new allotment - struggling for rotted manure

gazza975526570

Got a new allotment but im strugglig to get hold of any manure thats well rotted.

Is there anything else i ocould put in the soil instead? WIll things still grow without?

savemoney

Growmore is good for soil

Get a composter about £8-£10 and next year you will have nice rotted garden compost if you put garden wast in it

jtb2412

Can I suggest chicken pellets (can buy from garden centres).

Regarding things growing regardless, it depends what has been on the plot before and if you've taken it over in good or bad condition. Can you give us a bit more info?

Congrats on the allotment btw - now the fun begins

lolarentt

What's it been used for before? Is it a totally new plot or just new to you?

Your allotment society will usually know likely suppliers of manure (local stables, or farms)

Spot

You can get bags of farmyard manure from most garden centers. Usually on offer at four bags for a tenner. If you have dug the soil over and it looks pretty good then you may not need to manure, depending on what your going to grow, some veg dosn't like it. Also you should manure up where required in the autumn and leave it over winter before digging it into the soil. If it's just a case of getting nutrients into the soil then buy some blood, fish and bone fertiliser and incorporate that into the soil as per the instructions.
For loads of good info go to vegexpert.co.uk of topveg.co.uk.
Also remember to use well rotted manure if you do get it. If you use fresh you will burn your plants.

gazza975526570

well its an old one that hasnt been used for 2 years - it will be rotavated (sic) before i start anything by the council

Is there anything else i should put into the soil?

gazza975526570

btw - there is some manure i can get but not yet rotted as i realise it will damage otherwise

jtb2412

Gazza, if it's not been used for 2 years then you should have a good basis for growing already. The reason I asked was if stuff has been grown year after year then you need to put the goodness back into the soil. If however, it's had a 'break', as yours has, then you should be ok for the first year.

Can I suggest that if it's not too overgrown that you dig instead of rotovate - hard work but otherwise you'll just be ploughing the weed seeds back into the soil. It'll be hard work to start with but will save you time and effort in the long run.

You'll have lots of ups and downs your first year (as we did) so stick it in (meaning plants lol) and see what happens ! Good luck !

oliveoyl

Wilkinsons sell this

lolarentt

gazza975526570 wrote: »

well its an old one that hasnt been used for 2 years - it will be rotavated (sic) before i start anything by the council

Is there anything else i should put into the soil?

I took on one 3 years ago, 10 poll plot, that had been unused for some years. Main problem was weed control, it was rotavated before I got it but that stirs up a lot of trouble as well! Many happy hours trying to dig out bindweed and couch grass roots!

I didn't manure it until the late autumn of that year having successfully grown some 22 different crops between taking it on in June and October (I was anorak keen at the time you can tell!)

If you can't get rotted manure but can get fresh it's worth taking a load and covering it with pe sheet until it matures - this will also mean you have less space to control for a while.

Spirit_2

Where are you as we have a very well rotted heap you would be welcome to take.