Is Rabbit Manure Good for Tomatoes?

Rabbit poop can be the best choice to enrich your tomato garden. Vegetable plants like tomatoes are heavy feeders and look for the best fertilizer rich in essential nutrients.

An interesting thing about rabbit manure is that you don’t have to compost it before adding it to your garden.

Rabbit manure enhances soil structure and promotes moisture retention by containing 2% nitrogen, 1% phosphorus, and 1% potassium.

Along with these macronutrients, rabbit manure has micronutrients and minerals that can improve a plant’s ability to absorb nutrients and strengthen the tomato plant’s root system.

Every plant, including tomatoes, needs significant primary nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to grow.

Unlike other manures, fresh manure doesn’t burn your plants, and it is safe to fertilize your tomatoes with rabbit manure.

Is Rabbit Manure Good for Tomatoes?

Yes, rabbit manure is good for growing tomato plants, as it is packed with nutrients and organic matter like other animal manure.

Unlike cow, chicken and horse manure, rabbit manure is considered cold manure. Rabbit poops are dry, and you can easily make them into powder to enrich your vegetable garden.

• Adding rabbit poop to garden soil will improve its structure and helps it to retain the required moisture.
• Organic matter in the manure enriches the nutritional value of the growing medium.
• Rich in phosphorus and nitrogen, rabbit manure can be directly applied to tomato plants.
• It also benefits microorganism activity, thus suppressing plant diseases and improving plant stress.

For those who’re planning to have a permacultural system in their backyard, growing rabbit pets and using their poop to fertilize your small gardens are a good idea.

You feed rabbits carrots from your garden; in return, the rabbit gives you nutrient-rich manure that can be used to grow vegetables.

Unlike cow manure, rabbit manure doesn’t need to be composted before adding it to the garden.

The benefit of not being hot manure is that you can save time adding to the compost pile and waiting for decomposition.

Rabbit manure can fertilize edible plants like tomatoes and enrich flowering plants.

Though it is packed with many helpful nutrients, it is important to use this manure correctly. As over-fertilization can result in root rot, and deficiency in certain nutrients can cause tomato blossom end rot.

Now, let’s know in detail about the nutrients packed in rabbit manure.

What Nutrients Does Rabbit Manure Have?

According to the University of Michigan Press, rabbit manure is high in essential nutrients, with 2.4% nitrogen, 1.4% phosphorus, and 0.6% potassium.

Along with these primary nutrients, rabbit poop also contains secondary nutrients and trace minerals that benefit your garden.

As mentioned, adding rabbit manure increases organic matter in the growing medium. It improves soil structure and aeration.

Over time, organic matter decomposes to supply nutrients to the tomato plant.

Nitrogen:

Compared to cattle and livestock manure, rabbit manure has abundant nitrogen levels.

Nitrogen in rabbit manure can improve tomato plant growth, help in chlorophyll production and make the leaves green.

Phosphorus:

With a higher phosphorus ratio, rabbit manure application helps in root development and fruit production and converts sun to plant-usable energy.

Potassium:

Along with N&P, potassium aids in the movement of water and nutrients throughout the plant tissues.

Balanced application of these primary nutrients strengthens plant stem, develops roots and increases disease resistance of tomatoes.

Check this: How to get rid of aphids from tomatoes?

Organic Matter:

Raw manure is said to have a great percentage of organic matter. It improves soil structure and water retention ability and physically enhances the soil.

Organic matter can act like mulch around tomato plants to regulate temperature and suppress weed growth.

Micronutrients:

Calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and other helpful minerals included in rabbit manure can contribute to the healthy growth of tomatoes.

Deficiency of these micronutrients can often result in blossom end rot and stunted plant growth.

Soil pH:

Rabbit manure is slightly alkaline, while tomato plant prefers slightly acidic soil. So, to avoid any problem, you’re advised to conduct a soil test before applying this manure.

Also Read: Can I Spray Soapy Water on My Tomato Plants?

What Nutrients Do Tomatoes Need to Grow?

Tomatoes are heavy feeders and do well when you provide adequate nutrients.

Most growing mediums include all essential nutrients required for plant growth. But, with repeated watering and continuous plant growth, garden soil loses nutrients.

