Thread: Organic Convert
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Old January 15, 2012   #11
tjg911
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Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut
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Quote:
Originally Posted by janezee View Post

Dice beat me to it about the alpaca. Use all you can get your hands on this year, and add the cow next year. No such thing as too much compost, IMHO.

j
while it is true that alpaca manure will not burn you plants and can be used immediately it is not compost - it is manure. and you can over do a good thing, too much manure will put too much 'stuff' into the soil. stuff is the chemicals in the manure especially "salts". too much manure can cause problems with nutrient absorption. too much of any element can cause imbalances and even too much organic matter can be detrimental to your plants. i too used to think it was not possible to over do organic amendments and a soil test said differently!

if you make compost then it is ok to load it into the garden because it is balanced having been 'composted'. just adding huge amounts of leaves, manure, grass clipping et al can cause problems. nature adds these things to the soil slowly not putting lots of any or all in 1 fell swoop.

tom
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