Cow dung as fertilizer - in what form should it be used? Manure as fertilizer

Many summer residents, who weed their gardens and gardens several times a season, solve the problem of accumulation of green grass and weeds by simply storing them, waiting for an opportunity to take them to a landfill. Naturally, such actions may seem quite logical, but not in this situation. Experienced gardeners They are well aware of the benefits that can be gained by using green grass and weeds as fertilizer.

Compost from grass, weeds and food scraps of plant origin is an ideal fertilizer that can be made regularly, independently and without significant financial and time costs.

Composition of humus

To make good humus, you must comply with a number of conditions and rules.

So, to achieve the required result, it is necessary that the humus include the following elements:

green grass;
hay;
straw;
weeds;
green branches, leaves;
plant roots along with the soil;
sawdust;
bark;
vegetables;
fruits;
ash;
bird droppings;
manure;
special additives to speed up the composting process.

Grass is a fundamental component of compost, but it cannot be used alone, otherwise the summer resident may end up with silage, or liquid slurry, which is a product of rotting and unsuitable for use as fertilizer, instead of fertilizer. It is important to remember that humus must be clean and pleasant-smelling, and therefore it is unacceptable to exclude from its composition:

food of animal origin;
human, dog, or cat feces;
elements that are not subject to natural decomposition;
chemical substances;
weed seeds;
plants infected with pests and fungal diseases.

When making a compost pyramid, you should avoid getting horsetail, hops and other plants whose seeds are not subject to rotting into it. Once in the soil along with the fertilizer, these seeds will quickly sprout and contaminate the planting area, doing the opposite of the job for which the fertilizer was created.

The quality of humus can be influenced not only by its composition, but also by storage conditions, therefore special attention should be paid to how to make a compost pit or box.

Compost pit or compost bin

Before we talk about obtaining humus, let’s consider how to properly make a box or a pit for storing it:

A suitable place might be wooden box large volume, made from ordinary boards. Ready-made humus, sawdust, or chaff should be used as bedding. In the latter case, the bacteria necessary for fermentation will have to be added to the humus, which will not be necessary if you stock up in advance on a certain amount of last year’s humus, which already has the required number of bacteria. When making a box, you should make sure that one of its walls can be easily removed.
Instead of a lid, you can use a piece of slate or thick greenhouse film. The design of the box must be such that the moisture that gets into it has the opportunity not only to evaporate freely, but also to flow down, being absorbed into the ground.
The compost bin should be located in a shaded area where the sun's rays cannot penetrate. It is also necessary to prevent excessive waterlogging or drying out of the compost.

As the box is filled with green grass, weeds and other ingredients listed above, the compost is mixed and watered with a hose, which allows the lower deeply fermented layers to come out and speed up the preparation of the fertilizer, making it more susceptible to microorganisms and bacteria.

It is extremely important to maintain constant humidity and temperature in the compost bin.

To speed up the preparation of compost, the green components of the plants are crushed using a regular shovel. In addition, it is advisable to periodically add fresh soil to the compost bin, which will also increase the rate of compost formation. The soil can end up in the box along with plant roots, so you should not rush to get rid of them when selecting plants suitable for creating humus.

Having unlimited space for gardening activities, you can use an ordinary pit lined with slate on the inside instead of a box. In this case, it is necessary to maintain some distance between the slate sheets to maintain free air circulation. A compost pit is made in the same way as a box, trying to adhere to the principle of a layer cake, and constantly alternate large volumes of grass with some earth and sawdust.

In summer, the humus being prepared is protected from rain, and in winter from cold. In extreme cold, cover the compost bin with a thick layer of straw, corn leaves, or old rags. IN next year the plant remains of the shelter can be used to prepare new compost.

Characteristics of herbal compost

High-quality humus must meet the following characteristics:

Color. The color of proper humus is dark brown. Humus, sold for planting and fertilizing plants in markets and flower shops, is usually black in color. Such humus is devoid of many useful microelements and is obtained as a result of conventional combustion under the influence of excessively high temperatures and high humidity.
Smell. Properly prepared compost smells very pleasant. The smell of fresh humus is reminiscent of forest, mushrooms and dry leaves. If a gardener smells rot and mold when opening the compost bin, the process has been disrupted. In this case, it is necessary to remove the lid of the box and allow the humus to dry thoroughly, then dig it up, providing access fresh air to parts of the compost that are deficient. If this does not help, there is no need to do anything else; the fertilizer will have to be thrown away, as it can become dangerous for the plants.
Compound. Proper humus is crumbly and friable. The degree of readiness of humus is determined by the ability to make a solid ball out of it. In addition, a sign of increased readiness of the fertilizer may be the presence of a large number of worms in the humus.

