How to use pig manure to fertilize the soil
Anyone knows that manure is one of the most common fertilizers. However, most often we are talking about a cow product. The answer to the question of whether pig manure can be used as an organic fertilizer on a personal plot is far from obvious to everyone and for which plants it is useful. In this article, we'll show you how to use fresh pig manure to become fertilizer.
Pig manure as fertilizer
The advantage of this fertilizer is its availability, since piglets are bred in every region, and their waste needs to be disposed of somewhere.
Pig waste products contain nitrogen and phosphorus, and the form of these substances is ideal for dissolution and is easily absorbed by plants. Thus, the use of pig waste as a fertilizer will not only benefit the garden, but will also become an indispensable way of utilizing it.
Features of pig manure as fertilizer
The difference between pig manure is that due to the feeding of pigs with both plant and animal feed, the manure acquires the following features:
- when fresh, it contains a high nitrogen content, which makes it harmful to plants; however, after treatment, manure becomes a valuable addition;
- it is very acidic and is not suitable for every soil (it can significantly reduce the fertility of soil rich in chernozem);
- it has a low calcium content;
- its decomposition process is very slow, which makes it more effective at the humus stage;
- fresh contains weed seeds, harmful bacteria, microorganisms;
- its heat transfer is insufficient for the growth of the root system.
Can pig manure be used as fertilizer to saturate the soil in a flower garden? If there is no warning about organic feeding methods in the description of ornamental plants, then such fertilization will only be beneficial.
How and why to use pig manure to fertilize the soil
Can pure pig manure be used as a soil nutrient? The purpose of using the fertilizer is to impart neutral or weak acidity to the soil, as well as to enrich it with nitrogen. Every plant crop (except for legumes) depletes the soil, reducing the supply of nitrogen. This fertilizer is beneficial for squash, cucumber, cabbage, pumpkin, and also beneficial for crops that require nitrogen.
Please note that this supplement cannot be combined with others containing nitrogen. The process of waste processing and preparation takes 1-1.5 years, only then they cease to be harmful to plants and turn into a valuable fertilizer.
Stages of "maturation" of pig manure
Pig manure as an organic fertilizer goes through the following stages:
- fresh;
- half-mature (3 - 6 months);
- rotted (6 months - 1 year);
- humus (over 1 year).
Fresh pig manure
Such waste cannot be used as fertilizer, as they oxidize the soil too much and even make it harmful to plants. The question arises: how to use clean fresh pig manure? There is a way to reduce the acidity of fresh excrement with lime (50 g per waste bucket), the resulting mixture is mixed with horse manure in a one-to-one ratio.
Semi-ripe manure
At this stage, the waste still contains a lot of moisture and weed seeds, but the number of harmful bacteria is already significantly reduced. Litter is introduced into the soil in the fall at the rate of 2-3 kg per sq. m. It should be used carefully during flowering and vigorous growth and diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
Rotten manure
A feature of rotted excrement is the almost complete absence of harmful bacteria and weed seeds. At the humus stage, manure is much more beneficial for the soil, since it contains less nitrogen and loses 50-75% of its weight, the moisture content is significantly reduced, and the color becomes dark.
Overripe manure must be brought into the ground during digging at a dosage of 6-7 kg per sq. m. If it is planned to use the litter in a diluted form, then it is necessary to dilute with water 1: 5.
Humus
After a year of storage, manure becomes humus, which is the most valuable organic fertilizer containing a huge amount of substances necessary for plants, with a minimum of moisture. The manure in the form of humus is no longer dangerous for crops, since it loses most of the nitrogen and does not harm, being introduced into the substrates. Humus should be added to the ground in both fall and spring, in a 1: 4 ratio. Its quality can be significantly improved by mixing pork humus with cow or horse humus, as well as with sawdust.
Features of the use of pig manure in the garden
As noted above, semi-rotten and fresh manure is harmful to crops if used carelessly. There are other uses for pig waste, such as composting, which removes the specific odor and provides a higher nutritional value in the resulting mixture. Compost is prepared as follows: manure is laid in layers, which are overlapped with dry leaves, straw or sawdust. It is necessary to ensure direct contact of the manure with the ground so that the worms can get out of the compost heap into the soil.
The compost heap should not be too high and loose enough to rid the humus of the parasites it contains. Compost reaches readiness in a year, it darkens, becomes free-flowing, loses an unpleasant odor.
If there is a rotten smell in the heap, then rotting occurs due to the lack of oxygen and too high density. In this case, you need to mix the pile, making it looser. The shelf life of the finished compost is 3 years. Fertilize in the spring, digging up the ground. However, the compost should not be mulched. T. Kuzmenko believes that “<…> mulching with pork manure, even with litter, is undesirable, just as it is undesirable to apply it in any form immediately before planting the plants in spring. The dose of fertilizers based on manure is 2 buckets per square of the garden. "
Can I use fresh pig waste? It is possible, but only in late autumn. To do this, you need to dig a hole 1.5-2 m deep, into which the excrement is placed and covered with a layer of earth of at least 20 cm, which allows you to get fertilizer in the spring that is similar in chemical composition to semi-rotted manure. Then the waste is embedded in the soil in small quantities, or mixed with horse manure. Consider the high acidity of fresh excrement, which tends to spoil the soil around the pit, and use an area away from the plants for composting.
Other uses of pig manure as fertilizer
It has become very popular to dilute pork waste with water and mix it with lime, as well as infusion.Manure is diluted with water in a 1: 1 ratio, and left to infuse for a week, this significantly reduces the nitrogen content and destroys harmful substances. After a week, the liquid is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, and the resulting mixture is watered in the evening, avoiding watering directly under the root, in order to avoid possible aggressive effects of manure on the plant.
The use of pig ash, which is a mineral fertilizer, is quite effective. The disadvantage of this method can be called a long cooking time, and the advantage is a high concentration of nutrients in a small amount of this fertilizer and the complete destruction of all harmful substances and seeds. To obtain ash, pre-dried pork dung must be burned. Ash is used in the fall, it is embedded in the soil during plowing in the amount of 1-1.5 kg per sq. m.
Conclusion
Attention should be paid to the peculiarities of using pig excrement on the site in the form of compost and humus. Pig manure as a fertilizer is an ideal option for potatoes, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, significantly increases the yield of these crops. Infused and diluted manure (the so-called "ammonia water") is excellent for corn (watering should be carried out between rows, 2-3 liters per 1 sq. M).
When applying humus, you should wait a while before it enriches the soil with useful substances during decomposition. Of the above methods of using pig waste, only "ammonia water" gives an immediate result, since a large amount of nitrogen is immediately absorbed by the plant roots. Only with strict adherence to all the described rules and proportions can you usefully dispose of pig manure and significantly increase yields.