Horse manure and nothing else

[Nondual]

I have been around horses most of my life and it is very rare that a horse will eat weeds, in fact they are very fussy eaters and that is why it is good to run cows after horses so all things get eaten.

My belief is that where ever he got the horse manure from had penty of weed seed flying around and was tranfered that way.

Only thing I can say is the REv told me not to use horse manure. That stuck with me. A local friend lets someone dump their manure on his property so I watched. Sure enough within a year a type of weed showed up that pretty much took over. Not the time of year I can get a pic of what it is. That's just my experience. Not saying it happens all the time but can.

Very possible the weeds came from seeds blowing around onto the manure. I can't say just know they showed up along with the manure.

 

[GanjaSnake]

I use composted horse manure in my mix all the time, but I wouldn't use it straight. My compost has some top soil mixed in because a tractor was used to dig it out and pile it up. After 2-3 years it becomes the most amazingly rich substrate I've found. A handful will contain several worms.

Weeds are there to be sure, but used in my mix that only results in an occasional blade of grass that needs picked, other tan that just great plants

 

[jaykush]

Perhaps my horses were more wild because they loved dried thistles and fresh hound's tongue.

this is a good point, not all horse poo is created equal.

 

[h.h.]

Just toking on some horse turds.
The setup was a 12" raised bed over sand. It's been in place maybe 5 years with fresh poop and a little phosphorous added at the end of the every season. Lots of worms.
Yield has been amazing. Structure excellent. Acceptable denseness. Overall stone is averaging maybe a 9 rating for the strain.
It's good, but it needs a little something...
Just finished using half hs, half potting mix, outside, filling a pit in caliche soil.
it wasn't real well composted and the plants stayed green quite awhile. Turned out nice though a little extra curing time was helpful. It was the first time growing the particular strains so I really can't compare.
I've had the green problem before when digging in steer manure. This wasn't near as bad.
In pots, it drys out quickly and is a bit dense. It can run too hot or it can be void of nutrients. In ground, that seems to balance out. It needs the worms. It needs the minerals.
I use it to top dress around my roses and fruit trees. The strawberries like it as well. You can still see all the turds in it. I cover it with fresh grass clippings and they love it.
For my special plants, I'm putting it through the worm bin at about 50%, in the end comprising about 20% of my mix. where I'm using it as vermacompost as compared to EWC. It's working well. As my worm bin gets older and work on it more, it should get better.

 

[MrShpongle]

Here is my first update. I took two Lemon Cake clones, as close to identical as possible, and planted one in 100% aged manure and the other in a mix of 35% Roots Organics Greenfields, 35% Roots Organics 707, 15% manure and 15% recycled soil.

The manure clone (M) is on the right, control clone (C) on the left. Very interesting differences so far:

M is growing much faster than C.
M is showing nitrogen deficiency. This is a total surprise, especially this early.
M is growing much longer roots, although they are nearly devoid of hairs. C is growing normal roots. M has sent 4 roots out the bottom of the 16 oz. cup faster than I've seen before. I'd like to repot it soon, but I want to keep in on a similar schedule to C.

More updates as they arrive.

 

[magiccannabus]

What the horses are eating makes a big difference. Mushroom growers can tell you that for sure. Many of them will sort through the manure to get bits that have higher amounts of straw.

 

[BluesHarp]

Interesting subbed

 

[Microbeman]

Thread mining is becoming popular?

 

[magiccannabus]

what is thread mining?

 

[Jbomber79]

out on the farm the old man uses 70% horse manure no nutes and no P... As Micro said it crumbles and seems to make a perfect medium for root growth.

Bud has had some leaf issues but I think it's from the sun (lack of). Either way I'm digging the horse manure and it fits my minimalist view on growing cannabis.

 

[Microbeman]

what is thread mining?

Digging up ancient threads.

 

[magiccannabus]

Digging up ancient threads.

Oh I see, I wasn't aware this was that old; found it in search.

That brings me to a followup question: Is it bad to use existing threads simply because they are old? I've seen people in the past get angry over old threads being commented on again(not saying you're angry, but the point is they don't like it), and yet I also see a lot of hostile comments toward those who don't use the search option. Instead of starting entirely new discussions about stuff that's already been discussed to death, isn't it better for the server if we just continue talking in old threads? I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything, I just genuinely find these things confusing and somewhat at odds....

 

[Santonio Holmes]

Well, shit!

 

[Microbeman]

Oh I see, I wasn't aware this was that old; found it in search.

That brings me to a followup question: Is it bad to use existing threads simply because they are old? I've seen people in the past get angry over old threads being commented on again(not saying you're angry, but the point is they don't like it), and yet I also see a lot of hostile comments toward those who don't use the search option. Instead of starting entirely new discussions about stuff that's already been discussed to death, isn't it better for the server if we just continue talking in old threads? I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything, I just genuinely find these things confusing and somewhat at odds....

So you searched out this thread so you could comment that mushroom growers look for bits of straw in the horse manure? Which mushroom growers?...commercial? What process do they use for this?
Can you provide any literature on the mushroom growing techniques using horse manure?

