Tessmo
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Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:06 am

Too much chicken manure - How to Reduce Nitrogen?

Hey,

A few days ago I made a big mistake. I have a raised bed on my backyard with 400 liter of soil from last years season. I have added 5-6 liter chicken manure, 80 liter soil and 40 liter cow manure.

I know I've added far toooooo much chicken manure and I'm afraid of too much nitrogen. I will sow my plants in the middle of may so its about 2 months until then. I will plant tomatoes, chili, sallad and some other veggies.

I'm a beginner and I don't know what I should do... I have read that water and mulch (saw dust/bark) should help reducing nitrogen.

Please, I need your help! I don't want to ruin this season.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

If you are not planting for 2 months, I think the best thing to do is make compost in that bed -- add and thoroughly mix in easy to decompose "browns" shredded/crumbled dry leaves, chopped straw (not hay), fine sawdust/wood shavings.... shredded printer (office) paper will turn to pulp when moistened. Key is to have the ingredients chopped, shredded, etch into very small pieces before adding.

...NOT bark -- that will be difficult to decompose, and what you want to do is have everything break down into compost before planting.

Farmerboy
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Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:54 am
Location: Southern Oregon

2 good ways to reduce the nitrogen.
Nitrogen is water soluble. When you water, it will wash away with the excess water.
Wood products such as Saw Dust or Chips lock up the nitrogen until the wood product decomposes. Add a small amount of chips or shavings to lock up a some of the nitrogen until the wood decomposes.

Tessmo
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Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:06 am

applestar wrote:If you are not planting for 2 months, I think the best thing to do is make compost in that bed -- add and thoroughly mix in easy to decompose "browns" shredded/crumbled dry leaves, chopped straw (not hay), fine sawdust/wood shavings.... shredded printer (office) paper will turn to pulp when moistened. Key is to have the ingredients chopped, shredded, etch into very small pieces before adding.

...NOT bark -- that will be difficult to decompose, and what you want to do is have everything break down into compost before planting.
Thank you very much for the information! I feel relieved a lot more now. So you think I can make a compost in my bed in only two months?

I can get dry leaves, sawdust and office paper easily. This is a tricky question, but I don't have a clue how much I should add in the bed - Any suggestions??

Tessmo
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Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:06 am

Farmerboy wrote:2 good ways to reduce the nitrogen.
Nitrogen is water soluble. When you water, it will wash away with the excess water.
Wood products such as Saw Dust or Chips lock up the nitrogen until the wood product decomposes. Add a small amount of chips or shavings to lock up a some of the nitrogen until the wood decomposes.
Thanks dude!



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