the heat is gone.

I also got a pile of horse manure. It is steaming hot and should break down in a few months. I'll use it in the spring.
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by dependable »

Sometimes horse manure is actually horse manure and bedding, eg wood shavings or straw. In that case it will likely not burn, and if bedding to manure ratio is too high, may ever temporarily tie up nitrogen.
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by Tarzanus »

True, some add urea as a source of nitrogen to help decompose the bedding. That mixture does burn the plants. I received such mix this year. I noticed quite a lot of urea that was stuck together and not evenly distributed over the bedding.
Pile was also steaming hot on several places with adequate amount of moisture. It should fully decompose by spring. If I'd have space and time to aerate the pile and shovel through it a few more times, the process could be shorter than 6 months.
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by needmore »

As I said, I used fresh horse manure/straw inches deep for years, up against existing culms and burned nothing. I'm sure photos on my website show it.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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iain
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by iain »

Unless the topsoil is poor, I can't see why you shouldn't use the manure as a mulch.
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by fredgpops »

Early on, I learned that the Japanese rotate a level of soil with a level of horse manure (re bamboo). Fresh manure is not an issue if you mix it with a substantial amount of other items like straw or leaves or what have you. I would not recommend fresh manure (only) to be spread on bamboo without some substantial mix. I can provide photos of properly mixed manure with positive effect and photos without manure spread that had a negative result. Lets move on.
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Re: Horse manure in new bamboo bed

Post by needmore »

Well I think that unless you have a horse parked in the grove it will be mixed with something.
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