Neither manure nor compost is universally "better"; the ideal choice depends on your needs, but compost is generally superior for overall soil health, improving structure and water retention with lower pathogen risk, while aged manure provides a potent, fast nutrient boost, especially nitrogen, for heavy feeders, but fresh manure can burn plants and needs composting. For most home gardeners, well-composted manure or bagged compost is best, offering a balanced soil amendment, with compost winning for long-term soil building and manure for quick nutrient delivery.
Acid-loving plants, such as azaleas, rhododendrons, and blueberries, prefer a soil pH of 5.5 or lower, making horse manure with its high pH a poor companion. Equally, certain perennials like peonies, hostas, and daylilies are sensitive to the high salt content in horse manure.
Whether its chicken, cow, sheep or goat manure, fresh manure needs to be hot composted down for around 6 weeks before applying it to garden beds or spreading it around fruit trees. Composting down first reduces the risk of fertiliser burn and improves nutrient balance.
Composting can attract unwanted pests and wildlife, which can create public health risks and damage property. Plus, improperly managed compost piles can emit strong odors, which can create problems for nearby residents and businesses.
Don't:
If you have access to an 'elsan' or chemical toilet disposal point, toilet or greywater drain, these are also ideal for emptying into. Never pour urine into a canal or waterway – over time, it has the potential to promote excessive algal growth, which can lead to eutrophication (lack of oxygen) of the waterway.
Adding manure to the home vegetable garden can increase soil organic matter and may alter soil structure. Adding manure to soil will not change soil texture. Fall is the most common time of year for adding manure to a vegetable garden. The manure may be spread atop the soil or incorporated into the garden soil.
Perhaps you've heard the expression in which snow is referred to as "poor man's fertilizer." It turns out that this is more than just an "old wives' tale." Snow can actually add nutrients, most notably nitrogen, into the soil.
What weeds shouldn't you compost?
Pure compost will lack some of the important minerals tomatoes and other plants need to perform their best. I buy a soil mix from my local landscape supply company that blends granite dust (my mineral source) with compost and top soil.
Applying manure in autumn allows it to break down and integrate into the soil before the next planting season, providing sufficient time for its nutrients to become available to the plants. Overwintering: Spreading manure in autumn allows it to benefit from the natural processes that occur during winter.
Avoid sprouted or rotten potatoes: While you can compost potatoes, it's best to avoid sprouted or rotten ones. These can sprout in your compost pile or attract unwanted pests.
Labor Intensive: Collecting, preparing, and applying manure requires significant manual labor. Odor Problems: Manure often produces a strong, unpleasant smell which can be a nuisance. Slow Nutrient Release: Nutrients in manure are released slowly, so it may not meet the immediate nutrient needs of plants.
While adding compost to your soil can increase soil organic matter and improve soil health and fertility, too much compost can cause problems for the health of your plants and the environment.
You should not compost onions, garlic, and citrus peels in large amounts (they're too acidic/repel worms), diseased plants (spreads illness), Black Walnut tree debris (toxic juglone), and any vegetables cooked with oils, fats, dairy, or meat, as these attract pests and disrupt the balance, but many vegetable scraps like peels, stalks, and leaves are great for compost.
No, October is generally not too late to fertilize; in fact, it's often an ideal time for the final fall application to promote deep root growth before winter, as long as the ground isn't frozen and the grass has significantly slowed its top growth. This late feeding sends nutrients to the roots for winter survival, ensuring a healthier lawn in spring, but it should focus on potassium and phosphorus rather than quick-release nitrogen to avoid stimulating new blade growth.
"King Fertilizer" refers to several specific brands or types of plant feed, notably Crop King (CK 55, CK 88) for broad use in Australia, Nuturf Black Label Turf King for premium sports turf, and general products like Kingenta or Phite King, often highlighting high nitrogen (like Urea) or specialized NPK blends with added humic acids for soil health, catering to everything from vegetable gardens and lawns to tree crops, providing sustained nutrient release for robust, healthy growth.
Urine can be used as a fertilizer because it is a highly effective and free source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—key nutrients for plant growth. It's been used for centuries in traditional agriculture and, when applied correctly, can match the effectiveness of commercial fertilizers.
Surface-level vegetables that do not like manure:
Fall: Rejuvenate the Soil for the Next Season
Adding compost in the fall helps rejuvenate depleted soil and prepares it for the next growing season. Fall composting is especially useful because it gives the organic matter time to break down over the winter months, enriching the soil for spring planting.
Forgetting the Balance of Ingredients
Indoor composting still relies on a mix of “greens” and “browns.” Too many food scraps turn into a wet mess, while too much paper or cardboard slows the process.
Yes, you can use the compost toilet when you have diarrhea. If that's the case, we recommend that you change the bags more often and add more cover material than usual to help bind the extra liquid. If the diarrhea is due to an illness, do not compost the solid waste.
Recipe 3: Compost pee Urine can be composted. It's very high in nitrogen, so it counts as a “green” in the compost, and shouldn't be added to a compost bin that is already high in nitrogen-rich materials like food scraps. Be sure to add plenty of carbon-rich materials, like dry leaves, sawdust, straw and cardboard.
While you can keep your outdoor compost bin in direct sunlight, it's recommended to place it somewhere in the shade. While a nice sunny spot can make your compost decompose faster, it can also severely dry it out (via Milorganite).