To make good fertilizer consistently, you need considerable experience and several years of practice. If there are optimal conditions, grass, weeds and other plant elements will become humus only by the next summer season.

Precautionary measures

When planning to make a large amount of humus, you should take some precautions, for example:

try to place the compost box away from sources of drinking water;
When placing a compost pit on an uneven surface, you should make sure that it is located below a well or well with water;
The compost should not be allowed to overheat; if exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, the humus may lose some of its beneficial qualities.

Accelerated composting

The speed at which compost matures depends on temperature, humidity and size. compost pit. Natural preparation lasts from 3 months to 2 years, but thanks to modern technologies, it is possible to speed it up.

Modern technologies make it possible to make humus noticeably faster, which is quite possible with regular watering of rotting elements with special additives. In addition, the speed of composting is influenced by the size and weight of the grass. Ideally, all components of the compost should be crushed to a minimum size and abundantly moistened. The speed of composting is directly related to temperature, which can be increased by adding chicken manure to the compost.

Bacteria that arise in the compost can multiply faster with regular mixing of the humus, which is recommended to be done at least once a week.

Compliance with the specified conditions, such as: creating a closed microclimate with high humidity and temperature; regular watering of compost with artificial additives; inclusion of chicken manure in the compost; Constant mixing of the layers will allow you to achieve the desired result after 4-5 months.

So, to get the correct organic fertilizer High Quality it is necessary to have considerable patience and a willingness to tinker with components that do not always smell pleasant. Good compost It is prepared over several months and even years. The basis for fertilizer is green grass and weeds, but obtaining real humus is possible only with the presence of up to 7 components. Humus should be stored and processed in a special box or pit; compost heaps and improvised landfills should be avoided - this is not only unhygienic, but also dangerous to health.

Natural fertilizers mean not only obtaining environmentally friendly agricultural products, but also significant budget savings. How you can make fertilizers at home and how to then use them on your site is described in this article. We'll look at everything possible ways how to make fertilizers with your own hands based on compost heaps and humus.

The purpose of composting is to produce organic fertilizer. How much is the game worth the candle? How nutritious is it compared to manure? In other words, can the compost obtained as a result of proper compilation and storage be equated in nutritional value to horse manure (of all manures, horse manure is considered the best in its properties)? This is a fundamental question.

Why? In gardening practice, it is somehow forgotten that the original purpose of composting is to turn various organic residues (kitchen waste, hay, sawdust, peat) into a fertilizer as nutritious as manure.

Manure as fertilizer

We state the immutable truth: for a personal plot there is nothing better than manure or manure humus. If the site is located next to a farm and access to manure deposits is allowed - both freshly deposited and perennial - then nothing more is needed. For indoor flowers, for planting holes, for bulbs, potatoes and tomatoes, you need to take old, well-ripened manure, and for cabbage and cucumbers, fresh manure from another pile. Beauty! Everything is rushing, blooming and filling. manure, as a fertilizer for agricultural crops, has a predominant position, since it contains everything necessary for active growth and development.

But when there is no manure? For compost, in our understanding of the word, in different countries Urban gardeners took up the challenge in their small gardens when there was a shortage of manure and a substitute was needed.

Cow manure contains approximately the following nutrients: nitrogen - 0.5%; phosphorus - 0.2%; potassium - 0.5%.

This is if, roughly speaking, you examine the “cake” left by a cow in a field. And if we talk about bedding manure, to which straw or sawdust is added, then the content of individual elements in it may decrease.

With such seemingly small “percentages,” manure is nevertheless an excellent fertilizer when applied 1-2 buckets per square meter, and for individual crops or in tree trunk circles it is applied in 3 or more buckets.

Horse manure contains a little more nutrients: nitrogen - 0.6%; phosphorus - 0.3%; potassium - 0.6%.

How to make humus with your own hands

Let's look at the process of how to make humus correctly on own plot what needs to be taken into account for this. If you want to make your compost more like horse manure, just add a little more nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Horse manure also has additional purely “technical” advantages over cow manure. It warms up better when creating warm beds, but most gardeners do not use these warmest beds because of the difficulty of temperature control. In addition, horse manure contains less water than cow's - this is also not such a significant advantage for us. From what has been said, it follows that today there is no point in trying to find the difference between horse and cow manure: they would both be an equally desirable source of fertility for our land.

In fact, most often garden compost contains many times more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than manure! In any case, it is typical to have 1.5-2% nitrogen in garden compost due to occasional splashes of feces. In the same way as 2-3% phosphorus and potassium - due to the addition of ash, also occasionally. In general, the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in different composts can vary greatly, so it is difficult to indicate uniform figures for all composts. And the figures given in various books are approximate and are in no way suitable for accurate calculations.