To compensate, most gardeners add fertilizers.

Tomatoes need all primary and secondary nutrients for optimal growth.

• Nitrogen is essential for the overall growth of tomato plants and leaf development. It is essential to make the plant look green.
• Phosphorus is needed for fruit and root development.
• Potassium aids in fruit production, disease resistance and uptake of water along with nutrients.
• Calcium is needed for plant cell structure and to prevent blossom end rot.
• Magnesium contributes to the photosynthesis process.
• Similarly, sulfur, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, molybdenum and boron work together for the photosynthesis process and transport of sugars.

How to Use Rabbit Manure to Fertilize Tomato Plants?

There are 3 ways you can utilize nutrients in rabbit poop to fertilize your tomato garden.

1. Apply rabbit manure directly on tomato plants.
2. Add rabbit poop to the compost pile, and then add composted manure to the vegetable garden.
3. Make rabbit manure tea to enrich the growing medium.

1. Direct application

Rabbit manure is considered a cold compost, meaning it can be added to plants raw without causing harm or burning.

Unlike other wet manures, rabbit poop is dry and doesn’t stink. You can instantly fertilize your tomato plants by adding fresh rabbit manure.

• Conduct a soil test to determine the nutrient value of your growing medium.
• Add rabbit manure accordingly and water thoroughly.
• Rich nutrients housed in the manure are released into the soil slowly.
• Unlike chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers like rabbit manure ensure the plant gets a consistent supply of nutrients.
• Microorganisms like rabbit poop, so it will eventually increase the soil structure and improve soil aeration.

Check this: How to Use Epsom Salt for Tomato Plant?

2. Composting Rabbit Manure

Though you can directly add rabbit manure without composting, most gardeners add excess rabbit poop to the compost pile to ensure everything decomposes properly.

Rabbit manure increases nitrogen material in the compost, thus ensuring a balanced nutritional ratio of the compost.

• Rabbit manure makes green material in your compost.
• High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus make your compost nitrogen-rich.
• Maintain optimal moisture to favour the decomposition process.
• You can also add earthworms to the compost pile; earthworm poop is considered black gold fertilizer for vegetables.

3. Rabbit Compost Tea

Compost tea is a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer that can be used to enrich veggies and ornamental plants.

It is easy to make your compost tea out of rabbit poop.

Rabbit manure tea releases the goodness of poop right away into the soil. So you don’t have to wait too long to see the change.

Within a week, compost tea application will benefit your tomatoes.

• Take 2-3 cups of rabbit poop and put them in a 5-gallon of bucket.
• Fill the bucket with water and stir regularly for a few days.
• Cover the bucket with a cloth.
• After a few weeks, you’ll get nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer that can be used to enrich your garden.

Also Read: Can You Eat Tomatoes with Black Spots?

Can I Put rabbit manure directly in the tomato garden?

Yes, you can directly apply rabbit manure pellets to the tomato garden.

Being cold compost, it won’t burn your plants, and with regular watering, it slowly releases nutrients to the growing medium.

Adding rabbit poop to the compost pile increases nitrogen value in the compost and makes your compost rich in essential nutrients.

Fertilizing Tomatoes with Organic Fertilizer

Unlike synthetic fertilizers, organic fertilizers release nutrients slowly, which avoids over-fertilization and ensures the plant gets a consistent supply of nutrients.

If your garden soil is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, adding rabbit manure can result in over-fertilization.

Though this results in dark green foliage, it may reduce fruiting.

Conducting a soil test to determine the nutritional value of your growing medium is recommended.

You can add rabbit manure to tomatoes once every 4 weeks. You can enrich the potting soil with organic fertilizer twice a month during the growing season.

Conclusion

You can use rabbit manure to fertilize tomatoes. It is completely safe and good for your garden.

Filled with abundant nitrogen and phosphorus, rabbit manure is a nutrient-rich fertilizer suitable for direct application to tomato seedlings. 

Regular application contributes to photosynthesis, strengthening stems and increasing fruit production.

You can add rabbit manure while planting tomato seedlings and during the growing season. It can also act as organic mulch around your plant.