jbclem

I just took an hour drive to a soils company(Newhall, Calif.) to buy some compost, but to save time I went to their commercial yard and when I asked for the regular compost they pointed me to a large pile and then filled up my little pickup truck. As I was paying for it I discovered it wasn't the compost mentioned on their website Foothillsoils.com) but some commercial mix of 40% wood shavings and 60% composted horse manure, used by many landscape companies. The manure is cooked for 3 months at 145F, and the mix looks pretty good and is fairly light.

It was closing time and since it only cost $24 plus tax, I decided I was stuck with it and remembering that bananas liked horse manure, I thought there might be a silver lining somewhere in the pile. My truck is a long bed, so I probably have at least 1 1/2 cu yd of the stuff.

So what to do with this s........t! Should I use it in the new banana box I just build(4x4' x 18" deep), mix it 50/50 with the silt/clay soil I have. And I also have a large pile of finely chipped and shredded tree(birch??) that's been sitting for over 6 months. Would it be useful to mix the fine tree bits into the manure compost?

I'd like to ask for suggestions, especially if the composted manure is good or bad for plants (bananas et al), and at what ratios I should mix it.

I can also return to the soils company, their retail yard, and get anything else I need. It's a long drive so I'd prefer to use what I have right now.

mbfirey

If it's composted already, then you won't hurt the plants no matter how much you use, but it's best to mix it into the native soil-
Your plants, Bananas included should love it.

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Richard

Since it contains wood chips, use it as a top dressing and not in a soil mix.

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jbclem

The wood shavings in this compost mix come from the bedding used by the horses that supply the manure. Is the reason not to use this as a soil mix that the wood shavings will be breaking down and stealing nitrogen from the soil? They've already been composted along with the horse manure, so would that alleviate this concern? I've been adding wood shavings to my compost pile based on the same idea, that the composting process balances out the NPK ratio. And the composting that this mix comes from is a lot more vigorous process than what occurs in my small pile, with much higher temperatures (145F) over a 3 month period. What do you think?

john_ny

I am wondering about "wood chips" here. jbclem says they are shavings. Richard talks about wood chips. Would these chips be what a tree service guy runs through the chipper/shredder? (I would think that even these would be OK, if they had been composted for a couple of years.) As for "bark", I bought this regularlly, from a lumber mill, by the trailer load, and mixed it into our potting mix.

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Richard

The composted wood chip / horse manure mix I would use as a top dressing. Here's the recipe I would use for soil:

SOILS FOR POTS AND RAISED BEDS

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RobG7aChattTN

Yes, the breakdown of wood chips/shavings uses a lot of Nitrogen and will rob it from the soil or whatever is available. Well, guess what has tons of Nitrogen? Urine...from a horse or otherwise. Now, there might not be enough urine soaked into those chips, but you can blend lawn clippings in there as well. If it is broken down it should be fine even without the horse urine. I'd say go ahead and use it. It should be fine.

Richard

If the composition of your composted horse manure is "typical", then the nutrient content of your 60% mix is roughly equivalent to the requirements for 5 modest size subtropical trees or ornamental banana plants for one growing season.

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jbclem

Wood shavings(bedding) are laid down in stables to soak up urine. This compost mix is well broken down, and has the faint smell of ammonia/horse urine. I tossed some into my compost pile to see if it heats things up, that would be a sign there was some nitrogen left in it.