Kitchen Garden Forum

Mornin' all,
I've got some organic pelleted poultry manure left from last year and would like to dig it in as I start to turn the soil after the snow. But is it too late? Might it not dissolve properly in to the soil and damage root crops like potato, which will go in very soon, or beetroot, parsnip and leek, which I plant out in April/May? Having only a smallish plot I can't usually put fertiliser in in the autumn, but last year when I used poultry manure in Feb, many of my parsnips had weird roots, even though the soil is soft and well-tilled. (Did I hear someone say 'Join the Club?! )
How long does it take for PM pellets to rot down? Or is it better at this time of the year to stick to other fertilisers like Growmore or "rotted farmyard compost" in sacks?
Thanks for any advice.

Hi John,
I would think that the chicken manure pellets are well composted before they reach you. I have only ever used them as a surface fertilizer and just hoed them in. They have always been a supplement and not the main source of nutrition. Even used that way they would scorch roots and I have never experienced this.
I cannot categorically say they will not but surely if you are planting out in three months time I think it would be in good time for them to have tempered down. I would go for it if it were my decision.
Unless anybody else knows differently that is.
JB.

Morning John

I would agree with Johnboy that the stuff is probably well composted before you buy it.
Personally I never dig it in; if the soil is in good condition it will add little if dug in early and allowed to wash out. I use a sprinkling under each potato at planting time, also a few pellets under brassicas to give them a good start. And I have never had any problems, only good results. As for parsnips, I don't know - I neither grow nor eat them.

Another use for the pellets is as a liquid feed - a small handful of pellets in a couple of gallons of water, leave overnight and use sparingly on brassicas, tomatoes etc.

Hi John

The producers of poultry pellets generally recommend that it is sprinkled on the surface (and perhaps lightyl hoed in) at planting time or even a week or two after. Parsnips do not need any fertiliser.

General ferts including poultry pellets contain N, P, & K. You may want to do a soil sample to see if you actually need the P & K and then use just a N fert if appropiate

Hi Stantheman,
All plants need nutrition and Parsnips are not exception. It certainly depends on quite a lot of different factors. Come the middle of the season, around July, most things like Parsnips and Carrots benefit from a light feeding. Really what is needed is either a low nitrogen fertilizer or a balanced fertilizer. Too much nitrogen out of kilter with P and K will grow you plenty of top foliage and not the roots you are after.
It is so often said that you should not feed Tomatoes until the first truss has set and people misconstrue this and give no fertilizer to Tomatoes at all from sowing with some dramatic failures. What should be said is no designated feeding regime until the first truss setting. If you get my drift.
JB.

I think it should be OK to sprinkle in your poultry manure pellets now. As other have suggested, I would imagine their contents are pretty matured by the time they're made into pellets and any rain and frost still to come should break them down further.

I normally sprinkle mine on the surface of my vegetable patch and lightly fork in. before Spring sowings. Mid/late summer, I just throw a few handfuls on the soil surface as a supplementary feed for the heavy feeders like courgettes & leeks. When growing peppers, aubergines and chillis in pots, I mix a small handful in with the potting compost when I transfer them to their final growing pots and this has never given any problems in terms of signs of possible root scorch.

I use chicken manure pellets but make a liquid feed out of them. If I sprinkle them on the surface, the dog goes around and eats the all up! Look out for tubs of organic pellets in Aldi soon. They're always a very good price.

Thank you all, that's set my mind at rest. Digging, sprinkling and raking is now under way and I will replenish from my local Horticultural Society, where the prices are usually good.
John N