Topic: Newby with a seaweed question!!

[Vinnypeewee]

hi guys and gals!! 

I've been trawling this site for info for a while... but never actually posted!!  But now i cant seem to find the answer im looking for so here i go!

I have a 20x40ft plot in my back garden... and have just collected nearly a ton of washed up seaweed!!!

My question is... How should I be using it to get the best from it???

I was told to dig it straight into the soil, then i was told by someone else to dig a huge whole when planting my seedlings..... and burry a mass of seaweed below what ever im planting then soil/seedling ontop.

I only have a row of garlic in at the mo, and 2 rows of early Pots  have been in a week.  I can dig it into the remaining unplanted soil if this is best....... but would it be ok use it as a mulch ontop of my rows of Spuds and garlic???

Cheers for your replies in advance !!


Vince

[Barnowl]

Not sure about the digging in bit, but make sure it gets a good rinse (e.g. from rain) to rinse out surplus salt before putting it on the beds (ok to put straight on to permanent asparagus and marsh plant e.g. samphire beds.)

I think the answer will depend greatly on what sort of soil you have.

[Vinnypeewee]

thnaks for that.. I have Quite heavy wet Clay soil on Half of the plot... then good soil on the other half!

[Bjerreby]

I'm in Denmark, and the Baltic Sea has just half the salt of the UK waters. But I have a new garden where I dug in unwashed seaweed so it made up 50% of the top soil. My first results are beyond my wildest dreams..............the soil and crops are beautiful.

My advice is simply dig as much seaweed in as you can the first year, and after that just lay it on the surface as mulch. Slugs hate seaweed, and the more salt the better!

Have you made seaweed extract? Stuff a barrel with seaweed and fill with fresh water. Leave it for a month, then water with it and spray it on the leaves in a 10% dilution. Just watch the plants stand to attention!

Seaweed..........the best thing since sliced bread!

Oh, and by the way, where I live, above high water mark there is a wide region where seaweed has been washed up over the years. It has made the most magnificent potting compost........you should see the roots of my marjoram cuttings from last year.....

[Tee Gee]

This link might assist you; http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Allotments/Soil%20improvers.htm

[Old bird]

Hi Vinnypeewee - what a name!!!

I would agree totally with Bjerreby.  I, though, would heap it over the top of the beds at the moment until it dries and goes very fragile and then use a spade to chonk into it  tobreak it up and I find that that digs in better!  I don't bother to wash the salt off - I also try (surruptitiously - or however you spell it!) to push some sand in to my collection bags too as that helps drainage.

I also use it in the compost heap - it is one of the best activators that you can get!   I also use it in water and soaked for a while - although I would not use a feed until later in the year.

I use seaweed as a mulch over most things (of reasonable size) to smother weeds and feed the beds/plants  but would not use it in lumpy form near the seed bed!

Good luck with it - I am sure you can't go wrong!  I am waiting for more to be washed up as - here in Minehead - we don't have it sitting around most of the year.

[saddad]

Welcome to the site Vince... I'll know Global Warming is real when I can collect my own seaweed for the plot...  ;D

[Vinnypeewee]

Thanks Ladies and Gents!!  for the answers and the welcome!!

I was tempted to let it rinse then dry off for a while... shred it up with my Garden Shredder (was a bit cautious about the seaweed and the shredders electric motor but apparently they have a seal on the shaft to stop and moisture getting near the electrics!) .. then dig it in...  so there wasnt massive clumps of it to clog up my Rotivator.

Will put it into My water butt too and use as instructed by Bjerreby THANKS for the tip!

Its my first year growing so dont know how much of a problem slugs will be.. but if i use my sea weed as Mulch i cant go wrong!! 

Planning to grow:

Garlic - In and shooting up!
Spuds - earlies are In
Broad and Runner beans
Onions
Leeks
Strawberries - Starting to grow
Rubarb - awaiting to be planted

and maybe some carrots in an old Bath tub!!


Live and work right by the sea!! so seaweed is-a-plenty!!!

so fingers crossed for my first year - adopted a Hit and hope style this year... and see how i get on!!!

[manicscousers]

Hiya, Vinny, welcome to the mad house (please excuse the name, it's only for now  ;D)

[saddad]

so fingers crossed for my first year - adopted a Hit and hope style this year... and see how i get on!!!

Sounds like the best idea so far...  ;D

[tim]

I come back every year to say that - in the 30s - it was our lifeblood in Market Gardening in Jersey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaweed_fertiliser

[Vinnypeewee]

Hiya, Vinny, welcome to the mad house (please excuse the name, it's only for now  ;D)
[/quote

your excuse 'miss whiplash'  ;D ;D ;D

and Tim, If its been working since the 30's .. then thats good enough for me .. thank you!!

thanks all .... again!!

[Bjerreby]

Vinny.....you don't have to take our word for it about seaweed. Here is a link to a very interesting article written in 1968 by W A Stephenson of the chemicals company Faber & Faber.


http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/seaweed.html

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'd just spread the seaweed over the surface and let the slugs deal with it. I started mulching when I found myself digging up the dead leaves I'd dug in the previous year, apparently unchanged. Left on the surface, they vanish in a few months. But if you have two gardeners, you inevitably have at least three opinions.

[saddad]

Probably four opinions Robert, most of us can manage to be in two minds about most things...  :)

[Deb P]

The only word of warning I would offer is that foxes seem to love the stuff.....they had a field day on my plot last year when I used some seaweed as a mulch, dragged it all over the place! :-\

[Barnowl]

There are quite a few liquid crop / foliar feeds based on seaweed. I have a large, unmanageable, 10 litre container of Maxicrop  (thought it was 10 x 1 litre when I ordered it  :)  ) which I expect to last me a few years but would love to have a load of the real thing.