Homemade Seaweed Fertilizer or Just seaweed

martic

Has anyone made their own seaweed fertilizer and if so how did it work out,also has anyone used just seaweed in their gardens for growing vegetables.I'm attempting to grow my own this year including potatoes and want to try my best to stay away from chemicals as much as possible.

wildlandscape

Digging seaweed into the ground will enrich the soil and is perfect for potatoes. I used it in the past as a mulch for my roses! However someone mentioned to me that it was not on to remove seaweed from the beach....not sure how to verify this!

So I now use home made fertilisers made from comfrey and nettles. PM me if you want more info on these fertilisers.

bmaxi

It is Ok to remove seaweed from the beach but not from rocks or anywhere it is attached and growing.
Fill a bucket with the seaweed and just cover with fresh water, leave for about six weeks and then make up in 10:1 dilution with water. Excellent for just about everything, does smell a bit though.

martic

Thanks guys,My parents live beside the sea so I'm getting some this weekend and then I will have to decide what way to use it.I think I have left it too late to dig it in so is is ok to just spread it out over my raised beds.

wewantchilly

not too late for seaweed, i tend to double dig my beds with well rotted manure, however, seaweed is a very good source of magnesium for plants so i add in seaweed with the manure when i dig it in, worked a treat for the last three years.

deisemum

It's ok to take washed up seaweed. I just rinsed it and dug it into the ground with some farmyard manure. It's what I grew up seeing when making lazy beds in the West of Ireland. Very common on the Aran Islands.

Oliverdog

We collect loose seaweed from the local beaches, flush it with water, shred it, and add it to our compost heap. It contains many trace elements.
It might interest you to know that the famous Jersey Royal potatoes have been grown for time immemorial in the Channel Isles using a seaweed mulch, giving the great taste. I have read that the EC are trying to stop this practice on health and safety grounds - I don't know what notice the growers are taking of this.

pops

People in the islands off the west coast of Ireland have grown their vegetables in mostly seaweed and sand and they have managed very well over the centuries. Just make sure that the seaweed doesn't go into plots where carrots or parsnips will be growing as it might encourage the roots to 'fork'. The reddish seaweed is particularly high in nitrogen and is especially good for leafy veg such as brassicas.

bestie

I use organic seaweed extract for soaking my wheatgrass seeds

http://www.irishwheatgrass.net

goat2

martic wrote: »

Has anyone made their own seaweed fertilizer and if so how did it work out,also has anyone used just seaweed in their gardens for growing vegetables.I'm attempting to grow my own this year including potatoes and want to try my best to stay away from chemicals as much as possible.

i do not use seaweed
but i cut tops on nettles which are coming up right now, i fill a bucket which has a lid that i can tie down i cut the nettles up small, fill over the nettles with water, put back on cover, put it away in a quiet corner, come back 3 weeks later and, voila i have good homemade fertaliser for all my plants

bmaxi

goat2 wrote: »

i do not use seaweed
but i cut tops on nettles which are coming up right now, i fill a bucket which has a lid that i can tie down i cut the nettles up small, fill over the nettles with water, put back on cover, put it away in a quiet corner, come back 3 weeks later and, voila i have good homemade fertaliser for all my plants

As with seaweed, fertiliser made from nettles is excellent. A word of caution though, if you make seaweed fertiliser and you think that smells, wait until you get a whiff of this stuff. I would also dilute to 10:1 with this and be careful not to get it on clothes or hands as it is hard to get off and even your mother won't hug you for a week. Comfrey treated in the same way is another excellent source.

goat2

bmaxi wrote: »

As with seaweed, fertiliser made from nettles is excellent. A word of caution though, if you make seaweed fertiliser and you think that smells, wait until you get a whiff of this stuff. I would also dilute to 10:1 with this and be careful not to get it on clothes or hands as it is hard to get off and even your mother won't hug you for a week. Comfrey treated in the same way is another excellent source.

i do have the comfrey, but it was not grown enough right now to harvest, hopefully 2 weeks time it will, its coming nicely

astronige

hi would this be ok to use on a lawn?

im struggling with a very bad lawn but getting much help from this site on how to get it nice again :-)

astronige

also does it need be left for 6weeks in water??
could i not kinda rinse it then put into bucket and kinda mash it up a bit ..bit like making tea lol... then use the water 1:10 parts?

goat2

astronige wrote: »

also does it need be left for 6weeks in water??
could i not kinda rinse it then put into bucket and kinda mash it up a bit ..bit like making tea lol... then use the water 1:10 parts?

