Seaweed

[Tracey]

Today we've been to the beach and brought back a bag of seaweed. I've read on here that it's good for the veggies. I don't know which veggies like it and what's the best way to apply it? Any advice would be appreciated please .

Tracey

[crichmond]

wash it to get rid of the excess salt, then either use it as a mulch or chop it up and put it in a water butt in a hessian bag cover and leave for 2 to 3 weeks then use the liquid as a plant food.

[Demeter]

My parents live by the sea in Spain. When they moved in, the garden consisted mostly of builders rubble, sand, and basically no organic matter at all. They have put some compost in but also HUGE quantities of seaweed washed up onto the beach. I don't think they even washed it - they were collecting it by the carload, 10+ sacks a time. (They do water a lot though, as in a LOT, which probably helped to wash out any residual salt.)

Results: beautiful soil, loads of fruit and veggies. They used it for *everything*.

There are also these fibrous round things, not sure what exactly but some sort of seaweed, ranging from about the size of a golfball up to slightly larger than a tennis ball - which they call either "donkey b*****ks" or "donkey doo-doos" (depending on the audience), if that helps you to visualise them. Ahem. Anyway, I think they wash up seasonally, in the autumn IIRR, in huge quantities, and go on as mulch... As far as they are concerned, seaweed rocks!

[nemo]

i never wash it i put it on all the veg plot and around rhubarb this is mostly done in the winter so it helps against nutrients being washed out of the soil and works great against weed control and i also use it as a mulch around my fruit bushes keep it away from the stems , slugs hate it
so i also use it as a slug barrier
and also make a seaweed feed out of it the seaweed used for this i always wash it at least 4 times to remove the salt like crichmond

[Paulottie]

I go and collect seaweed.(especially after Autumn storms)..ONLY the dead stuff though, I have never bothered rinsing it.

You can make 'tea' as suggested...smells like death.

Or If you want to get the compost heap really steaming that's the best activator I know. Makes compost in weeks.

Brilliant for asparagus, tomatoes (other fruiting crops) and traditionally used for spuds ....or just use as (an autumn particularly for me) mulch anywhere...LOADS of trace elements in it.

[Two_Sheds]

We never seem to have much seaweed washed up these days, certainly not enough to bother collecting. This site tells you how to prepare & use seaweed: Untitled Document
I hadn't thought about using it as slug-prevention ... good call! http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...aweed_348.html

[Tracey]

Thanks for your help. I'm going to make a seaweed tea and use it on my fruiting veg and potatoes.

When I've made the tea do I need to leave it to stew for 6 weeks? Once made do should I use it straightaway or will it keep and retain its nutrients?

Tracey

[vegman]

from what I understand about seaweed and the seaweed based products you can buy is that they are classed as a plant stimulant rather than a fertilizer. That is to say that the NPK are very low but trace elements are there. If applied by dilute liquid by watering can or superspray hose end sprayer it helps the plant get more out of whats in the soil. A bit like drinking your daily yoghurt drink to keep you in good shape incase infection hits etc.

Seaweed helps build up plants resistance to drought and pest attack.

One should still you base fertilizer or farmyard manure to keep the fertility levels high.

[Paulottie]

Thanks for your help. I'm going to make a seaweed tea and use it on my fruiting veg and potatoes.

When I've made the tea do I need to leave it to stew for 6 weeks? Once made do should I use it straightaway or will it keep and retain its nutrients?

Tracey

Veg man is right , and it is good for a foliar feed. diluted and applied fortnightly.

It will last a while but I had a dustbin full a few years ago that was left half full at the end of the season and rediscovered in spring....oh did it humm! I had to dig a hole under the compost heap and pour it in! I was gagging as an almost visible green cloud engulfed the neighbourhood Lord knows what my neighbours thought.

[Countrygirl]

I was slightly distracted whilst reading this and mistook your seaweed tea as a drink rather than a plant drink. I thought why on earth would someone want to drink seaweed, especially if it smelt like death! I know what you mean about smelly stuff, I left some comfrey leaves in a uncovered bucket over winter in the veg patch. I haven't got advanced enough to get crops to go through the winter, so it got left there. I only remembered that it was there in the spring when I wondered what this really grim smell was. I added it to my compost bin and it took an age for the smell to fade!