As for microelements, again their content in compost is often higher and more diverse than in manure. Therefore, in order to prepare humus, it is not necessary to use additional nitrogenous fertilizers.

There is also some convention in the issue of compost application doses per square meter. Compost can be added, like manure, 1-3 buckets per square meter, and if it is enriched compost (say, fecal or ash), then no more than 1 bucket per square meter.

Therefore, it is not only possible, but also necessary to strive to make compost equal to or even more nutritious than manure. Getting rid of “feelings of inferiority” is important factor When composting, the gardener should not have the feeling that his “product,” despite all his efforts, still falls short of real manure. Striving to create an organic fertilizer that is in no way inferior to manure is our main goal when composting, and not a tribute to some newfangled technology. In order to better cope with this task, it is worth understanding a couple of simple things.

1. The main value of manure as a fertilizer is that it contains a lot of nitrogen and carbon material. Nitrogen promotes the growth and development of plants to their maximum size, and this is an increase in yield, which, as we know, is necessarily observed when applying manure. Carbon material replenishes or even increases the humus content in the soil, thus laying down fertility for the future. Manure not only increases the yield, but also works for the future (based on its background, in the next 1-2 years you can add, for example, one ash to the soil - and a high yield will still be noticeable, all thanks to the carbon and nitrogen introduced with manure, which entered in the composition of humus). This is a significant difference between manure and mineral fertilizers. And, accordingly, our compost will also differ favorably in nitrogen and carbon content from mineral fertilizers.

In some cases, gardeners end up with such compost that there is almost no nitrogen in it, because they did not care about its content. There is carbon, but not enough nitrogen. This compost is made from peat, sawdust, straw, and leaves that have fallen in autumn. Sometimes - from mowed grass: it was kept in a heap for so long, trying to strictly observe the “two-year cycle”, that gaseous losses of nitrogen became excessive. Such nitrogen-free compost, of course, will loosen the soil well, but, alas, it will not cause rapid growth.

Or - the opposite, many people buy the so-called “liquid manure” - a solution of humates - which does not contain carbon material (more precisely, there is not enough of it there, although the solution is dark in color: there are organic humic substances there, but is it possible to compare the amount contained in them carbon with a truckload of manure - with that “ton of manure” that a bottle of humates supposedly replaces!). After all, few people properly understand the importance of carbon for soil. The humate solution, due to its high nitrogen content, will give good growth and increase the current yield, but it will not increase the humus content in the soil. Without humus, soil is unreliable. With humus it is as reliable as black soil! The more humus, the blacker the color of the soil. It is the carbon material that makes it dark. Hence the conclusion: at worst, compost from rotten sawdust, from straw, from tops will go - all this turns into a dark mass containing carbon. Otherwise, during combustion, all the carbon goes away for nothing, into the air, in the form of CO2.

2. To become fertilizer, manure just needs to fall on the ground. Just "plop to the ground" from the cow. All! Here a cow walks across the field, lazily chewing a bunch of grass, and throws off cakes behind her - that’s it, the manure has already entered the cycle of substances in nature. It is already created in this form by nature as best fertilizer! No complex technologies for further maturing of manure or its fermentation are necessary. They don’t fundamentally change anything: manure is an excellent fertilizer without them, and if it happened in the garden, it would only be worth covering it with soil to avoid nitrogen loss. Until now, after thousands of years, the best technology for harvesting is digging in fresh or rotted manure: albeit shallowly, 5-10 cm, but it needs to be mixed with the ground so that more nutrients are retained - and there is plenty of this for the plant roots. And if there is a lot of manure, then it is spread on the surface in the form of mulch - and this is also a fertilizer: after waiting for the dangerous stage of “burns”, the roots then approach from below and receive nutrition from its overheating.

To see the analogy with compost: it serves as a good fertilizer for plants much more often than it might seem. He just needs to give him time. Even improperly prepared compost will later straighten out in the ground if you do not expect immediate action from it.

