Did I overdo it with the chicken manure?

[Breaktheory]

Hello all

I just planted a 25 gallon foxtail in a hole double the width and 6 inches deeper than the pot. I backfilled using a mix of pumice and composted chicken manure (mixed 50/50 w native soil)

im just now reading about the danger of too much manure during planting and wondering if I overdid it…it was a total of 30 pounds of composted chicken manure along w an equal volume of pumice….
 

It was a 45” w x 25” d hole so the total volume of chicken manure was probably 20%.

am I in trouble?

thanks as usual

[Gottagrowemall]

Probably not. Chicken manure isn’t as potent or strong as horse and cow manure. Normally at planting you want to keep the root ball area pretty wet but with that much manure I wouldn’t water daily, that’s the only thing that could possibly give you trouble is if it starts to compost against the root ball in more than one area.

[Breaktheory]

Oh got it - I did give it a long soak when I planted - I can go every 3 days if that would be better

[Billeb]

Probably way off here but doesn’t the chicken/cow manure break down over time and essentially dissolve, leaching it’s nutrients into the soil below and around? If you mix a large amount of manure into your soil when planting a tree, is it safe to say that tree will sink slightly over a year or so? 

Took the truck and got a couple scoops of “organic material” soil and put a 3” layer of top coat over my entire garden soil. After a year, I can tell there is definitely less top coat there. I was told this needed to be reapplied approx annually.
Trying to make black gold over here and its working cuz I’ve got worms out the wazzoo. Which is obviously a good thing. 
 

-dale

[Matt in OC]

I'm pretty sure any chicken manure you buy is composted already. It's not going to burn your palm. It'll love it.

[Breaktheory]

1 hour ago, Matt in OC said:

I'm pretty sure any chicken manure you buy is composted already. It's not going to burn your palm. It'll love it.

Hey Matt - yes it was already composted and had no manure odor since it was made for planting. I was just concerned about the amount after reading a few things about burning - hope that palm loves it!

[Breaktheory]

3 hours ago, Billeb said:

Probably way off here but doesn’t the chicken/cow manure break down over time and essentially dissolve, leaching it’s nutrients into the soil below and around? If you mix a large amount of manure into your soil when planting a tree, is it safe to say that tree will sink slightly over a year or so? 

Took the truck and got a couple scoops of “organic material” soil and put a 3” layer of top coat over my entire garden soil. After a year, I can tell there is definitely less top coat there. I was told this needed to be reapplied approx annually.
Trying to make black gold over here and its working cuz I’ve got worms out the wazzoo. Which is obviously a good thing. 
 

-dale

Hadn’t thought of that but I think if it does its job and loosens up my clay soil it might sink a bit - hopefully not too badly!

[Breaktheory]

Update on my chicken manure situation…the Foxtail I planted has pushed about 5” since planting. It’s been in the ground 2 weeks now and I’ve been deep watering every other day.
 

Given the comments re: the large amount of manure, clay soil and mulch, I don’t want to drown it but it’s been in the 90s and dry…I’ve never planted a Foxtail so I’m not sure how much water they like - any tips for this one?

 

[Mangosteen]

The chicken manure you bought was compostING, not completely compostED.  The result of completely composting chicken manure or any organic material gives you two things, carbon dioxide and water.  The chicken manure is full of soil micro organisms. These organisms breathe oxygen and steal it away from the palm roots which must have oxygen in order to survive.  This can rot the roots.  Dig up a palm tree growing in its native environment. How much organic material do you think you'll find under the root ball? None. In nature organic materiel is only found on the surface where the material can breathe. Never bury it.  An inorganic material, like sand or decomposed granite is a great planting mix.

[Breaktheory]

26 minutes ago, Mangosteen said:

The chicken manure you bought was compostING, not completely compostED.  The result of completely composting chicken manure or any organic material gives you two things, carbon dioxide and water.  The chicken manure is full of soil micro organisms. These organisms breathe oxygen and steal it away from the palm roots which must have oxygen in order to survive.  This can rot the roots.  Dig up a palm tree growing in its native environment. How much organic material do you think you'll find under the root ball? None. In nature organic materiel is only found on the surface where the material can breathe. Never bury it.  An inorganic material, like sand or decomposed granite is a great planting mix.

Yah it was unfortunate - the other half of the mix was pumice and sand but they overdid it with the manure - I’m hopeful the tree will make it through but unsure of the watering regimen going forward.

[Tyrone]

I know this goes against everything being said here, but I’ve been planting palms for decades in composted organics around the root ball and guess what, they do great. Especially if they are rainforest type palms they just love it. Never had a problem. If you are on impoverished or nutrient deficient soils there is nothing better. It gets the palms establishing quickly. You’re never going to be able to get organics into that area after you’ve planted. It works. 

In regards to the original poster, your foxtail will do fine. While it’s hot, water the heck out of it. When it cools off let it dry out over winter. You’ll get great growth. 

[Looking Glass]

I don’t think you have to worry about it too much.  I put composed cow manure in the hole of most of my palm plantings, and I’m not too stingy about it.  Only with Cuban or Carribean palms that like quite dry conditions, am I careful.  Palms normally respond to this by growing like crazy immediately.  Some of the best areas for growing palms nearby here are west of the ocean 30 minutes or so toward the Everglades, and have a black-muck, dredged-up, swampy-organic matter soil that goes down a ways.  

I don’t put much in the base of the hole, but I do put some, and stomp it down with my foot.  Then mostly backfill it.   Then I mulch the top like crazy.  My soil is mostly sand otherwise, and holds water for perhaps 12-24 hours without amendments, before it is bone dry. 

When it breaks down, there isn’t a bottomless void.  Surrounding soil particles, root mass, etc takes its place.     

I grew upon a mini-farm where manure was plentiful and, once composted, went over and into all the plantings.  The biggest problem was out of control green-growth if you added too much. 

I bet that palm does better than fine. 
 

 

[Breaktheory]

Thanks for the support!

[johnnymak]

If you're sticking with organics then some trace elements as per  manufacturers instructions will be a help.