Project Spring 2014

[Farhan Ahmed]

exactly.....frost protection will be provided

[Farhan Ahmed]

This is another reason for starting in pots. Frost tender plants can be started early at sheltered site and planted out after 15 Jan, which is last frost date for us here approx.

[Tahir Khan]

Its a good to go then, one other thing if you do not want lush foliage and more flowers cut down on NPK.. Use DAP in the initial stage and after that when flowering begins go for Potassium sulfate or triple phosphate it will realy help put on the show... and i'll send you some seeds for experimentation also soon

[Farhan Ahmed]

Good advice . Initially i plan to add lots of rotted cow manure in all beds. And let the beds be for a month or so, so that it can further mix up. Before sowing i might work up the soil with little NPK. This time i might try SSP also. But to be frank i am not good at using fertilizers . Secondly large area means heavy burden on pocket in case going for costly fertilizers .

I guess cottage Garden goes with cow dung

[Tahir Khan]

Good advice . Initially i plan to add lots of rotted cow manure in all beds. And let the beds be for a month or so, so that it can further mix up. Before sowing i might work up the soil with little NPK. This time i might try SSP also. But to be frank i am not good at using fertilizers . Secondly large area means heavy burden on pocket in case going for costly fertilizers .

I guess cottage Garden goes with cow dung

You are right about the cost... You have a large place and will need large amounts of these ferts but ironically here in Pindi/Islamabad cow manure a bit more expensive as i get 200 rupee per bag of this stuff... whereas i can buy 2 kg of DAP for the same cost and it is enough for two seasons for me.. I also use DAP for cacti and succulents, Cow dung has more nitrogen so i avoid it

[Farhan Ahmed]

I run a Dairy Farm....so cow dung is available in heaps . Can send you a truck full....hahahaha
That is not all chicken manure and horse manure is also available

[Tahir Khan]

I run a Dairy Farm....so cow dung is available in heaps . Can send you a truck full....hahahaha
That is not all chicken manure and horse manure is also available

These are all good stuff specially horse manure... A person i met at geen impex islamabad last year... dont remember his name told me that he grew all sorts of plants in murree like Lupins, delphiniums, Indian dahlias and and bulbs like daffs and crocus which we cannot grow here in Punjab and he said to use Horse manure because it is the best for fall planted annuals. He bought like full boxes of crocus and daffs.. thousands of bulbs and seeds he looked to me a professional grower much like a contractor for Government gardens and parks.

I will be contacting you for manure if i go organic

[Farhan Ahmed]

Nutrient-ally speaking Chicken manure is on the top, followed by cow and lastly horse manure.
Horse digestion system is very poor, therefore it excretes half digested food. It has very low nutrient value and will require more time to break down.
Chicken manure is good but "Hot" meaningby it will release nutrients at the rate which will burn plants unless its very old. The issue is you won't find well rotted chicken manure, therefore it is advisable to add it in very small quantities. Cow manure is the best bet.

Manures should not be used for seed starting in pots. In ground they can be used as they will blend in soil soon. In pots they will causes fungus problem for seeds/seedlings.

The best part about manures is micro-biological activity that it brings with it. This is beneficial in many ways. Nutrient breakdowns, symbiotic relation ships with plants and pest control also. But again this is for ground where a complete Eco-system is available.

I am visiting Pindi twice a month now a days, if you like i can bring one odd 40 Kg bag in the boot, that's max that will fit, i guess.

Cow-manure can be purchased cheaply if you survey around your city for 'Baras' and directly purchase from them, that is very cheap because its made in abundance there and after all it waste that they need to clean up

[Tahir Khan]

Nutrient-ally speaking Chicken manure is on the top, followed by cow and lastly horse manure.
Horse digestion system is very poor, therefore it excretes half digested food. It has very low nutrient value and will require more time to break down.
Chicken manure is good but "Hot" meaningby it will release nutrients at the rate which will burn plants unless its very old. The issue is you won't find well rotted chicken manure, therefore it is advisable to add it in very small quantities. Cow manure is the best bet.

Manures should not be used for seed starting in pots. In ground they can be used as they will blend in soil soon. In pots they will causes fungus problem for seeds/seedlings.

The best part about manures is micro-biological activity that it brings with it. This is beneficial in many ways. Nutrient breakdowns, symbiotic relation ships with plants and pest control also. But again this is for ground where a complete Eco-system is available.

I am visiting Pindi twice a month now a days, if you like i can bring one odd 40 Kg bag in the boot, that's max that will fit, i guess.

Cow-manure can be purchased cheaply if you survey around your city for 'Baras' and directly purchase from them, that is very cheap because its made in abundance there and after all it waste that they need to clean up

That means he was suggesting on the basis of low nutrients as he suggested them specially for bulbs... bulbs tend to rot with high nutrients given at once like in chicken manure... one other thing was in my mind if you have made any compost pile in your garden or in the sunflower field you can use the refuse of the sunflowers for composting

Compost is the best fertilizer even better than all types of manures... i have made some compost at home it was cold composting so took about 6 months

I know a few areas where i can get cow manure cheap but it will not be fully rotted and will need to be put aside for a resting period of say 1-3 months.

[Munir]

In my view, nutritionally( Nitrogen content wise) horse manure should be on top, followed by chicken manure,cow manure & compost in that order. However,I agree that for seed starting, compost should be preferred.
I am going to request a professional also to give his specialist opinion.
@ Tahir, I can provide you a bag of rotten cow manure-roughly your requirement, whenever you visit me. It is otherwise available in the local market @ Rs.2500 per trolley.