horse manure in greenhouse

Itoero · October 21, 2013

My neighbour has got a couple horses, so I was thinking to use horse manure to fertilize the soil in my greenhouse, where my tomatoes and melons will come.

Should I put the manure on top of the soil, and mix it after the winter?
Or should I mix it right away?

I was also wondering if there is enough air circulation in a greenhouse, to use horse manure?

Redbaron · October 21, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itoero

My neighbour has got a couple horses, so I was thinking to use horse manure to fertilize the soil in my greenhouse, where my tomatoes and melons will come.

Should I put the manure on top of the soil, and mix it after the winter?
Or should I mix it right away?

I was also wondering if there is enough air circulation in a greenhouse, to use horse manure?

Either way is fine.

kurt · October 21, 2013

A consideration would be to know what the diet of the horses are,if you are a organically minded.Some feeds and straw/hay might contain ingredients carried over into the manure that you might not want. http://www.almanac.com/content/manure-guide

Cole_Robbie · October 21, 2013

I will be using horse manure, too, but for what it's worth, some herbicides do not break down in composting, and will effectively poison your ground. Dow chemical made a web site dedicated to this issue: http://www.manurematters.com/na/en/

Doug9345 · October 27, 2013

I would recommend testing any manure. You can ask the horse owners, but unless they grow ALL their own fodder they most likely don't know for sure what's been used in growing it.

Take some of the manure bedding mix, put it in some cups and plant some bean seeds in it. Store bought ones will do. Also plant a control cup using potting mix or something like that. Place where it's warm and in a few days if the beans grow and look normal you are good to go.

October 21, 2013	#1
Itoero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Belgium Posts: 186	horse manure in greenhouse My neighbour has got a couple horses, so I was thinking to use horse manure to fertilize the soil in my greenhouse, where my tomatoes and melons will come. Should I put the manure on top of the soil, and mix it after the winter? Or should I mix it right away? I was also wondering if there is enough air circulation in a greenhouse, to use horse manure?

October 21, 2013	#3
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,500	A consideration would be to know what the diet of the horses are,if you are a organically minded.Some feeds and straw/hay might contain ingredients carried over into the manure that you might not want. http://www.almanac.com/content/manure-guide __________________ KURT Last edited by kurt; October 21, 2013 at 09:25 AM.

October 21, 2013	#4
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I will be using horse manure, too, but for what it's worth, some herbicides do not break down in composting, and will effectively poison your ground. Dow chemical made a web site dedicated to this issue: http://www.manurematters.com/na/en/

October 27, 2013	#5
Doug9345 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Durhamville,NY Posts: 2,706	I would recommend testing any manure. You can ask the horse owners, but unless they grow ALL their own fodder they most likely don't know for sure what's been used in growing it. Take some of the manure bedding mix, put it in some cups and plant some bean seeds in it. Store bought ones will do. Also plant a control cup using potting mix or something like that. Place where it's warm and in a few days if the beans grow and look normal you are good to go.