Grow Your Own Magazine

After reading the threads on manures and the problems ,set me wondering,have any of our coastal gardeners made their own sea weed compost?.Thinking of using it indoors in pots and raised beds for veggies.I know it needs de-salting in a heap before coming to the garden,but what then,mix in the compost heap?or will it be ok on it's own.I have a beach close by that is often covered with kelp.

I have a friend who lives in Southampton and used to gather seaweed. She swore by it - seemed a lot of work to me!

My parents live by the sea in Spain. They just chuck seaweed directly onto the garden and it has done wonders for them.

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

I got a few trailer loads of seaweed earlier in the year - put a bit in with the potatos and dug a trailer load where the toms are - the thing is, if you leave it lying around in a heap it gets a bit messy and very smelly and fills up with maggots which the birds adore but this isn't everybodies cup of tea - is it? herself hates maggots and ended up having to dig it in for the toms

regarding the salt content - if you get it fresh after its just washed up on the beach following a storm the salt content is not a prob - the older the more salt collects on it or so I understand.

cheers,

KC

KC - interesting comment re salt.
By the way, I can recommend chickens as an effective anti-maggot device...

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

My father was a Gardener all his working life and I can recall him bringing Seaweed up from the shore every year which he spread round the Rhubarb Crowns - of which the people who he worked for must have had about one hundred. However, I can't recall him applying Seaweed to anything else in the garden.
He did apply soot to the beds where he grew Cabbage/Cauliflower.

Well, slugs will attack rhubarb ~ the salt in the seaweed will keep the slugs off.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Thanks for that,come the autumn I will try a bit on one bed out doors and see how it performs against the other beds.Seem to remember HFW feeding his coos on it,think he made a type of washing line to clean his weed.

As King Carrot says above, you don't want to lump it into a pile. It quickly goes rank even when it starts off nice and fresh.

Mix it into the compost heap gradually or lay it on the soil in a single layer, throwing some soil on top to stop the flies.