Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: adamhill100 on March 10, 2005, 10:15:13
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Been very busy last few months so had no chance to dig in any manure to my plot... I instead have bought 20kg of Growmore from B&Q..! Will this be good enough to feed the soil for the coming season..?
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Not a substitute for manure, but useful.
20kg? Should see you right for about 5 years!!
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Cheers Tim.. I know it wont sub manure but suppose its better than nothing.
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While your waiting for the ground to warm up, why not chance some fast growing green manure?
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No compost, Adam?? That would be a sub.
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No matey! Really been naughty and have only a small compost bin in the garden... Work and stuff have really got in the way the last 5 months..!
Whats this fast growing stuff?? Not heard of that..
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Do a search on here for Green Manure; It's been discussed many times.
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It works!
And sorry - if you had no time for manure, you had none for compost!!
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I'm thinking about chucking some green manure on parts of my beds that aren't due to be used for a couple of months. I have some grazing rye, would that grow fast enough? Would now until last frost (mid may for me) be enough time for it to do it's work?
Adam, here's a link to the organic catalogue to buy some green manure:
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_51
And a little page from the HDRA web site on green manure:
http://www.hdra.org.uk/organicgardening/grn_mans.htm
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Just had a look at that site, Moggle. That seed is veryyy expensive.
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From what I understand, the difference is that manure feeds the soil whereas growmore feeds the plant. Soil already has enough nutrients in it to feed plants but these nutrients are often "locked up", particularly on clay soil. Adding manure unlocks these nutrients and improves the soil structure so as to produce an open free-draining "crumbly tilth". Growmore is only a quick fix that will produce sappy growth which is prone to pests and diseases. But it's better than nothing! Good luck with your garden.
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Hhhmm thanks for all the Info.. May be that with a few days off I may try and get some manure dug in.. How long do they suggest that manure should be dug in before planting? Thought it was couple of weeks at least?
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Simon - I think that you're being a bit depressive?
At 7:7:7, Growmore is not, I believe, likely to cause 'a rush of blood to the head'. Although we always use BF&B, I think that much can be said for the big G.
"Growmore is one of the most useful fertilisers you can have in the garden shed, because it is what is known as a balanced fertiliser. This means that it contains equal levels of the three most important plant nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Because the contents are not skewed in any way it means that it can be used to provide a basic feed for all your garden plants. It's a good way to ensure that they have a general source of food that can then be built upon to suit the individual plants. So if you want to ensure that your trees, shrubs, beds and borders have a staple diet at the start of the season, you can't go wrong with Growmore. Apply it as a top dressing around the garden and let the weather do the rest. It is also a very useful granular fertiliser for using under mulches to ensure that as the mulch breaks down the microbes involved in the decomposition have sufficient fuel for this process and do not take nitrogen from the soil, depriving your plants of vital nutrients".