Project Spring 2014

[Farhan Ahmed]

we are feeding empty sunflower heads to cows. The stalk for roofing
please share how you are making the compost? It would be a learning for us

[Farhan Ahmed]

@Munir Sb....Lest we wait for a manure specialist. You may consider opinion of a non-specialist

First of all lets see what all nutrients various manures contain and in what ratio.



Cow


Chicken


Horse


I agree to you to some extent that horse manure maybe slightly richer to cow manure on some instances....but manure is what livestock eat. Now what a milking buffalo is fed better than a non-productive horse. I am not taking about Zardari's Horses

Manure nutrient composition depends on management practices,
such as:
• Source and quality of livestock feed
• Water added to manure
• Type and amount of livestock bedding
• Manure storage method and length of storage

Anyhow even if we assume that horse manure has more nitrogen we have 2 problems

1) Its half done....requires further breakdown for other nutrients.

"Fresh horse manure must not be used directly around plants since it can cause scorching of the leaves and stems. Also, if put on the soil in an unrotted state, much of the nutrient value will be lost and the straw mixed in with the manure will take a long time to decompose."

2) Horse poo is hot(nitrogen), that is fast release unlike cow dung which is a slow release fertilizer/manure, thereby even if nitrogen is slightly more in horse dung it will be gone in a jiffy. Furthermore it contains less micro-organism thereby less supply of stored Nitrogen. No wonder why world is moving to slow release chemical fertilizers. Cow manure is further enriched by urine that cow excrete over it.

For further reading please see the mechanics of Nitrogen in soil read below.....


For Transformation of Ammonium to nitrate(useable by plant in longer run) see nitrogen cycle. With more micro organism activity in itself cow manure ammonium is at greater advantage for becoming nitrate.

And lastly all the knowledge is acquired knowledge unless its divine knowledge.

[Munir]

Farhan Sb,you must be right. Cheer up.

[Tahir Khan]

In my view, nutritionally( Nitrogen content wise) horse manure should be on top, followed by chicken manure,cow manure & compost in that order. However,I agree that for seed starting, compost should be preferred.
I am going to request a professional also to give his specialist opinion.
@ Tahir, I can provide you a bag of rotten cow manure-roughly your requirement, whenever you visit me. It is otherwise available in the local market @ Rs.2500 per trolley.

Sir, Thankyou for the generous offer, I agree on the content wise nitrogen part but nitrogen is not the only nutrient that needs to be abundant in a fertilizer, the other two component potassium and phosphorus are perhaps more important as they are important for good rooting system and for producing top quality blooms... that is why i don't stick with cow manure as it is nitrogen rich which promotes lush green foliage and less flowers or fruits.. instead i use DAP which has relatively less nitrogen and at flowering/fruiting stage potassium.

I have a small scale rooftop garden so it is not much of a burden on the pocket, i usually have more cacti and succulents than other plants that is why i avoid high nitrogen ferts as they can kill or disrupt cacti growth. I only use cow manure to improve the texture and aeration of clayey soil.

[Tahir Khan]

we are feeding empty sunflower heads to cows. The stalk for roofing
please share how you are making the compost? It would be a learning for us

Composting is easy... You just need to have patience , i will upload the pic of the final product i got out of kitchen waste and other products.. will share the procedure.

[Farhan Ahmed]

Ground preparation is complete. Ground has been tilled over numerous times. Hoed & weeded. Only addition is cow manure. Look at the fine texture of soil due to extensive spade work and sifting. Melia Azadarech has been pruned to reduce ill effects and litter.

Seed Sowing for some time taking species in couple of days, whereas full bore in first week of October.

[Tahir Khan]

All set then

[rafique]

Would like to see your seed sowing step by step learning. Looking forward of that.

[mikhurram]

looks splendid. The hedges rows of nanthra look pretty and hopefully would be full of flowers by November. Attached are some photos of a public garden in Lahore in which they have created hedges of nanthra and ficus.

[Farhan Ahmed]

@Mi Khurram......Nice layering.
Nanthra, in my opinion looks best in its fall red color...and more so because its stops growing and retains its shape.

@Rafique Bhai.
Fingers crossed.