Is cow dung really bad for potted houseplants? (There are videos in the question.)

Question

Disclaimer: This question might be off-topic or weird. This question is not to hurt anyone's feelings or to disrespect opinions and knowledge of any person or user here.

I do remember asking this question here but cannot find it. Why is cow dung bad for houseplants?.

Now people here tell me that it is a bad idea to use cow dung for potted plants. I once saw a video on cow dung and its magic on plants. To anyone who's interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXBgYvhAkvU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oifWngdzwCg

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If cow dung is bad, why is this person getting great results from it? He has shown many examples in his video.

From what I know and understand, cow dung has too much nitrogen in it, which can cause root burn. It also retains water for extremely long periods of time which can also lead to root rot. That's all I know. But if that's true, how come the plants looks really healthy and lush?

What's the case? Has any gardener/user here ever experimented on this? What was the result: good or bad?

Answer 1

First, cow dung doesn't have a very high level of nitrogen, specially compared to other forms of manure - the problem with fresh cow dung is a very high ammonia level, but if its dried in heat or sun, the ammonia should be significantly reduced, along with any serious pathogens present. NPK levels for average cow manure are roughly 3-2-1, with some trace elements (and in the West, likely drugs, hormones and pollutants), though the precise nutrient level probably varies somewhat between cows fed purely on fresh grass and those fed on grain as well.

It wouldn't be possible for many in the West to experiment with cow dung in this way, for several reasons. The chances of anyone owning a cow (other than livestock farmers) are vanishingly small; even if they do own cows, the cows will likely be treated with antibiotics and hormones; the cows will not be fed on natural, unpolluted, healthy green grass all year, weather being a major factor in cooler countries; in many parts, the weather would not be hot enough to stick cow dung to a wall in order for it to dry out successfully (try that in the UK and it'd end up a soggy stain running down the wall).

I think you should try it yourself, if you have a cow that only eats good grass, the grass isn't treated with any chemicals, and the cow itself is given no drugs or hormones, and you have a wall to which you can stick the dung to dry out in heat or sun. There may be an issue with some seeds passing through the rumen and germinating - in some regions, clover is fed to cows with deliberate intent - once the cows are released into a different area, they deposit their dung and the area is then populated with clover from the dung. This would indicate that some seeds would not only survive the digestive process, but be better for it, which is the way with some seeds, although seeds without hard coatings will likely be destroyed.

If you can buy cow dung produced in the described manner, buy it and try it - let us know the results please! My feeling about these things is, there's received wisdom and learning which is often not only prescriptive, but proscriptive; but that's not always the only way to do things, especially in places where the weather, environment and life generally is completely and utterly different from where the 'received wisdom' originates. We have two sayings here - 'there's more than one way to skin a cat' and 'if all you have is lemons, make lemonade', both of which apply to your situation. I'd be really interested in the result if you try this,to see if it replicates what's being said in your video links, though my interest is purely academic - the chances of trying it where I live are zero. I live somewhere that horse manure is the most freely available form of animal manure, and that should not be used in pots. I'll just add that I'm not offended in any way at all, in fact, I'm intrigued... certainly, if all the parameters and conditions are observed, I see no real reason why the resulting 'compost' won't be suitable as a growing medium, though over time, I'm not sure. But, I'd like to see a real person trying it rather than someone posting a video, being the sceptic that I am!

Answer 2

This is not a weird question at all. Growing up in India, I saw cow dung used in a 100 odd ways all the time. But, I don't believe in these miracles. I am almost certain that they are touting these one-offs in an exaggerated manner, because if cow dung could produce such results, every inch of South India would be a dense tropical jungle, I assure you, sadly, opposite is the case.

Cow dung is used for all purposes - dried and caked as fuel for stoves, as a mosquito repellent when wet and sprayed, sprayed on dried to stabilize loose topsoil on walkways and such - people used it quite a bit. To Bamboo's point, in India, it gets hot enough, women, at least when I was growing up, had turned slapping rounded pancake-like patties onto the wall, that allowed it to cake in the heat and become ready for storage as fuel. One day, it will be a lost art.

To Bamboo's points, yes, when we were growing up in India, antibiotics in cows was virtually unheard of, and my family's current ownership of cows in a semi-rural setting has become quite unique. We ourselves travel 30 miles or so to get to our farm where a guy manages the cows for my mother now.

The easiest use I have seen of cow-dung, and this is probably what maybe the lady in your video is confounding, is as a rooting and seeding medium. When it is wet, and put in a container or a hole and you stick a rose cutting in it, you can actually root the rose quite successfully. I remember us doing this at home.

My mother has cows in her farm, and the tons of manure can be composted, reused and even sold off for others to use as they see fit. My garden here, in the US is potted, because I rent, and I blend steer and chicken manure into my pots with used and fresh potting soil and bits of garden soil for drainage. It works well for most general types of plants including roses.

I think the warning to not use manure in potted soil arose from the notion that most people don't know how to proportion it carefully. I have always ignored the rule, as I have grown up around this stuff and have figured out the quantities to use. But, I have seen no miracles and I am not about to put out some misleading YouTube video.

Gardening or farming success can be achieved through multiple, tried and tested means that you can consult with agricultural universities/colleges and/or master gardener groups, horticultural societies, whatever is locally available. I would ignore all the "miracle" nonsense. These things are usually not scalable, the successes being limited and breed/species specific, etc.

Answer 3

I tried an experiment with cow manure. Filled 3 large containers with 50-50 mixture manure/potting soil. Planted 3 tomato plants at seedling stage. Watered by saturation at start and every two days. One plant quickly died from obvious root rot and/or burn. Saved the other two by aerating roots with long thin stick and watering only once a week. Second plant started turning yellow so I removed about 50% of poopy soil mixture and replaced with simple potting mix including vermiculite. Plant seems to be recovering; have flowering buds but no fruit yet. Third plant looks okay but is growing very slowly and whenever I stick my humidity meter into the soil it displays overwatering at the bottom level of the pot. So, whoever said manure holds water an extremely long time was very correct. It holds water too long! Manure seems unadviseable for potted plants because it has nowhere to leach to, as it would in an open garden.