If you observe the further fate of a cow pat in the field, you can see how greedily and almost without a trace it will be divided over the next few days among all living creatures. First, flies will fly in to lay larvae, then, when the cake dries out, all sorts of dung beetles will begin to eat it from the inside. Only the rain will have time to wash away something for the plants, but, according to nature’s plan, there should be enough for them: a countless number of different ungulates once roamed the fields, and they left a lot of droppings. The plants had enough: with constant renewal, it is not necessary to have the entire cake at the disposal of the roots. Heavy rainfall or melt water immediately transfers soluble substances from fresh and rotting manure into the soil. Fresh manure does not burn the roots, since with each rain only a small part of the substances is washed out of it in the form of a weak solution. By the way, fresh manure is not so easily washed with rainwater: it swells in the form of a dense monolith, from which excess water it just rolls off. Anyone who has collected manure from a herd of cows in the field will understand what is being said: wetted by rain, it is easily and completely removed from the grass, like jelly. More often, droppings and their remains accumulate in the felt of the grass litter, saturating the upper centimeters of the soil with humus. A normal soil formation process. Each soil has such a “felt” on top, and each soil under this felt 3-5 cm of its thickness has a sharply increased humus content - this thin layer is loved most strongly by the roots of plants and, if possible, captures it first. The gardener must “groom and cherish” first of all this upper layer without allowing it to dry out - with the help of mulch that imitates “felt”.

In other words, the “paths” of manure can be very different, but in any case it will serve as fertilizer. It cannot be that manure is harmful. There is basically only one mistake - allowing nitrogen to evaporate during storage: it would be good to sprinkle it with earth. However, there is another common mistake when working with manure: confusing which crops need fresh manure and which need old manure.

As for the different technologies for working with manure and compost, they are all good in certain cases: not because they are the best, but because in different situations it is more convenient to use one or another technology.

For example, a good liquid fertilizer - grass fertilizer, which is equivalent in nutritional value to slurry, is obtained with the help of anaerobic microorganisms, and classic crumbly compost for spring soil fertilization is obtained with the help of aerobic microorganisms. The quality of food for plants in both cases depends on what you feed your microbes. Compost can be good or bad - you need to recognize this in time in order to correct the situation as quickly as possible. With the proper skill, organic matter decomposes confidently and quickly enough, because it is impossible to “hide” it from fungal spores, and for them the main thing is humidity and warmth. A gardener who knows the composting technique does not experience any difficulties in feeding his plants; he receives fertilizers in large volumes and quickly. On the contrary, he even has an excess of fertilizers!

It is necessary to clarify the concept of “humus”. The word “humus” is always understood as the product of the “survival” of all kinds of organic remains, including animals. For example, the TSB states that humus is “a complex of organic soil substances formed during the decomposition and humification of plant and other organisms.” Then, for some reason, some authors and editors narrowed the concept of humus: they began to stubbornly call only the product of decomposition of manure humus. Like, when the manure has dried, it is humus, but when the grass has dried, it is something else. And what then should the product of compost decomposition be called?

Compost heap at the dacha

If you just throw all your waste in one place, you will end up with a great compost pile at your dacha! Is it possible. Having accumulated all sorts of organic residues over the summer, dig them into the beds or trunk circles of fruit trees in the fall. Or dig in in the spring (but if under fruit trees, then it’s still better in the fall!). This is the path of the so-called one-year compost, that is, “from spring to spring.” Even in this simplified case, it is an excellent fertilizer. Considering quite fast speed decomposition of finely chopped organic matter, this is tolerable: over the course of the season, the organic matter partially began to deteriorate, and in the ground everything will finally ripen quite quickly. But such “raw” fertilizer will nourish the plants for a long period. Only with this use will it be necessary to mix the entire contents of the heap before adding it, so that later layers would mix with the more decomposed lower layers of compost.

DIY compost pile

Do-it-yourself compost pile - it couldn’t be easier: put a box without a bottom suitable sizes in any corner of the garden that is hidden from view. A necessary component for the box is a smooth path. If possible, lay a path of light tiles next to it, since you will have to walk in rainy weather.

Stirring the compost in the fall before adding it is not as labor-intensive as it might seem; you don’t need to lift the whole pile with a fork. Mixing occurs automatically during another operation. Having thrown back the box, you gradually need to chop the tops with a sharp shovel. It is convenient to “shape” small crumbs from the edge, mixing the layers and immediately filling the buckets with them. Since this happens in the fall, you can also add collected fallen leaves to this compost. Or maybe autumn vegetable tops. The main thing is to mix everything well before digging (when fresh tops get into the soil with pieces of old decaying vegetation, they serve as a “starter”, the destruction of the tops accelerates, by spring everything will be ready in at its best). Or put the fallen leaves and tops on the next compost heap. Just install a new box in a different location.

3852 03/13/2019 4 min.

Every gardener keeps a compost heap near his garden. There's no need to just throw it away vegetable waste, because they can be used to produce organic compost. The main components for its preparation are under your feet. Any vegetation can be used here. You can even get humus from leaves.

How to use a gasoline sprayer is indicated in this

What is it and what is its composition

Humus is important element soil, which allows you to determine its fertility. It is formed during the life activity of microorganisms that are found in the soil, decomposing complex organic remains of plants and animals into simple components. These parts will be absorbed by plants planted in this soil.