no this job require patience
you can put in a bucket smash it down, cover with water, put a cover over it, hey presto 2 to three weeks you have a great supply of fertaliser
also it is the fact that it has rotted down that produces the fertaliser,
you should taste the herbs and onions along with the garlic that are fertalised with it, it is beautiful
you can use it on all plants
it will not work by just doing that which you said

goat2

astronige wrote: »

hi would this be ok to use on a lawn?

im struggling with a very bad lawn but getting much help from this site on how to get it nice again :-)

just cut high, give a bit of general fertaliser, after aboout the third cut your lawn will look fine again
all our lawns got a battering this year, loads of rain and freezing, but dont fear it will come back in no time

Degsy

I mashed up my sunflower stalks from last summer along with the leaves and left them standing in a water butt for the winter.
A couple of weeks ago i fished out the biggest bits of stalks and poured the foul smelling liquid over all my fruit trees and thier growth improved almost immediatly.

goat2

Degsy wrote: »

I mashed up my sunflower stalks from last summer along with the leaves and left them standing in a water butt for the winter.
A couple of weeks ago i fished out the biggest bits of stalks and poured the foul smelling liquid over all my fruit trees and thier growth improved almost immediatly.

you did the right thing, i let the last of my cuttings in a butt also and am now using it
the foul smell is part and parcel of it, when it smells that way you know that you have the real deal

Degsy

goat2 wrote: »

you did the right thing, i let the last of my cuttings in a butt also and am now using it
the foul smell is part and parcel of it, when it smells that way you know that you have the real deal

Just make sure to remove any flower heads or the sunflowers will grow like weeds allover the place.

bmaxi

astronige wrote: »

also does it need be left for 6weeks in water??
could i not kinda rinse it then put into bucket and kinda mash it up a bit ..bit like making tea lol... then use the water 1:10 parts?

How long it takes usually depends on the ambient temperature. I usually leave it six weeks but theoretically it could be used before then, depending on the rate of decomposition. One of the best things about these fertilisers is, they don't have a sell by date.

goat2

another tip
do not throw away lawn cuttings
put them around shrubs big and small
they keep down grass near shrub
they keep in moisture during summer
they rot down during year and fertalise the plants
more over new gardeners on here, you will find your new plants will grow fine and healthy with this treatment

Niall Mc Allister

As a we are moving in to the mulching time of year again. Another quick advantage of using the seaweed is that you don't get any slugs lurking under it through the winter due to the salt content. It is by far the best compost i have ever used.
Niall
Quickcrop.ie

johngalway

Oliverdog wrote: »

shred it

Out of interest, how do you shred it? By hand, or do you use a chipper of some sort?

Niall Mc Allister

I don't shred it at all John. I get it from the coast at this time of the year (obviously the seaweed that isn't fixed to anything) & put it on my beds that i am not growing overwintering stuff. I put about 4/5 inches of it across the bed. Mid winter you have a really gluppie gunge on the surface which washes in to the soil during Feb / March & by the time you turn the soil in April to plant up it is beautifull with all the seaweed gone. All you have to do is pick out a few mussel shells & the like.
Niall
Quickcrop.ie

flutered

my way is to get some concentrate from the garden centre, add the required amount to water then add tomato ferteliser, spray everything, the results are fantistic, b.t.w. i have pics to prove it.

johngalway

Niall Mc Allister wrote: »

I don't shred it at all John. I get it from the coast at this time of the year (obviously the seaweed that isn't fixed to anything) & put it on my beds that i am not growing overwintering stuff. I put about 4/5 inches of it across the bed. Mid winter you have a really gluppie gunge on the surface which washes in to the soil during Feb / March & by the time you turn the soil in April to plant up it is beautifull with all the seaweed gone. All you have to do is pick out a few mussel shells & the like.
Niall
Quickcrop.ie

Plenty seaweed near me, I was wondering in a farming sense really as I'm considering gathering some and spreading it on the land. If it were chopped up some way it'd melt in easier I think, saw a second cousin of mine spread it last year and it was still in the grass when the ewes & lambs were out on it, I didn't like that.

redser7

Just wondering if it would be ok to use on flowering plants/ border annuals? Any chance it would be too nitrogen rich and pevent flowering? Thanks

Niall Mc Allister

Hi John. If using on the land it definately would be best shredded.
Redser. I haven't used the seaweed on my flowering beds. I suspect you are right. It may well be to rich for some of them & cause them to run to seed too quickly. But you might need more research on that question.

redser7

Thanks Niall. Was thinking perhaps you could add some potash, but I don't know if it is a good idea to risk your plants with DIY chemistry :-) Will research a bit and post if I find anything.