Seaweed advice needed

[burnie]

Didn't HFW dry his in river cottage or was that for animal feed?.
If you can find some vinegar plants you could grow some great chips....

[dexterdoglancashire]

HFW used it as a supplement for his animals if I remember correctly. DDL

[eskymo]

I use it neat as mulch, but also use it as layers between kitchen scraps in my compost bin as it's a good decomposting accelerator and I also make liquid feed out of it - it's so versatile and free - it's mad how much people spend on plant food when you can make stuff for nothing from seaweed or comfrey [I do both].

[Snadger]

I collect seaweed regularly and add it to my compost heap.

I also make a seaweed liquid feed for plants which I'm mentioned somewhere in another thread.

I noticed that a few people in the village use it as a mulch - so I got a bucket full the other day but that didn't go very far - so going to have to go back with the car and get more.

I normally bung mine in the bath and shower it down with cold water to reduce the salt levels before I use it.

Hope that helps.

If I ventured upstairs with a few sacks of seaweed to rinse it off in the bath I think the OH would be up for manslaughter!!

[eskymo]

I do that all the time and the OH isn't allowed to comment!

[Snadger]

I do that all the time and the OH isn't allowed to comment!

Actions speak louder than words!

[rhubarbontoast]

I've been collecting seaweed for a couple of months and have composted quite a bit- it does get smelly (a good bad smell) but seems to have broken down well when mixed in. I left a pile sitting on concrete for a while released the most foul smelling but presumably very nutrient rich liquor. I think a few handful's left to rot down in water would be a reasonable feed.

I have mulched my newly dug vegetable plots with a good thick layer of seaweed. Has anyone done this before? How well does it rot down? I am tempted to dig it in - the surface hasn't changed much but underneath is very slimy. Will it have rotted by spring do you think? I had heard it wasn't worth rinsing it off and there really is very little salt residue on it if it is fresh. I haven't rinsed but I haven't tried to grow anything yet so don't know if I have ruined my soil...

It has to be good stuff anyway, I'll be out to collect more the next good weekend we get.