In addition to all that has been said, organic fertilizers have positive influence for water and air feeding of crops. Humus is also directly involved in the development of bacteria and microorganisms that live in symbiosis with the root system of plants. In this way, vegetable crops will be able to obtain available nutrients. A lot of humus is contained in chicken, cow and. Once it decomposes, it becomes a valuable fertilizer for vegetable plants.

How ammonium nitrate fertilizer is used. specified in this

The video explains how to prepare humus at the dacha using accelerated technology:

Impact

For the normal development of a plant, it needs to constantly receive micro- and macroelements. When planting a plant in sandy soil, these elements are contained there in small quantities, since they are constantly washed away by the flow of water. When organic fertilizer is introduced into such soil, it is possible to glue the soil particles together, on which chemical components useful for nutrition will remain.

However, one undeniable advantage can be highlighted - the ability to retain moisture at the roots of the plant and thus perform reliable protection from summer drought and autumn frosts. Use this remedy can be used instead of peat as a soil acidifier.

The video talks about humus as a fertilizer:

The pile should be compacted and covered with film. In this way, potassium loss is prevented.
To preserve its valuable properties after winter frosts, cover the pile with manure with a layer of earth, the thickness of which is 15 cm. In the spring, remove the top soil and leave the film.

How to use wireworm remedies for sowing potatoes is indicated

The process of preparing manure is not difficult, but it requires special attention and compliance certain actions. You need to choose a suitable recipe taking into account what ingredients you have for cooking. There are no particular differences in terms of impact from the presented types of manure. All of them have a very beneficial effect on vegetable crops, promoting the rapid development and strengthening of the root system.

Summer residents and gardeners with little experience working on a plot of land, and especially those engaged in organic farming, should know the types and beneficial features natural fertilizers. It's impossible to achieve good harvest, not knowing for sure the difference between compost and humus or vermicompost and bird droppings. It is necessary to know where and in what quantities these fertilizers are used.

Nature has provided a large amount of organic fertilizers - wood ash, sawdust, manure, green manure, humus and herbal infusions. And these are just the types of fertilizers that our farmers use. And in other countries this list is wider. You can add fish emulsion, flour from various herbaceous plants or animal residues, algae-based feeding and many others.

Let's take a closer look at the organic fertilizers that are used by our summer residents.

Almost every plot of land has a place for a compost heap. Gardeners throughout summer season send there all the weeds, various food waste, fallen leaves, branches of trees and shrubs, wood shavings and sawdust, as well as paper debris. The more components there are in this pile, the higher quality the compost will be.

You can prepare compost at home using preparations with effective microorganisms purchased from retail chains.

Favorable conditions for compost maturation are: sufficient quantity moisture and heat. To preserve them and maintain them for the required amount of time, you need to cover the compost heap with a thick, opaque film. To speed up the processes and quickly ripen the compost, it is recommended to shovel it or water it from time to time.

If the compost heap has matured for 12-18 months or even longer, then the compost is used in its pure form. Fresher fertilizer must be mixed with garden soil before use. In clean compost you can grow a large harvest of cucumbers, zucchini or pumpkins.

Bird and rabbit droppings

This organic fertilizer is valuable due to its high nitrogen content, is convenient to store and economical to use. Summer residents do not have to waste time preparing this natural fertilizer; it can be purchased dry in convenient packaging. In many respects, the dung is superior to cow manure.

The manure is used in its pure form to fertilize the soil during the autumn digging of beds. But more often it is used to prepare liquid fertilizers. Fertilizing based on droppings is prepared from 10 parts of water and 1 part of droppings. This infusion must be kept in a warm place for 24 hours, and then water is added (5 parts of water for each part of the infusion) and used for watering crops.

Wood sawdust

Experienced gardeners recommend using sawdust when growing garlic, but for many other vegetable plants this wood fertilizer will be a real boon in the garden beds. They not only feed the soil, but also make it loose, which provides good air exchange for plants.

It is recommended to use sawdust only in rotted form. The method of overheating, which was used for compost, is absolutely not suitable here. If you leave a pile of sawdust on for a long time, then they will cease to be a useful feeding, as they will sour without access to oxygen.

Ordinary grass will contribute to the rapid process of decay. Any grassy waste is added to the sawdust, mixed thoroughly and slightly moistened. Ready mixture need to be placed in thick plastic bags (lightproof) and left for about a month to overheat.

Rotten sawdust– this is great natural fertilizer, which is added to the beds when digging, and is also used as a mulching layer in areas with vegetable and berry crops.

