The Grass Doctor

Could I mix cow manure and water and have a good liquid fertilizer?

Cow or horse manure? And I'm getting water from the pond. If I put it in a 5 gallon bucket mix it well could I water my plants with it? What is the best make it yourself manure to grow big, strong high yielding plants whether it be fruit or vegetable or flower?

Public Comments

1. home made fertiliser will give both you and your plants huge satisfaction. I think cow muck left in a barrel mixed with water will indeed give you some potent stuff. leave in full sunshine for a few weeks
2. Either horse or cow will be good. Very good in fact. You should let it "mature" a little first. That's what farmers do when they load the muck-heap into a dung-spreader and spread it on the land then let the rain wash it in.
3. Cow muck is very acidic, it has actually eaten away the metal underneath my Suzuki, (I live next to a farm) In rural areas we avoid it for gardening but horse muck is excellent for roses and veggies. It is fine spread across the fields as it soaks into the grass quite quickly, but farmers never use it on crops.
4. Sheeps dottles(manure) is better put in a hessian bag suspended on a cane the bag hangs in a water but of water.
5. I use a 20 gallon bucket(s). 1/3 of the bucket should be well-cured manure (any kind you want: cow, horse, chicken, rabbit, etc) Then fill the rest of the bucket with water, let this steep for three or four days, then strain it through a sieve or cheesecloth. Dilute the remaining liquid with water so it's the color of weak tea. Then it's ready to use. For your size bucket (5 gal) I would use "a fist size" of manure wrapped up in burlap or an old pillow case, and just let that soak for 3-4 days.
6. Cow or horse manure both make excellent manure tea, but they have to aged (composted) before they are usable and need to be steeped in the water for several days.