Mulch??

[vicpivo]

I drove through an industrial estate today and noticed outside a carpenters lock up about ten 500 litre sacks full of wood shaving/sawdust (sort of inbetween) next to the skip.

I picked up 2 bags and squshed them into my car. It is light untreated wood (pine I think). Would this be suitable for a mulch?

[NSB]

It would be good as a slug repellent apparently. I saw something on the tele the other day and they put saw dust round cabbages they had just put in

[Snadger]

I have wood chippings around my tomatoes in one of my greenhouses as a mulch and it seems to work ok. Apparently depletes soil of Nitrogen as it degrades but as long as you don't use it around Nitro hungry crops like brassicas it should be ok.

Better still, open bags, give them a dressing of sulphate of ammonia (very cheap) seal them up again and store them somewhere for a year, result, wonderful soil conditioner!

Alternatively, it's great stuff for paths!

[terrier]

Sulphate of Ammonia? I wonder if thats the same as horse wee. When I've used wood shavings as bedding, it soon disappears in the midden. I left some used bedding in a plastic feed bag and forgot about it, after a few months, there was not much left you could describe as wood!

[sewer rat]

Wood shavings / Sawdust make an excellent mulch for acid loving plants too.

[Snadger]

Sulphate of Ammonia? I wonder if thats the same as horse wee. When I've used wood shavings as bedding, it soon disappears in the midden. I left some used bedding in a plastic feed bag and forgot about it, after a few months, there was not much left you could describe as wood!

Sulphate of Ammonia is a bi-product of coal/coke production. 21% Nitrogen I think?
I would imagine any wee has an ammonia content, so possibly if distilled it would give pure sulphate of ammonia??

[SimonCole]

Sulphate of Ammonia is a bi-product of coal/coke production. 21% Nitrogen I think?
I would imagine any wee has an ammonia content, so possibly if distilled it would give pure sulphate of ammonia??

Not sulphate of ammonia, but a good deal of ammonia/ammonium if you left your wee in a bucket for a week or two. I'd image it would work the same because it would raise the pH and provide nutrients... I'm less certain as to whether the sulphate part of the sulphate of ammonia acts to inhibit microbes?

[vicpivo]

Cheers all for the advice.

I've put 2lbs of amomonia sulphate in each 500L bag and watered heavily. I realised afterwards I should have mixed the sulphate and water first, but I assume it won't ruin it!

I spoke to the chap in our local allotment association shop and didn't really have a cluse about how much I need. Is this going to be enough? It only cost me £1.08 for 4lbs so I think I can push the boat out and get more if needed!