Manure vs Compost?

[RedOctober]

Any advantage to one over the other? I know people usually advise compost where available but I'm curious as to why? What is the advantage if there is one?

(Oh I'm referring to cow manure here....I can't get horse manure)

[tbonus]

Cow manure will work just fine,as well as hpoo?I think so,but theres many around here that know way more than me so let them chime in and share their experience.GLUK to ya bro.

[Mushrooms201]

Cow manure has to be aged and to really be used needs to be composted with ofter materials to be very effective. I speculate that this might partially be do to the difference in the way a cow digests the grass. Recently I was reading about someone having some luck with composted steer manure.

[tbonus]

Hey redoctober,if you cant get any hpoo,why not look into what Hippies got?If Im not mistaken,hes got plenty of poo from the farm down the road.Check him out,the prices are good and the quality is great.If not,PM me and Ill send you some,cant be too much though,maybe a couple grocery bags or so.

[Soliver]

Good compost takes a long time to break down, and you have to be careful that it
doesn't still have chunks of raw in it, whereas poop composts / dries easily and is
easy to sterilize without any concerns of large chunks of ? being in it still...



soliver

[chill]

Originally Posted by Mushrooms201

Cow manure has to be aged and to really be used needs to be composted with ofter materials to be very effective. I speculate that this might partially be do to the difference in the way a cow digests the grass. Recently I was reading about someone having some luck with composted steer manure.

cow manure isn't considered a fair substitute for hpoo. It can be used but I find that hpoo is the shit

If you can't find hpoo easily look up a disabled riding association in your area. I'm pretty confident that there would be one just about all over. They'll sell you poo as a means of raising funds.

[Myc]

Compost is better.
If it's built properly it has a better nutrient complex than manure alone.

Bagged mushroom compost from the nursery/ greenhouse supply won't work.
This is compost that's already been used as a mushroom substrate, pasteurized, and made available for plants and soil amendments.

If you want good compost, here ya go:
http://forums.mycotopia.net/fungi-gr...ing-101-a.html (Urban Composting 101)
It takes a lot of work but it's pretty fun science!

[RedOctober]

hmmm....soooo I guess compost is better? or horse manure, or composted horse manure? I've been having decent success with the organic Hoffman compost but I wondered if there was something better out there. People look at me sideways when I say I'm looking for horse manure. Apparently people around here think it has no value for gardening as it contains too much nitrogen and will "burn" the soil. This is why no nurseries carry the stuff..it's super duper annoying!

Anyone have any good excuses to use for wanting horse manure from a stable?

The only one I could think of was that I'm starting an organic garden and I'm afraid of mad cow disease.

[Soliver]

I tell the stable owner that I'm putting the horse poo in my compost pile as a "hot"
additive (chances are s/he won't know what the hell you're talking about, and that's
even better). They're ALWAYS overjoyed to see me, as otherwise they have to pay
some asshole with a Bobcat to come over and doze out the stalls

Horse poo is great for plants that grow really fast - I use dried HP around all my hops
plants and they grow about five inches a day.

As Myc said, compost is better "if it's built properly." Personally, I don't have the
patience to do compost the right way. I compost my kitchen scraps for the garden,
but it's a straight neglect-pile; it just sits there doing it's thing until early spring,
when I scrape off the top 6 inches and cart off the rest.



soliver

[RedOctober]

I like that Sol! That's exactly what I'll say. So you do or don't compost your horse poo?

Also, how did you arrive at the right amount of poo to use in your logs(I assume you are doing logs? or maybe trays)?

I have been experimenting with this formula: I have 10" diameter plastic tubing so I'll put in about 3-4" of straw then a cup of spawn and a cup of compost and mix it all around good by hand. Then I pack it down and compress it as best I can. I repeat this until I make about a 14" high log. It seems to me that there may not be enough compost in this recipe so I just doubled it to 2 cups and am waiting to see what happens. I really have no gauge at all as to whether or not I'm even close to the mark but just experimenting

[Soliver]

I've always made simple bulk casings in a big tub, but I've never tried these
newfangled "neglect" bulk tubs, wherein you drill polyfill holes and let it do it's own
thing without FAE, etc. - that's next on my list.

The poop I get always has a pretty good amount of straw in it, and HP is mostly
digested straw anyway. Sometimes I'll add extra shredded straw, sometimes not,
but I just fill my container with poo / straw until the level looks right, put in a bit
extra to compensate for settling during pasteurization, I cook the poo, drain, let it
dry overnight in a pillowcase, then I dump it into the cleaned container and spawn
with however much spawn I feel like using at the time... the more, the merrier!

Let it colonize, case, fruit, etc., etc. I really like the idea of the monotubs that don't
use casings or FAE - that's my style of growing

soliver

[RedOctober]

I like the idea of the Sol but I've had terrible luck with tubs for some reason. They always contaminate on me. I had the same trouble with logs until I realized that they need lots of FAE, much more so than I was giving them. I now make tons of slits in my plastic sleeves and I haven't lost a single log.

How do you do tubs without the equivalent of holes or slits in the sides and bottom?

Also how do you dunk a tub project?