SEAWEED

[HarryandNess]

so far the hostas are bite free.. put seaweed round 'em all, kind of a trial run.
but the weather hasnt been so warm may be the slugs n snails are sleepin,BTW collected seaweed was washed up not growing.... have powdered some up in a coffee grinder as a feed...supposed to be a root stimulant.... anyway will keep peeps updated

[redsquirrel]

cant use the stuff from round here,i wouldnt take a dip in the water it comes from and certainly wouldnt subject my plants to it. did you wash all the salt out first harry?

[Dave Brown]

Provided the salt is soaked out it should be ok I presume. Another form of compost. Could be good if you have access to loads of it to rot down

[SteveB]

My local nursery swears by liquid seaweed. I've been using it for the last month and get the feeling it works well.

I've access to loads of seaweed on the beach close to home and was planning on composting a few bags. I'll probably get strange looks but I'm to old to care.

I'm a bit concerned about the smell in the otherwise smell free compost bin and I don't know if the NPK ratio will be too lobsided.

[HarryandNess]

just sprayed it with hosepipe red. on the read up about it the salt keeps the slimey pest at bay lol.we do have a rather large bag full dave to empty into our compost bin... but so far so good all hostas seem fine

still trial error hope and faith... AND A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK

[metalhammer]

I guess I'm going to be bit of a pooper now,but you should really only fresh seaweed,not what's in the strand line.I have read the reasons why,but at the moment can't recall where or why,but it was something to do with chemical contamination.





metalhammer.

[HarryandNess]

Ness says: ...Hi MH...it's illegal to take growing seaweed from the beach (where we got it from) but absolutely fine to take strand line weed. I've not heard anything about chemical contamination around here, in fact many of the beaches have been awarded blue flag status (for excellent water quality)....so I'm going to continue using it. Apparently it's fine to use the 'unwashed' as long as it doesn't touch the foliage...the slugs seem to hate it....and we have quite a thick stone mulch too. So far so good....will let you know how we get on with it

[HarryandNess]

Ness says: ...after a week away we returned to find holey hostas and two big fat juicy slugs wrapped around one piece of seaweed.... so it doesn't work. I'm back to slug picking in the evenings ..the one frog who visits us can't possibly eat them all

[weve]

What a timely thread!

Got a small 17' sailing boat in Torquay and hauling it out tomorrow and bringing it home to the front garden. Its got about 4 years worth of very bad fouling on it so I'll have a ready (and legal) supply of weed (and other beasties) literally on my doorstep.

Just concerned about the saltiness of all of it. Assuming I can hose it sufficiently is it better to compost it or use it chopped up "neat"?

[redsquirrel]

lucky thing,are you whacking holes in it and using as raised bed?

[HarryandNess]

Hi Weve, better to hose it or soak it - to remove the salt before composting it....you don't want any seaweed induced fatalities

[weve]

Harry and Ness, thanks for the advice. soaking seems the best bet and leaving it out in this rain too might help. I'll see just how much i have to cope with tomorrow. Won't risk anything precious with it even then tho' Cheers!


Red,

are you whacking holes in it and using as raised bed?

it might well come to that!!!

Its GRP but old and needs quite alot of work (and possible expense, so perhaps not that lucky ) Will pressure wash the hull, harvest the seaweed and see what's what.

Could never scrap it as I've had it since '89 and had so much enjoyment from it. If it has to come to that, will dig a big hole in the back garden, get it craned over the bungalow and bury it in the ground to the depth of the water line so it 'floats' on the soil, build a wooden 'pontoon' for easy access and plant a couple of palms nearby to give a "sailing in the caribbean" feel

It would make a rather eccentric garden feature and a place to sit, drink tea and enjoy the garden!

(But where would I then get my seaweed from?)

[redsquirrel]

im sure harry and ness would collect a few bags for you.
just think,in a few years,you could grow a beard and be robinson crusoe in your own deserted garden.

[HarryandNess]

Of course we would Red ...for £20 an hour lol! Good luck with your boat Weve!

[weve]

HarryandNess
thanks for the good wishes..... Didn't get any weed at all, after all that.

Have posted about it in Off topic HERE
cheers