Manure

You can use horse or cow manure to prepare fertilizer. Cow excrement mixed with a small amount of hay, straw and leftover feed is called manure. It contains a large number useful elements and microelements - nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium. It is recommended to apply this fertilizer to the soil during the period of active growth of various crops.

Manure is used in fresh and rotted form. Raspberry bushes are mulched with fresh manure and added to warm beds. There is an opinion among summer residents that plants can be “burnt” with manure, so it is recommended to use rotted manure for fertilizing. Liquid fertilizers are prepared from rotted mullein in the form of infusions, and they are also applied to the soil during autumn digging.

Manure is not only a storehouse of nutrients that enrich the soil, but also a habitat for beneficial earthworms and many other microorganisms. They make the soil in the beds porous, water- and breathable.

It is customary to fertilize the main vegetable crops with a specially prepared mullein infusion. Add 2 parts of water to one part of manure, mix and leave to infuse for 7-8 days. The finished concentrate can be stored for some time. It must be diluted immediately before use. different proportions, which depend on the type of fertilizer and plant crop.

The downside of this fertilizer is the high purchase price and the saturation of weed seeds that will pollute the beds.

Vermicompost

Most supporters organic farming Vermicompost is considered the most valuable natural fertilizer. This is what is commonly called humus, compost, or mullein processed by earthworms. Its large amount of nutrients contains one of the important components - humic acid. It is this that contributes to the rapid renewal and improvement of soil fertility. This fertilizer can be used to feed almost all types of plants. Specialized stores offer to purchase vermicompost in the form of a concentrated liquid or dry form.

Wood ash

This natural fertilizer contains a large amount of potassium, boron, phosphorus and manganese. In organic farming he has no equal. Most often the soil is fed wood ash, but the most valuable is the ash obtained after burning straw. The quality and composition of ash depends on the product being burned - its type and age.

For example, using waste from deciduous trees, the ash will contain large quantity nutrients than when using coniferous species. Ash from old rotten tree trunks and branches will contain many times less useful elements than young plants.

Ash is used both in pure form and as part of various organic fertilizers. It is recommended to sprinkle the remains of plants with wood ash in the compost heap. In complex fertilizers, ash is mixed with bird droppings or cow manure. Many recipes for herbal infusions for watering and spraying also contain ash.

Wood ash is used to feed many vegetable crops, as well as to protect plants from pests and various infectious diseases. Based on ash, liquid fertilizers, solutions for preventive spraying are prepared and dusting of young seedlings and adult plants is carried out. Crops such as Bell pepper, potatoes and tomatoes react actively to ash additives. Only carrots have a negative attitude towards this organic fertilizer.

Humus

Compost or cow manure that has matured over two or more years is called humus. During this time, all plant remains rotted and turned into a loose, dark-colored substance that smelled of fresh earth. Humus is an exemplary natural additive for all plants; it has no negative qualities.

None soil mixture cannot do without this fertilizer in its composition. It is used in open and closed beds, in greenhouses and in room conditions. Humus is an important component of soil for indoor flowers, vegetables and berries.

No less useful and significant are fertilizers based on herbaceous plants, as well as numerous green manure.

Which fertilizer is better: mineral or organic (video)

Manure is a natural fertilizer, the most famous and used in all countries of the world throughout the history of world agriculture. This type organics is natural source macroelements - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as a number of microelements, such as lime, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine and silicon, necessary for the full functioning of plants.

Proponents of mineral fertilizing often say that manure is a fertilizer of the past, that it is not very effective, its composition is not balanced, it is inconvenient to work with, and, in the end, it smells unpleasant. Yes, all these disadvantages are present when using manure. But, at the same time, this organic substrate has an advantage that mineral fertilizers do not and cannot have. With the help of manure components, a fertile layer is formed, which is only depleted when mineral fertilizers are used. Over time, manure biomass is transformed into humus, forming an upper humus horizon, without the constant renewal of which the most blooming garden turns into desert.

Manure processing methods

For use in the garden and vegetable garden, agronomists usually recommend using well-rotted manure, which has a minimum ammonia content and does not “burn” plant roots. Also, it contains no harmful microorganisms; they die during the decomposition process.

Nowadays, there are many methods that help quickly change the structure of fresh organic matter and improve its consumer qualities. For example, processing manure into fertilizer can be done in the following ways, which are available to all gardeners and do not require special equipment:

Composting

You cannot get compost by simply placing manure in a high pile and waiting for it to rot, since the result will be ordinary humus. This method is usually used only to store manure. And compost is a fertilizer richer in nutrients, since it contains many components.

