Compost?

[JDUtah]

Originally Posted by DeepGreenLawn

I will have a normal soil test done on each sample before hand... I will also take a soil sample of my current soil as well. One thing unfortunately is I have already treated it with a little Urea so the N may be up some to begin with. Who knows...

I don't believe I will have major funds for any major testing so this will generally be more of a see what works and doesn't as far as the underlying cause... that is more than I feel I will have time or money to investigate...

Makes sense.

Another thought I just had is to make sure you are applying the same amount of total N per K with each of the three medias. This will make your results more comparable. It would take a different test than the standard soil test.. out here the total N test runs $11.50.

So for $40 you can standardize your N, and have a more reputable comparison. If you decide to apply at the same N rate and need help calculating it... just pm me.

Either way good luck and have fun with your experiment.

[Tim Wilson]

Originally Posted by DeepGreenLawn

My concern with a sequestered N compost is how long would it take for the N to become available in the amounts needed for the turf? Any studies to show the time it takes to notice the exchange?

And from what I understand... Bermuda grass for instance, the lawn will request the N it needs from the soil through the microbes... which means, in my case here, that the compost will have to be replenished as to be able to provide the needed N for a healthy lawn... how do you know if they N is there and available if you can't measure for it? Just keep adding to be safe?

I use vermicompost, so cannot speak much about thermophilic compost but I've never had a problem with the nitrogen requirements being available for the plants. I often plant seeds directly into 100% vermicompost. When I had a hay farm in a more populated area, where manure was cheap we would often spread chicken manure in wood shavings/dust across our field. This degraded quite quickly with good greening results. Now we run horses over the field in winter and have a resident herd of elk (200 or so) which hang out and poo over winter. Most Springs we harrow this to spread and break it up. The horse manure breaks down very rapidly (into compost?). We have never used any other amendments. I've already posted a photo of our 7 foot hay.

There are other sources of organic matter which contribute to feed the soil which may work for you; fish hydrolysate? grass clippings? humic acid?

[JDUtah]

Kiril,

What manure does your supplier usually use? I assume things like large scale chicken manure would have minimal weed seeds to begin with.

Do they do anything to sterilize the manure before they mix it with the compost? For instance, can you bake it or something to kill the seeds?

Thanks

[Tim Wilson]

Just a little word on lab tests;

Be sure to use an accredited lab. I've had quite a lot of testing done on a variety of soils and substances. There was a local Ag lab which did typical testing for years. All the farmers counted on it. I had testing done by them which was out to lunch. I started sending samples to the Bodycote group instead and was pleased with cheaper accurate results. There are other good labs but just check their accreditation.

I wonder if there is more value in plant tissue testing?

[Kiril]

Originally Posted by JDUtah

What manure does your supplier usually use? I assume things like large scale chicken manure would have minimal weed seeds to begin with.

Do they do anything to sterilize the manure before they mix it with the compost? For instance, can you bake it or something to kill the seeds?

Turkey, and I don't know what they do to it nor do I know how the farm is run. Sometimes I get fist sized nuggets of joy.

[Kiril]

Originally Posted by Tim Wilson

I wonder if there is more value in plant tissue testing?

When it comes to nutrient management in an organic program I would say there is more value in plant tissue analysis than soil testing. You still need to test the soil for a management program, but when you are faced with nutrient related problems in your plants, I go to the tissue analysis for answers.

[Smallaxe]

Originally Posted by Tim Wilson

... When I had a hay farm in a more populated area, where manure was cheap we would often spread chicken manure in wood shavings/dust across our field. This degraded quite quickly with good greening results. Now we run horses over the field in winter and have a resident herd of elk (200 or so) which hang out and poo over winter. Most Springs we harrow this to spread and break it up. The horse manure breaks down very rapidly (into compost?). We have never used any other amendments. I've already posted a photo of our 7 foot hay. ...

A farmer went by the insane asylum with his honeywagon full of fresh horse manure, when one of the residents shouted out to him, "Where you going with all that manure?"
The farmer replies , "I'm gonna put it on my Strawberries."
The one resident looks at another and says, "We put milk and sugar on ours and they think we're crazy."

[Tim Wilson]

Originally Posted by Smallaxe

A farmer went by the insane asylum with his honeywagon full of fresh horse manure, when one of the residents shouted out to him, "Where you going with all that manure?"
The farmer replies , "I'm gonna put it on my Strawberries."
The one resident looks at another and says, "We put milk and sugar on ours and they think we're crazy."

Smirk! & chortle