Last year, i’ve grown Cucurbitacea Pepo of the yellow crookneck variety succesfully in hot manure, being of the same year… So i thought to do the same this year on a larger scale at a neighboring pile for the sake of large scale breeding and seed increasing to direct sow the next year and larger scale distribution for farmer projects.
The farmer friend didn’t roll the manure out over winter as i had envisioned in rows in the fields, but it’s one gigantic ten feet high pile in front of the stables. And it’s rather warm.
People tell me it won’t work. Not hindered by common sense i’ve continued seeding modestly in the monstrous pile to see if germination will happen.
I’ve got seedlings on the go in pots as well. Quite diverse population it is. Maxima, moschata, and watermelons. Anybody got experience in similar?
I mostly make my beds as piles of topsoil off the path, topped off with uncomposted manure. I sow my crops along the side of the pile, so the roots have access to both high and low fertility soil to use as they see fit. For vining crops you can sow on the edge and let them run in all directions.
Love it! This such a great group
I am asking myself the same question for some subprojects. But not for the main ones. I am quite sure squash would do, even if sown directly in the pile… And I believe it would be great for seed increase too.
I have made three piles of manure: horsex2 and cow… semi-fresh… horse is supposed to be less nitrogen dense… Then after that it is all suppositions.
But actually my past neighbors have been cultivating squashes for ages in their cow manure pile… seen that from my own eyes over the past 2 years. Seeds even sprout in that. It grows gigantically, fruits, then dies… I think due to high nutrient densities in the pile it catches illnesses… But I am partially guessing, not remembering nor “knowing” clearly!
@Richard I have some of your horse melon seeds? How did you cultivated them? In fresh or old manure? thanks 
Very fresh manure, less than a year… Probably it contain very recent one. It was from a neightbour single horse, that he wants to get rid of it.
I was experimenting, for the tomatoes did not work out, they got black fungi, but the melons absolutelly love it. I think all the cucurbids probably will like it. Like the pumpkins like to grow on compost piles.
I just put the manure on top like a mulch in my rows with trenches.
You can try all the cucurbids, all the other species, melons, snake gourds, cucumelons, cucumbers,…
I think chayote likes to grow there too.
What about potatoes? They like to grow everywhere, like algae from the beach.
And did you direct sow them or made transplants?
For those seeds.
Horse ate melon, i put compost on tomatoes, tomatoes got black fungus, tomatoes plants did not make it, manure contain melon seeds, direct melon seeds sprouted, got a lot of plants and very big melons. I put manure probably in late spring or early summer.
I usually make transplants to get ahead of growth, and to do multiple plantings. My soil is not totally ready when I want to plant or direct seed. My direct cucurbids seeds take a lot of time to sprout and grow. Very low germination, weeds take over, soil is super hard clay with rocks and is difficult to use the manual seeder.
I put my transplants in the green house, and it gets very hot, and in late february i can plant the seedlings in trenches. The direct seeds still needs 1+ month to sprout from the cold soil.
Review here of those melons.
Thanks Richard. Got some of yours in transplants. Doing good!
The farmer text me to bring 2000 maxima seeds, watermelon works as well. Butternut don’t know yet. So good news for seed increase and hungry people near hère.
I really hope they pull through.
So @Richard , if i gothered right, they grow really quick on the manure pile where you are, set fruit and die. I hope it’s the same for me. I’d like to sée if two corps are possible. Double the crosses! But for you, must be possible to grow three générations a year. That triples the crossiness.
@stephane_rave , you’ve send me Lofthouse maxima, they’ve come up in the greenhouse. Dix you fond they where fast explosive growers?
@Laura did you start on your pile yet,Laura?
I don’t know, I grow them that for 1 year.
I had put them under a tree dry that still grew and made fruits.
It’s seems to me however selected on the precocity by Joseph .
There, today they are slow like all other squash with this new weather ‘Start and Stop’
Yes totally. A lot of work thought. With transplants is very doable.
Great great great news in there. How old is your manure by the way? And as it stayed outside under the rain as we see in France? For how long?
In a way you are confirming me in my choice of betting on some horse manure for cucurbits this year, that I don’t risk much. I am quite confident moschatas will do as weel as others. Personnally I won’t grow in the compost pile but will bring some horse manure in holes in my plastic tarps, mixing it gently with the existing soil, probably about a shovel per square meter, i.e. half a shovel per hole where I will direct sow.
So the last question is how mature or not (i.e. nitrogen rich = aggressive) is this pile of manure?
So that is manure that has less than 6 months, am I right?
I’d say it’s fresh mixed with some one year old… fresh
Prepare for a truckload of squashes
Hugo, this looks great. I haven’t yet planted out my squas but plan to do it tomorrow if all goes well!
Merci @ThomasPicard !!
I cleaned up my chicken run early spring, put the hot manure in one garden bed, with the idea of putting some seeds in to make sure there was no herbicide issue with it before spreading it. Before I could do that, it already had volunteer squash and tomatoes overtaking the whole patch.
Since then, I have been throwing couple of buckets fresh manure (with cardboard under it) in my garden, with tomato and squash seeds in it, and those seem to be sprouting and doing well also.
Hot chicken manure for the win
M