Horse Manure

[celiacjean]

A question regarding the weed seeds in horse manure and how to ensure they won’t germinate, will laying it directly on cardboard and then leaving it over winter do the job or do you have to cover it with plastic tarps?

[charles]

Depends on the manure. If many seeds, cardboard over is good.
Weed seeds don’t just die, except in a hot heap which this is not.
You can deal with them.

[celiacjean]

Thanks Charles, you are very helpful.

[Geoff Turner]

Depends whether the weed seeds arrived before or after the horse muck was composted. The heat of composting will kill weed seeds, but if it’s old well-rotted muck, it will have accumulated viable seeds post-composting

[celiacjean]

That is interesting, never thought of that. Thanks.

[charles]

Geoff I estimate 95% plus of weeds seeds in manure are from the feeds eaten, in this case seeds in horse hay. Very few arrive after, relatively.
Unless the farmer/horse owner left a manure heap long enough (a year or more) for weeds to grow on it and seed.
And old manure heaps have not necessarily got hot enough to kill weed seeds. One does not know. So ‘well rotted muck’ may be full of weed seeds.

[celiacjean]

So it is best to get a year old manure over a well rotted one?

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