To make a compost heap according to all the rules, it is necessary to lay last year’s substrate at its base, which will provide the heap with the necessary amount of bacteria that ferment organic matter. The next layers are made from any organic waste (grass, tops, vegetable and fruit peels), which is sprinkled with manure. This “layer cake” is erected until it reaches a height of 1-1.5 meters. Then the pile is watered and left to rot. Recycled manure can be used as fertilizer in just a few months. But, optimal time For the maturation of compost based on livestock waste, a time interval of a year is considered.

Vermicomposting

IN last years Organic farming is gaining popularity, which uses methods of natural renewal of nutrients in the soil, without the use of chemicals and mineral fertilizers.

Composting manure using worms (vermicomposting) allows you to get not only useful fertilizer, but also a constant, self-renewing source of nutrition for the soil, since along with this substrate, worms are introduced into the beds, where they continue their life activity and reproduction, processing the soil around them.

In conditions middle zone For vermicomposting, agronomists recommend choosing a hybrid of red Californian worms with worms from the Kuban natural population. Before using them to process manure into fertilizer, the substrate must be acidified with slaked lime, or bone meal to 7.5-8 pH units, since worms will not be able to live in a neutral environment.

Accelerated fermentation using humates

These natural bioadditives are used to accelerate the fermentation process of manure substrate during composting. They make the use of manure very economical, since after it is treated with bioactive preparations, the application rate of this organic fertilizer can be reduced by three times, while maintaining the same effectiveness. The price of manure in this case also decreases, due to a decrease in the volume of its use.

Humates are used to ferment organic matter in the following way: 2-3 months before adding it to the soil (usually in early spring, as soon as constant positive temperatures are established), the manure pile is spilled with a solution of humates, adding about 10 g of biostimulants per 10 kg of manure. After the procedure, the pile is thoroughly mixed to speed up the processing process.

Infusion

This is the most quick method manure processing, which allows you to get rid of excess ammonia contained in uric acid and kill harmful microflora, including worms and nematode eggs. It is very simple to use - horse, pig or cow manure is poured with water 1:1 and left for a week. The resulting working solution is diluted again, in a ratio of 1:10, and the resulting mixture is watered over the plants in the evening. Manure infusion cannot be poured right to the root, so it is poured into the marked grooves between the plants.

Video: preparing liquid fertilizer from litter/manure

Application of fresh manure

Fresh manure can be used for fertilizer, despite the fact that the nutrients from its composition are more difficult for plants to absorb. But sometimes the end justifies the means, since it is not always possible to wait until the compost matures.

Fresh manure is used in cases where there is no time, but there is a large amount of animal organic matter available. Then the manure is handled as follows:

In summer, liquid fertilizer is prepared from manure. To do this, manure is diluted in warm water in a proportion of ¼, and the resulting mixture is watered over the plants along the edge of the tree trunk in the evening. For 1 sq.m. consume 1.5 liters of solution.
In autumn it is used when digging the soil. The rate for applying manure is 1 bucket (10 l) per square meter, placement depth is no more than 30-40 cm.
In winter, the soil is pre-fertilized with manure, spreading it around the garden directly on the snow cover. The consumption rate is 1.5 buckets per sq.m., since with prolonged interaction with air (and in this case the manure will be on the surface of the earth), it loses a significant part of the nitrogen, and therefore this organic fertilizer is required with this method of application more.
In spring - used as biofuel in the construction of warm beds for cucumbers and other melons. Lamb manure is preferable for this purpose, since it has a heating temperature inside the heap of at least 60-70 ° C, and cow, pork and horse manure is 15-20 degrees lower. When using fresh manure for seasonal feeding garden plants, it is necessary, in accordance with clause 4.4 of GOST 26074-84, to maintain a certain time interval before harvesting, otherwise finished products Worms and other unpleasant microorganisms can migrate.

Types of manure

Cow dung

This type of organic matter is the most common. Cow dung is used to fertilize all types of plants in all agricultural zones. But it must be used skillfully, otherwise you can oversaturate the finished product with nitrates, which it contains in large quantities. The composition of this substrate is as follows (per 1 kg of mass):

Total nitrogen – 3.5 g;
Calcium (oxide) – 2.9 g;
Phosphorus (oxide) – 3 g;
Potassium (oxide) – 1.4 g.

When choosing the concentration of feeding, it should be taken into account that, depending on the age and sex of the animal, chemical composition manure may vary. For example, the excrement of adult cows contains 15% more useful substances than calves and bulls of the first year of life. It is recommended to apply this substrate in an amount of 7-10 kg per square meter, depending on soil fertility.

