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Frequently I receive feedback from others who are trying their orchids in horsemanure. Most of it is enthusiasm about the plant performance especially when comparison trials are done. If unsuccessful it is usually caused by under-watering when the manure is fresh and the orchid is one that requires 'weaker' solution with low nutrient value.
Feedback:
Hi Nic,
Just on the off-chance that you get to read this, let me tell you what
an inspiration your website on the above was. I have been growing
cymbidiums for years with various degrees of success, and over the
years have tried various growth mediums. The latest was just coarse
pine tree bark --- but the plants were obviously starving on this,
despite two-weekly fertilising.
I have put several of the plants onto straight horse manure, and
although it has only been a month, the new growth on some plants has
been amazing --- even though it is mid winter here. (I live on the
south coast of South Africa where the winters are comparatively
mild --- (nights do however regularly get down to below 10 degrees C).
I see you suggest watering daily. Is there any problem with watering
far less frequently ? Once weekly fits better into my routine, and the
mix seems to stay well dampened for this time.
I must say, the stuff is nice to work with, and the pellets seem to
keep their shape quite well, although I assume that they will break
down fairly soon. As a precaution I do mix some bark and river sand
into the mix to give it more "texture".
Anyway thanks for the idea. Some of my orchid-growing friends are
watching with interest. One of them germinated a batch of Cymbidiums
from seed. On my suggestion he tried horse manure on six month old
plants (with a control batch on regular mix). Within six weeks, the
seedlings on horse manure are double the size of the others !
Thanks again.
Chris Gaighers
Hi Nic,
It is of course "early days" with respect to the results we observed,
but you certainly have my permission to quote these. In the meantime,
I have planted various large plants into horse manure pellets and have
almost invariably observed good, strong new growth from plants.
I must add that, as stated earlier, I have not been able to water
daily and most plants are watered lightly only every 3 to 5 days ----
with no apparent ill effects.
I do not quite understand the logic that daily watering is necessary
to keep down salt (i.e. conductivity) levels to a safe level, if these
were fairly low to start off with. This could, I suppose, depend on
the feeding regime of the horses concerned. In my case, the horse
feeds exclusively off grass parturage, and --- luckily--- this
consists of a lawn grass that has very few seeds, so seed germination
in orchid pots is also not a problem.
I will keep you posted on results. I must add, however, that I have
had a problem with bacterial/fungal rotting off of new shoots on some
of my cymbidiums in other mixes, but have not had any problems so far
on the horse manure --- possibly due to its outstanding drainage
characteristics.
Best wishes
Chris Gaigher
Nic's response to watering questions -
I advise to water every day because in many situations the fresh horse
manure can produce high nutrient value / high electrical conductivity solution that
is too strong for
the plant, especially those orchids that require low E.C.
The nutrients are taken up by the water from the horse manure and if there
is less water it will be more concentrated. In the second year using the same
horse manure the concentration will also be depleted somewhat.
If you are able to test the solution
when watering less, and you know it is right
for your particular orchids, then of course there is no problem to do that, your
plants will thrive anyway.
The advice is given because the most common cause of failure is through
the solution being too strong. This is easily solved by watering more, but I've
never seen a problem caused by over
watering as long as there is free
drainage from the bottom of the pot.
If using overhead watering, try to allow time for the environment to dry before
nightfall to avoid fungus problems.
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