I didn't think horses ate straw. It is commonly used for bedding in stalls.

Certainly you are correct, it is always better to search out answers to questions prior to asking. This not only saves repitition by some authors but is a good exercise for learning.

I think the other mild irritation from digging up old threads is when someone just inserts a curt comment with little substance.

I can understand your issue in not realizing this to be an old thread. I've been fooled a few times, replying to threads I did not realize were not current.

BTW no worries, I was just hacking on ya a little.

 

[GrinStick]

psychedelic varieties actually have increased potency when grown on horseshit.

just sayin'

btw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5fJeCC3N9g&feature=related

 

[Wicked1]

well since I usually run over 45 head of cattle and horses on my land....I know bit about horseshit, cowshit and bullshit....lol....yeah man fresh it is just soo hot especially what I feed my working horses in a heavy legume as alflafa and then the Timothy Hay...true ti reaks up easy but shouldbe composted for atleast 1 year.....now add to that the fact that I use wormer paste prazyquantel and ivermectin for parasite control and other supplements to keep my working boys and girls going strong. it takes a year to compost most manure or its just too hot....most cows are wormed with ivermectin as well and antibiotics etc....so ita up to you what ya want......yeah a horse has a single stomache he is not a like a cow or goat/sheep etc...they are an equine....yes I feed some of the horses sunflower seeds for energy and fiber from the black oil adn the shell etc....I got sunflower plants everywhere!....me personally I would use two year old cow manure that was turned and mixed into blackgold and leave the horse shit alone.....woodchips in it ruin any value it might EVER have as fertilizer....most stall picking have wood chips thus rendering that useless too.....go look where that is spread in the field.....DEAD ZONE ....not even the scabbiest of weeds grow on but the outside edge of the piles.....

 

[Microbeman]

Wicked1; I too ran horses for about 25+ years but only up to 30 head on 300 then 100 acres. We only dewormed with Ivermectin at most twice per year. The composting worms moved into the droppings and piles as early as 2 months post deworming pretty much indicating the absence of worm poison.

I find that there is nothing better for vermicompost feed/bedding then horsemanure mixed with pine/fir shavings. Straw mix is also good. This provides a close to ideal 25:1 C:N ratio for worms as well as thermophilic composting. The lignins promote necessary fungi. I disagree with you on the wood shavings on that basis.

Our worms spend about 9 to 12 months in a pile before we use it.

I prefer horse manure to cow manure because most cows get hormones and anti-biotics but I just plain hate cows, having lived on open range.

I don't know what is wrong with your fields but we had tremendous growth from horse droppings. We did not over graze though and harrowed.

Compared to across river

 

[magiccannabus]

So you searched out this thread so you could comment that mushroom growers look for bits of straw in the horse manure? Which mushroom growers?...commercial? What process do they use for this?
Can you provide any literature on the mushroom growing techniques using horse manure?

I didn't think horses ate straw. It is commonly used for bedding in stalls.

I can't remember what I was searching for but it was actually unrelated to this discussion in general. Back when I used to cultivate cubensis though, we would look for the piles of horse manure in the small field the nearby horse farm would let the horses run around in. The field has a bunch of tall grasses in it, like crab grass, and even though they'd look at us like we were crazy, we would put on some big rubber gloves and go through the field looking for the poop that they made while out grazing. Its distinctly different looking, and if we were especially lucky it would have "fire fang" bacteria all over it. The advantage of that is that it would survive pasteurization, whereas most other pathogens did not. This allowed the fire fang to dominate the medium, keeping competitors at bay. Its only really found on the oldest piles of manure, and colonizes them a lot better when they do have grasses mixed in with them. For cannabis purposes, this is probably also the best manure because the ammonia levels are much milder in it. Such pieces can be identified by a white ash-like coating on the surfaces.

 

[Microbeman]

I can't remember what I was searching for but it was actually unrelated to this discussion in general. Back when I used to cultivate cubensis though, we would look for the piles of horse manure in the small field the nearby horse farm would let the horses run around in. The field has a bunch of tall grasses in it, like crab grass, and even though they'd look at us like we were crazy, we would put on some big rubber gloves and go through the field looking for the poop that they made while out grazing. Its distinctly different looking, and if we were especially lucky it would have "fire fang" bacteria all over it. The advantage of that is that it would survive pasteurization, whereas most other pathogens did not. This allowed the fire fang to dominate the medium, keeping competitors at bay. Its only really found on the oldest piles of manure, and colonizes them a lot better when they do have grasses mixed in with them. For cannabis purposes, this is probably also the best manure because the ammonia levels are much milder in it. Such pieces can be identified by a white ash-like coating on the surfaces.

You must be refering to species of actinobacteria.

 

[magiccannabus]

I wonder if his bad experience with bits of bedding in the manure had to do with what kind of wood was used? Some bedding might even be treated with herbicides or fungicides too, perhaps not even on purpose(a lot of horse bedding is produced at woodworking companies as a waste product). Cedar bedding especially might have some natural properties that slow down the decomposition for a while.