The temperature of cow dung at a depth of 1 meter is about 31-34 °C, at a depth of more than two meters – 40-46 °C. At the bottom – 23-28 °C. Therefore, the optimal heating beds for cucumbers will be piles of manure at least 1 meter high; only such a volume can sufficiently heat the surface, ensuring a high temperature.

Cow manure, despite its widespread distribution, is one of the least nutritious types of organic matter, as it contains the least amount of nutrients. At the same time, this property can even be useful, since it reduces the risk of fruit overdose with elements from the NPK complex, and, accordingly, the risk of nitrate poisoning of the finished product.

Horse dung

This type of organic fertilizer is considered one of the best, and is used both indoors and outdoors. open ground. Horse excrement contains more nutrients than cow manure.

The approximate chemical composition is as follows (per 1 kg of mass):

Total nitrogen – 4.7 g;
Calcium (oxide) – 3.5 g;
Phosphorus (oxide) – 3.8 g;
Potassium (oxide) – 2 g.

Horse manure as a fertilizer is used to prepare the soil for such garden crops, like zucchini, squash and pumpkins. When fertilizing the soil with manure, it is recommended to apply it in an amount of 5 kg per 1 sq.m. This amount is sufficient, since it contains more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than mullein. If horse excrement is used in a greenhouse as biofuel, the manure must be spread in a layer of at least 30 cm and thoroughly poured hot water with potassium permanganate, to destroy harmful microflora, including fungi. It is covered with a layer on top fertile land, at least 20 cm thick.

Video: horse manure and its use

Pig manure

Manure runoff from pig farms is also used as fertilizer. They include excrement (both solid and liquid), feed debris, stubble, and a small portion of bedding (hay, straw, or sawdust).

Pig manure is considered one of the most “caustic”. Indeed, it contains large amounts of nitrogen in the form of ammonia, a high concentration of which is present in the urine of these animals.

The chemical composition of pig manure, on the first day after receipt, looks like this (per 1 kg of weight):

Total nitrogen – 8.13 g;
Calcium (oxide) – 7.74 g;
Phosphorus (oxide) – 7.9 g;
Potassium (oxide) – 4.5 g.

Pig manure, unlike cow or horse manure, is a semi-liquid suspension, where solids(in the form of granules 3-5 mm in size), occupy at least ¼ of the total volume. Pork excrement is quite difficult to separate into fractions, so it is usually transported in closed containers.

In the article “Use of pig manure for fertilizing crops” (Advanced pig farming: theory and practice, issue 5, 2012), authors G.E. Merzla, I.V. Shchegoleva, M.V. Leonova., this organic fertilizer was compared with cattle manure. The authors pointed out an interesting feature of the nitrogen contained in this type of organic matter, 70% of which is in easily digestible form and tends to accumulate in the soil in mineral form. This is a big plus of pig manure, but also a noticeable minus. Because of this richness, this substrate is not easy to use. It is recommended to dilute it well, twice as thin as mullein, and keep it in compost for much longer.

Rabbit manure

This substrate differs from other types of organic matter in its consistency and composition, since it is much drier than all other types of animal organic matter, which greatly facilitates its transportation. Another advantage of rabbit manure is that it does not contain weed seeds, which allows it to be used without prior composting. Of the harmful microorganisms, rabbit droppings contain only coccidia, which can only harm the body of rabbits. To avoid this, storing manure near cages in hot weather is strictly prohibited.

Rabbit excrement is used in the same way as cattle waste, applied to the ground for plowing or digging, infused in compost, and liquid fertilizers are prepared from it. But there is one processing method that is impossible for other species - a dry powder is made from rabbit droppings, which is used not only for personal plot, but also at home, for feeding home flowers. To prepare it, the pellets are dried in the sun and pounded in a mortar. After this, mix with soil at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon for 3 l. soil and poured into pots intended for planting home flowers. Rabbit manure can be purchased not only at farms, but also at large garden supply supermarkets.

Ready-made manure is good because it is already disinfected in accordance with GOST 26074-84 (Veterinary and sanitary requirements for processing, storage, transportation and use), and it can be used immediately, since it is already rotted and thoroughly dried.

Video: rabbit manure and vermicompost

The use of organic matter as fertilizer for personal plots has never lost its relevance, and in the last few years, in the wake of the revival of the popularity of organic farming, it has significantly replaced mineral fertilizers. Humanity is coming to the understanding that thoughtless exploitation of lands leads to their depletion due to the rapid reduction of the humus layer. The use of animal organic matter prevents this process and helps restore a fertile soil horizon. This property of natural fertilizers, when choosing fertilizer for their garden, increasingly tilts the choice of gardeners towards organic matter, because it renews the most important resource - soil fertility, and therefore is the fertilizer of the future.