By Gingernut
leicester,
United Kingdom 
is there such athing as to much manure,i used a cart load on my garden and got a lot of leaf curl on my trees ,apples ,cherry and pears and other years i have had lots of fruit ,but not this year ,so have i overdone it ?
14 Jun, 2011
Answers
well,i dont know what to say to that ,i will have to hope one of the experts answers soon ,anyway thanks
14 Jun, 2011
More than 1/2 to 1 inch of composted manure spread on the earth can cause a tip and edge burn of the new leaves, which may make them curl as they develop, and will also damage the flower buds and young fruit, causing it to drop off. Fresh manure is even stronger, so less is needed to cause damage. Normally, I would be sure to use composted, spread it 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, and at least 2 weeks before the normal bud break on the trees. Manure is a good thing for the garden, and, yes, there can be too much of a good thing.
14 Jun, 2011
I'm sure one of them will come on soon and explain that too much manure is too potent and too toxic if it is not composted enough...
...sorry, don't know the science...just know not to do it!
Somebody, here, will explain - I'm sure....
14 Jun, 2011
More explanation, Karen? ; )
Okay, here it is:
Manure, especially fresh manure, has a higher amount of fast acting nitrogen (nitrate and ammonium ions) than most soil conditioners, and even than most other organic fertilizers--with the possible exception of fish emulsion. That quickly available nitrogen makes it a little too easy to give the plants an overdose of nitrogen, which most strongly affects the more rapidly growing parts of the plant: stem tips, leaf tips and edges, flower buds, and developing fruit. By applying the manure conservatively, and well before growth begins, the nitrogen can be diluted some, and soil organisms can use the carbohydrates and nitrogen in the manure to build their own bodies out of protein--a much slower and safer source of nitrogen for the plants.
15 Jun, 2011
Hi Tug...I think we both posted at the same time!
Thanks for the information though ;)
I once had a wormery and all I knew was that the liquid it produced was so toxic that it had to be diluted x10. In the end the shed was full of bottles of worm fertiliser!
15 Jun, 2011
Thanks to evryone for the replies to to much manure question ,i think i better stick to just a little rather than a lot ,this piggy attitude is not good in anything.less is more me thinks.
15 Jun, 2011
"Alles mit massen", as my father used to say: "Everything in moderation". Of course, I'm not any better at following that than he was! : D
15 Jun, 2011
Previous question
Umm, I'll leave it to the experts to explain how, but, yes...
14 Jun, 2011