Quick answers
- Is goat manure good for vegetables?
- Yes. It adds organic matter and nutrients and is easy to work into beds. Dig it in a week or two before planting, or use it once composted.
- How much goat manure for an avocado hole?
- Many growers mix one to two 20-litre buckets of well-rotted manure into the topsoil returned to each planting hole.
Goat manure is one of the easiest organic fertilisers to handle. The pellets are dry, so they do not clump, smell little, and break down steadily in the soil. Used well, it improves soil texture, holds moisture and feeds crops over a long period.
Fresh or rotted?
Fresh goat manure is less harsh than poultry manure, but it can still scorch tender seedlings if it sits against their roots. Two safe options:
- Dig it into beds one to two weeks before planting so it settles into the soil.
- Compost it first: pile it with green material and dry leaves, keep it damp and turn it every week or two. In four to eight weeks it is dark, crumbly and safe for any crop.
Vegetables
For kales, cabbages, spinach, tomatoes and onions, spread a layer of two to three centimetres over the bed and dig it into the top 15 cm. In greenhouses, mix it into the soil before each new crop.
Fruit trees
For avocado, macadamia, mango and citrus, mix manure with the topsoil you return to the planting hole. For established trees, spread a ring under the canopy, not against the trunk, before the rains, and water it in.
| Use | Typical amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetable bed | 2 to 3 cm layer, dug in | 1 to 2 weeks before planting |
| Fruit tree planting hole | 1 to 2 buckets (20 L) mixed with topsoil | At planting |
| Established fruit tree | 1 to 2 buckets spread under the canopy | Before the long and short rains |
| Lawn | Thin layer, raked in | Start of the rains |
| Potting mix | 1 part manure to 3 parts soil | When mixing |
Manure feeds the soil but is low in phosphorus for some crops. Many growers combine it with a small amount of planting fertiliser. A soil test tells you what your plot actually needs.
How much to order
A 50 kg bag covers roughly four to six square metres of vegetable bed at a good rate, or a handful of fruit tree holes. For an acre of orchard or a landscaping job, a pickup or lorry load is far cheaper per kilo than bags.
