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Long Beach, CA

I was wondering, is it okay to bury vines in well composted manure? I have heard that one should use only regular soil, but won't the manure benifit growth?

Thanks,
Oliver

4/9/2005 12:56:43 AM

Rhode Island

oliver

my suggestion would be to till or plow the well composted manure into the soil first , then it will be in the soil and all the nutrients will be available rather than sitting on top of the garden
i would also suggest getting a soil sample once your tilling is done

you may be missing a micronutrient or high and/or low in one of the major eliments (n-p-k)

also, if your soil ph was to low ( 5.5 to 6.0 then adding some composted manure on top of the soil would in a fact raise the ph to a more acceptable level

i still think mixing it into the soil and testing is the way to go

dick

4/9/2005 5:23:12 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

Yes, it would benefit growth but it can also promote rot, which is the more likely case.

Martin

4/9/2005 5:24:37 AM

Canada

Last year I burried all my vines, The only points I like about covering the vines, is the additional uptake from from more roots and it also helps keep the vines down dureing heavy wind and rain. Ya the downfalls are rotting
and they are more prone to critters eatting and borrowing into the vines, This year i'm sticking with just growing 2 plants at home again do to my size of patch and grow area, This year I dont plan to burry vines, but rather stake them down as the vines grow, this will help with both wind and rain, but will help prevent rotting of the vine, yet at the same time the tap roots that grow from each node should still beable to find there way down into the soil.

last year when I pulled my plants in the fall all the vines that did grow off into the lawn the even thought the vines were not burried each node still produced roots which still were able to find there way down threw the grass and into the hard soil.

Dave

4/9/2005 1:16:31 PM

[email protected]

Layers in soil usually mean trouble. My vote is to integrate the manure as Dick (pap) suggested.

4/9/2005 2:12:52 PM

KENTUCKY

Last year I buried all my vines on two plants with COMPLETLEY composted manure leaf mixture. It was finished composting (it was powder, no heat to it at all). At the end of the year, I had a new PB by over 300 lbs (1028.5), not a single rotten spot on any vine that was buried. Then that was plowed and tilled into the rest of the soil before winter.
Every reply has pros and cons. Try it on only 1 plant this year and see if it works for you. I would NOT try to bury the vines with it if the stuff is not completley composted. If it has heat in the middle of the pile, Then I would save it for next year or work it into the soil as suggested.

Mike

4/9/2005 4:49:51 PM

Long Beach, CA

Thanks for the replies! I guess I'll experiment with it this year, to see if it works.

4/10/2005 9:46:01 PM