Questions About Potting In Horse Manure.

[AlexS]

Hi,

I recently picked up a very nice Cymbidium superba from a local Garden Centre. It is a nice, big plant, over 2ft, and looks healthy enough; however, it will certainly need re-potting once it has finished blooming. This is my first Cymbidium, though not my first orchid, and I was contemplating trying to grow it in horse manure. I've read the Australian website dealing with orchids in manure, but need some clarification about the details. The website recommends fresh manure, and whilst I have had no problem finding countless individuals offering horse manure to anyone who wants it, it is always well rotted manure that is being offered. Is this still OK to use? The website mentions it coming in lumps, but the well rotted manure I have seen pictured seems to be much more homogeneous and finely formed, so I was wondering if this would be too compact to plant an orchid in? How much does rotting change the structure of the manure? My apologies if these are silly questions, but my previous experience with manure is strictly limited to worm castings and worm tea.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Kindest regards,
Alex

[Vanda lover]

Rotted manure is better for gardens but in this case it sounds as if there is a reason for using fresh manure. Perhaps because it hasn't broken down and compacted. I know that I was able to use fresh horse manure directly garden back when I had a horse but most manures burn the roots. Are you sure you want your plant smelling like a horse?

[Cym Ladye]

Do not use horse manure, fresh or composted as a media for Cyms. Way tooooo strong.

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Do not use horse manure, fresh or composted as a media for Cyms. Way tooooo strong.

I sort of agree with Cym Lady. There are a lot of other choices. I have a neighbour who uses tropical plant soil and hers do really well. I like to use a mixture orchid potting materials.

[PaphMadMan]

There is quite a tradition of using fresh horse manure to grow Cyms. I remember reading about it at least 35 years ago, and it probably goes back to the early days of orchid growing in Victorian England. I don't remember the details, but if you are going to try it make sure you have full instructions to follow - and follow them. If you want to use rotted horse manure as an alternative fertilizer. pot in a normal potting medium and use a little of the manure as top dressing, but I'm sure it would not be a good choice for a major portion of potting mix.

[AlexS]

Thank you for the replies.
At the moment, this is just an idea, it's not set in stone, but having seen the pictures on Nic van den Bosch's website I must admit it is very tempting. I was a bit concerned about the potential odor, but the aforementioned site stresses that this isn't a problem. Whilst there does seem to be quite a tradition with Cymbidiums cultivated in horse manure, specific details seem to be a little lacking. I did come across another Australian site which mentioned using nine-month rotted manure mixed with an equal amount of shredded dry bracken fern, but that is something I don't have access to. My main concern is still supplying enough air to the roots, but I can't find anything that really addresses these concerns online.

Kindest regards,
Alex

[Orchid Whisperer]

If you want to research this further, you might try going to a university library & looking up some older orchid books that might have recommendations on how to use horse manure. Or, if you know a few people that have tried this (some of the names given above) see if you can contact them.

I would be interested in what you find out. Good luck!

[Cym Ladye]

When Cymbidiums were first discovered and brought into England over a hundred years ago, no one had a clue as to how to grow them let alone keep them alive. It was all experimentation and many losses. If you want to go back in time to that period of ignorance instead of reading up on the latest scientific techniques for optimum orchid culture, be my guest. Just do not expect the best results for your plants.

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Do not use horse manure, fresh or composted as a media for Cyms. Way tooooo strong.

After my dad closed his orchid nursery, he worked for a few years for the largest cut flower orchid nursery in Denmark. About half their production was Cymbidums.

They used a mix of mainly coarse peat (nuggets from 3/4" to 1.1/2"), probably about 45%. To that they added:
Bark, Charcoal, Leca pellets (Aliflor) for porosity,
plus some leaf mulch, and about 10% garden soil and about 5% composted cow or horse manure. In that low ratio it did not burn the roots.

And, then they fertilized in every other watering on top of that.

[orchidsarefun]

This is the site in question
Why Horsemanure for Orchids

The only way to be 100% certain is to try it yourself. I wonder if the composition of horse feed nowadays + antibiotics etc, would have any impact on the quality/composition of the manure - this is in reference to his point 4).
Then there is always the issue of having access to fresh manure......
I may just try it on a catasetum next growing season. We know someone with a stables.