Grow Your Own Magazine

I've been to the beach today and brought back a bag of seaweed. How do I use it as fertiliser?

Tracey

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Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Michael Pollan

Hi Tracey
Seaweed is great as fertiliser but don't expect immediate returns as it takes some time to break down properly.
First off rinse it thoroughly to get rid of any salt. then you want to shred it as fine as you can manage/be bothered. Where you feel you have particular trace element problems around established plants it can be used as a top dressing/mulch. It will really enrich your compost if mixed into that or it can be dug directly into veg beds when preparing - best done late in the season.
Hope this helps and sorry it took a while to respond.
Richard

Hi Tracy, as I live near the sea, I've harvested some seaweed a few times. I've used it the ways that Richard said, plus I put some in a lidded bucket, filled it with water and left in several months to make a liquid fertilizer. I'm sure it must be fantastic, as it absolutely [i]stinks[i]!

Also, yesterday I tried chopping it very fine and putting it, unrinsed, around the edges of my bed as a possible slug repellent - I figured the salt will put them off? Haven't been down the look at my plot yet, so I can't report back yet. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures!

Good luck with the seaweed anyway, it's good stuff - and free!

Lucky you! Wish I lived closer to the seaside. Bernie aka DDL

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