Aubiose compost

rhiwfield

I'm getting some bags of aubiose from a local stables and wonder whether anyone else has tried this or hemcore. From hearsay it seems to be popular with gardeners.

Can it be applied direct to surface of beds or will it need a period of composting? I'm told it is mainly horses urine with the hemp, not the droppings!

Lotus-eater

Haven't used it, but common sense tells me that it would benefit from being composted first, should be quick if you pile it up, although I would be very tempted to add it to an existing compost heap, together with horse poo and get an excellent mixed fast maturing compost.

http://www.aubiose.co.uk/ says
A natural material, which composts readily without the need for added composting agents.

Which tells me, that it does compost well, but not that it does need to be composted. With the urine it will rot very quickly and get hot.

peter_the_piper

Personally I'd be very cautious, it seems almost a horsey version of kitty litter. Check with the manufacturer first would be sound advice.

rhiwfield

[FONT=&quot]Query to aubiose uk

"Can you tell me whether aubiose is OK to use direct on the garden or whether it needs composting first. If so does it need mixing with anything else? The aubiose has been used as a deep litter bed for horses so has plenty of horse urine in"

Answer:

"[/FONT][FONT=&quot]It is better to compost it first as it breaks down into a peat effect, where as if you put it straight onto the garden it takes longer to decompose. Aubiose is a natural product and not recommended mixing with anything. Regarding the urine you will have to use it to your own discretion if you think what ever you are putting it on would not tolerate the urine in it then perhaps best not to use it, but many farmer like to use it as it breaks down rapidly to form a very valuable compost and helps in the regenerating humus of the soil."



I'll let you know how it goes, checking the web it seems as if will compost in 6-8 weeks and get fairly warm. If it does it will be fine for winter and spring use on the beds. The stables have been advertising it for years and seem to have plenty of takers, so its probably decent stuff. Its made out of bits of hemp, hemcore seems a similar product.
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Lotus-eater

After what you wrote I will stick with what I said before. If you get the stuff and compost it by itself, if it looks dry then I myself would add extra urine to help it biodegrade better, fresh urine should really get it moving fast.
Obviously the bigger heap of the stuff you can get, the better.

I would still layer it, a big sploge of your stuff on the bottom, a layer of fresh garden waste on that.... and so on, a fresh layer of garden waste on the top (sprinkle a few bins of grass cuttings throughout as well) and cover with something, a few days worth of urine on top of that (under the cover ) and it will absolutely fly!

Lotus-eater

Let us know how you get on with it btw.

shirlgirl2004

I use hemcore used with my chickens and it works well with veg. I just put it straight on and it seems to rot down quickly. I have to compost it first before putting on flowers though but that's more to do with the chicken poo.