Using seaweed

[Pete]

Will Nature's bounty never cease

Sea to the south of me - bracken covered hills to the north

[eskymo]

I also live on the coast and use seaweed a lot - there is restrictions on collecting it, in that you should never cut seaweed from rocks and only collect the free floating stuff or the stuff that has washed up on the beach - I asked someone local about this and that's what they told me.

I make my own liquid seaweed - I got the idea from a forum thread on the River Cottage forum and I'm sure I've posted this info before on this site, but just did a search and couldn't find anything.

Basically get a small bin with a lid and attach a tap to the bottom of it - make sure it is totally sealed otherwise it will leak - half fill with seaweed and then cover with water up to the top of the bin - you could also add some urine if you're partner is willing to oblige [male urine is aparently better than female urine - something to do with women's hormaones - not sure if this a hard fact though so don't quote me on it - info gained from an old guy on an allotment]. Firmly attach the lid and leave to ferment for about 6 weeks. Then pour the concentrate via the tap into bottles - to use, dilute 1-10 with water.

Then put all the seaweed remains on the compost bin. Be warned though as at this stage it really stinks! It really helps with the breakdown of matter in the compost bin so it's worth it.

I've never used the seaweed as mulch or soil conditioner but am going to try this, this year, especially around my tomato plants.

[nick the grief]

Good to know we men (or should that be wee men) are useful for something

I read somewhere that freshly collected seaweed you can put straighe on the beds but the stuff from the Highwater line that gets dried and blown by salt laden wind you wash. We don't have this bounty in warwickshire but I have got access to loads of bracken!!

Also, on my Victorian Kichen Garden Video he uses dry bracken to cover his Celery crop sort of Victorian fleece, so another use for you chaps up north.

[Nicos]

What about seaweed on National Trust shorelines???? ...I wonder???

[Pete]

If potatoes and tomatoes are the same family, can I use seaweed (good for tomatoes) instead of dung when planting my tatties?

[Hardy]

Thanks Eskymo for your liquid seaweed recipe. Can this (also diluted 1:10?) be used as a foliar spray as well as a conventional liquid feed? (Though I might miss the urine out of the mix for foliar spray - don't want the greenhouse smelling like a urinal!)

Thanks
Hardy

[Pete]

Bracken.

Found these in a wee search:

Garden Organic Factsheet GG5

University of Aberdeen

[eskymo]

Hardy - not sure about using the liquid seaweed as a foliar spray - anyone got any opinions on that?

[andrewo]

Did you all know that tomatoes and potatoes are from the same family as deadly nightshade (that's why you never eat the fruit on a potato) or supposedly the leaves on tomatoes.