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What can I plant in thiscompost/manure?

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
in Fruit & veg
Hi all,

I recently bought this https://www.beavercompost.co.uk/collections/professional-soil-compost-manure/products/fruit-veggie-compost

What I received was this: 


Its part-rotted dung and straw. Its still quite warm.

I bought this to fill my veg beds with. Is there anything that will grow in this? (squash maybe?)

Thanks

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    It will be fine for anything.

    I don’t know what your soils like, you’re a few miles from me, but if I want to grow any brassicas I have to lime the ground in the autumn as it’s very acid here. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    That looks like good stuff to me.  I'd not hesitate to use it for my veg ... I might mix it with a bit of topsoil if it was available.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Thanks guys.
    So you think its fine to fill my empty veg beds with only this? (I dont have any top soil). And it will be ok to sow carrots, calibrese etc... in?
    I think thats what youre saying, but just want to make sure. :)
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    I thought warm manure would burn seedlings/roots. Im sure in a years time it will be good friable compost. But its currently very much unrotten.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Is it warm because it’s still cooking or because it’s been stored in a warm place and had the sun on it.  Does it feel hot when you push your hand right in the middle? 

    It may be a bit light for some veg,  brassicas need to be trodden in really firm.
    carrots don’t like rich soil, you usually grow those on soil that was enriched last year and had something else grown on it. 

    Will be good for tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Yes, its still cooking.  :(

    All my seedlings need planting-out. They are leeks, calibrese, sprouts. Would these be ok do you think?

    Is it a case of any veg will grow in it - but perhaps not as well as it could. Or is it a case that some veg will just die (because their roots will burn or because they just dont like rich soil)?

    Im not fussed about courgettes or cucumbers tbh. I like tomatoes, but I dont want to just plant tomatoes. I presume squash would be ok. Anything? (onions? leeks?)

    Sorry for noobie questions. I was expecting a nice friable compost/soil. Not what I received.  :s
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I always use a mixture of manure and/or compost with topsoil for filling raised veg beds.  Compost on its own breaks down into a ‘dust’ quite quickly and loses all substance and moisture-holding properties. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    https://www.beavercompost.co.uk/ uses 'soil', 'compost' and 'manure' interchangeably. Very misleading. 

    What I bought was described as "fruit and vegetable compost". What I received was "un-rotten dung with straw".

    This company should be avoided!!!

    Anyway, I dont want to deviate from my own thread....
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Seeing as how you've already got it and your plants are ready to go in, you may as well go ahead.
    I would put some in, tread it down, and keep doing that,  that’s what I mean about it being light.
    Leeks and onions will be fine but the brassicas need to be firmed in really well, so keep treading it down.
    Its all about learning,  if it’s successful that’s good, if it’s not you can do something different next year.
    You'll need a very close mesh butterfly net over the greens, scaffold netting or similar or the cabbage white caterpillars will shred them. 
    Have you got any soil in your garden to mix in? but then it would probably be acid like mine, or not good for greens. 
    This gardening lark is not as easy as it seems.😀
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    It doesn't look rotted well enough to me. What I get delivered as farm yard manure has the look and texture of peat, brown, non smelly and crumbly.  Even then the only thing you can plant straight into it would be squash or pumpkin.  That looks like it needs another six months to rot, and then mix with soil.
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