I have so many trees other than figs, I hang out at garden web a lot.  Here is a quote from one of the forums:

"Recently I went to Disney's Flower and Garden Festival, where i spoke with one of there landscaping specialists. i have four trees in my yard, a fig, an orange, a key lime and a lemon. he told me the best thing to do is to go to a local cow or horse ranch gather a pail of pooh fill the bucket with water stir it up and water the trees with it. he said to keep adding water to the existing poo until the water is relatively clear then get more pooh and continue. is this a good idea?"

All following posts were affirmative.  One dude said, "It's one of the oldest and best tricks that I know of." 

Right at the foot of our hill are 3 horse ranches.  I need to go knock on some doors for sure.

Suzi

i know organic is good... and i know poop has been used forever.. but i just don't want to think about poop in my figs x) i think that's one of the main reason i keep going back to MG and other packaged fertilizers. 

Ha!  Lucky for me, I have lots of shade for that bucket.  Thinking pine grove, far from the house.

Suzi

This is called 'manure tea.' I used on ALL my plants last year to good results. Here's how I make mine:

1) put 2-3 gal of manure in a large garbage can. I use goat manure.
2) fill can with water
3) let sit 3-4 days, until the water is like dark ice tea
4) use as often as you like

I keep refilling the can with water as needed. I did this all summer last year and the 'tea' stayed light brown through all the cycles of water, thus it was strong enough. Just keep the 'tea' light and you cannot burn your plants. Its great stuff!

BtW, I keep mine right beside the side door, with a lid on. No smells from goat manure tea, I don't know about other kinds.

If it works for Disney, I'm in!  Have you ever seen the beauty of all things Disney?  Thank you Gene! 

I have tons of roses, flowers and fruiting trees.  Our ground is just simply well drained, decomposed granite.  You can actually watch the granite decompose!  Chunks just fall or sluff off huge boulders.  This land needs nutrients, and I'm all in 100% on this method.

Suzi

Normally, I wouldn't apply fresh poop directly to trees. I let it age 6 months to a year (depending on conditions process could go faster or slower). I thought that if it was too fresh, it would burn. Is that not an issue with manure tea?

I think the tea is fine and won't burn like the organic matter in contact with the plant and roots. I have been using bat guano because of the ease of application. I would prefer horse doo over all others though. I've had great results with it in the past.

My figs all have FMV and poo in them! LOL

I really don't know Paul, but we are talking Disney gardens here.  Have you ever been to Disneyland?  Wow!  Amazing gardens.  I wonder if Busch Gardens get the same treatment.  They thrive!

Picking up some fresh rabbit poop tonight.  It's soccer practice and JD coaches the grand kids.  The kiddies have rabbits.  I'll start with rabbit poop, and move on to horsey stuff.

Suzi

Off topic.  We are going to Temecula this afternoon, and I'm offering $10.00 to my grandson to bag up the rabbit poop!  Poop seems to have magical qualities.

Suzi

hey suzy - hope you are well.

i was just looking into this as well last week and will try just as gene gene was saying this season....the manure tea. 

also check out this video 

When we were making or own mix we used some store bought manure now just use pro mix. .
Fresh manure i hear burns applied direct.
Tea manure i know nothing about.

We had rabbits when the kids were young and I used to fling the pellets across the lawn. We had a beautiful lawn! I don't think rabbit poo burns like horse and cow. I think goat poo is safe as well.

Martin, it's time for you to get a smart phone.  I know, really hard.  But you can do it!  You are never too old to learn.  Just give that manure tea a spin! 

Suzi

Since I've had or been around horses for 30 years, as well as being an organic gardener, I've used manure tea for a long time. The original 'Organic Gardening' magazine by R. Rodale got me using it, and it works wonders. Doesn't burn. I also use horse manure to make compost which I use as an amendment and mulch. Rabbit manure is great and will not burn, even used fresh. I don't have rabbits though. Feed the soil, and the soil will feed the plant. Works for me. Before the invention of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, organic gardening was 'conventional'.

Gary, thank you!  Is ten bucks enough for my grand kid to harvest the rabbit poop?  Soccer night tonight!

Suzi

You're welcome, Suzi. I think $10 is plenty, but I'm old school. Rabbit pellets are easy, since they are usually under a hutch. Horse is a little more work. I think you'll see results feeding your plants rabbit manure. The roses will LOVE it, as will the earthworms.

Happy gardening; Gary

Rabbit or chicken or goat or horse poohp soup .. I wonder what the figs taste like. I'll give you one guess.

Rabbit manure is a great topdressing, it won't burn. Horse? Well I'd compost it or use it as a tea. A horse has one less stomach than a cow so a lot of seeds go through undigested and you don't want to be planting them.

I compost any manure, and, I would use compost tea before I'd use manure tea. But then, I make my own compost, the stuff I've seen sold as compost at Lowe's is a pretty sorry excuse for compost. Manure has a lot of nitrogen so it will green things up... but it can burn thing up too. And then, there's the microbes and such. You really don't know what you're introducing to your plants. Cook it down into compost then apply it

Here's a good video on composting leaves 

ruminants and rabbits manure can go directly on plants without risk of burn. cows horses  chickens need to rest for a season or it will burn the plant. any manure fresh or seasoned can be made into a tea and go directly on the plant. just make sure you dont get it on soon to be ripe food. we have used many types of manure with great results with no ill effect. i would rather choke on a turd then than fumigate myself.

Hi,
Fresh manure will burn the plants as manure produces heat will maturing/breaking down.

To the opposite, in tea, you should use fresh manure. Then it is up to you to -NOT- use it pure .
Usually, I use 1/3 of tea and fill the watering can with water - especially in times of drought - don't use the tea alone for watering.

If you have stinging nettle, cut the stems and throw them in the tea - that will add good nutrients to the tea and that tea is a good insect killer... And it adds some smell as well :)
I tried pure tea on rodent holes, but they didn't seem to care for that bad smell ...

As for Disney, I'm pretty sure that they are using chemic fertilizer - it is much more handy and easy to store - and they often replace the plants - that is their best trick IMO .
Imagine a bad odor on sunny days with no wind ... No way for them IMO .

really, youre not making a compost pile on the plant. all ruminants (goats, lamas, sheep, and the like) and rabbits can be put on your plants for fertilizer without it burning it. This is well known. As soon as it comes out of the animals behind, it can be used on the plant.  Horse/cow/chicken will burn it.  Do your own testing and do some more research.  We raise goats and for the last 10 years we have been using it fresh without any ill effect.  I put a layer of hay and poop (barn cleanouts) over the top soil about 4-6 inches deep.  I do this at least once a year.  You can tell the difference.  I have done plants with manure and without manure side by side.  It is clear. I also use the tea with excellent results. 
So to those people who want to try the manure approach, I highly recommend it.  It's way safer and healthier to you than chemicals. You are recycling and not killing the soil.  If you are uneasy, just do a little more research and you will see. 
Hope this helps


Also, there is no real smell to it.  You don't smell anything when it's applied to the plants.  It's when you have a load of it, you can smell it and it's not even bad then.  When you are mucking it into a large pile, then it smells.  Try it once.  If it's too much and feels over the top, then don't do it.  Try it first.