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The EU, bless 'em, have banned the sale of Cheshunt compound; that useful fungicide that keeps "damping off" to a minimum.  However, if you have access to a builders' merchant you can buy the main ingredient easily and the other stuff is available online.

 

Cheshunt Compound:

2 parts by weight of Copper Sulphate; 11 parts by weight of Ammonium Carbonate powder.  [Ammonium carbonate is a bakers' raising agent]

 

Method:

Mix ammonium carbonate powder with powdered copper sulphate and store in an airtight jar for at least 24hrs before using.  Prepare a solution by dissolving 1oz of the dry mixture in a little hot water and then adding 2 galls of water.  Use iron or tin containers and only prepare as much as you need for immediate use.  [I use a modern laboratory type plastic container with a screw top lid and only mix tiny amounts when needed. My recipes come from old gardening books.]

 

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I think the old gardening books are best,the more modern versions seem to be hell bent on spending your money for you but as you say compo the old books show a more practical and maybe cheaper way to do things,most modern books rarely talk about crop rotation to try and avoid diseases and pests but instead give encouragment to buying more chemicals to give plants a false growing environment at the expence of taste and goodness,

 

Rog

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It does, jonab,  but it's a small price to pay for healthy plants 

thumbsup

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After a delivery of Shippos at The Freemans, bottom of Gt Freeman St, always in those halcyon days from a dray pulled by a pair of Shippos greys, my uncle who lived next door to us in Comyn St would give me 3d to collect a bucketful of their natural fertiliser to dig into the small raised bed in the backyard where he grew his roses. You had to be quick with your bucket and shovel cuz it were a highly prized commodity in them days!

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I thought that it needed to be 'well rotted' as fresh stuff would 'burn' the plants...  maybe I've been wrong all these years?

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You are correct Margie, and Uncle Les did maintain a small mound at the bottom of the yard which weren't too bad until the weather warmed up, and you had to hope that he used it fairly quickly. On the plus side however, being in the middle of St Anns you did catch a drift of what it was like to live in the countryside!

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I am fortunate in that I have a friend who keeps bobboes. He has far too much poo to handle and is pleased to find a home for it; so every now and then I take the trailer along and fill it with horse poo.  I have a place at the back of the big garage where I store it until it is ready for the garden.

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From what NBL told me week or two ago you've got to watch what grass the horses have been on Ie. No weedkiller etc as it can come through the poop.  I got some from a local stable a few years ago and the plants did not do well.  I'm wondering if that was the problem.

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14 minutes ago, loppylugs said:

 I got some from a local stable a few years ago and the plants did not do well.  I'm wondering if that was the problem.

 

As Arthur Fallowfield from "Round The Horne said  "The answer lies in the soil"

While horse poo is an excellent fertiliser, in its "fresh" state its alkaline levels are too high and will burn the roots of most plants. Roses are a possible exception. Also you will get weeds from whatever the horse has eaten. There is also the risk of pathogens so it should not be put directly on anything that is going to be eaten.

As Compo says you are best piling it up for a few months to hot compost and kill the weeds before using.

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  • 1 year later...
On 4/3/2018 at 2:30 PM, Oztalgian said:

so it should not be put directly on anything that is going to be eaten.

Especially bacon sandwiches, only Brown sauce !!

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