If you live near the sea here are a few tips on utilising a valuable free resource for your garden. Seaweed is almost good as farmyard manure, although it is lower in phosphates but richer in potash. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals
The best time to collect seaweed for use in the garden is right after a storm as the newly washed up seaweed has less salt in it than weed which has been lurking in a harbour for weeks. If it smells clean and fresh use it, if it pongs walk away. Only collect loose seaweed do not pull it off of rocks, by doing so you will be making numerous sea creatures homeless and damaging the eco system. Give it a quick swish in the sea and a shake to remove any residents. It is best to wash the seaweed with fresh water or leave in the rain for a couple of days to get more of the salt out, worms don’t like it and it kills them if strong enough, same principle as putting salt on slugs. Photo: Max Blinkhorn
Make your own Liquid Seaweed Feed
A well known brand of liquid seaweed extract or growth stimulant costs about £7 per litre, you could make your own for free. Get a 10 gallon plastic drum/container, half fill it with seaweed, top up the container with water and let it stand for 3 months, that is the optimum time, I do know people who have used it after a few weeks. Strain off the liquid and add about a cupful to 2 gallons of water, do not be tempted to make it any stronger or you could burn the roots of your plants. Think I might stitch up an old net curtain to make a bag and put the seaweed in that so I don’t have to strain it, then I can put the used seaweed residue on the compost heap. It is quicker and decomposes better if you chop the seaweed up first. You can of course make it in smaller amounts, just use any suitable container for the space you have available.
Compost it
Seaweed is an excellent compost activator, so adding it to you compost heap will add nutrients and more organic matter to your compost.
You can also use a 4″ – 6″ layer of seaweed as a mulch for shrubs and roses, although you might get a few complaints from near neighbours as it starts to rot down.
Seaweed improves the structure of clay soils, think it is the alginates in the seaweed helps break it up so it does not clump so much.
With your “if it pongs, walk away” comment in mind, does it mean that a lot of the seaweed being collected from the Haven won’t be usable as fertiliser?
Hi Simon
The seaweed that is decomposing in the Haven would be fine for commercial composting, ie mixed in with the garden waste at Lynbottom and composted at a very high temperature.
The Haven has the same problem as East Cowes where the seaweed gets trapped behind the breakwater, I know of several dogs there that have caught gastroenteritis from playing around in the rotting seaweed. Commercial composting would destroy any bacteria due the the very high heat generated during the composting process. Garden composting would not generate enough heat, which is why I personally would never use the seaweed trapped in the Haven on my garden especially taking the salt into consideration too.
Where the seaweed in the Haven has been there a long time it is starting to break down and it absorbs salt at the same time, trying to wash salt out of those tiny bits of seaweed would be almost impossible.
Angie
[…] Angie from the Ventnor Permaculture Group also has a great article about using seaweed in the garden […]
Hi,
I’m very ken to try the seaweed route as I have loads of slugs in my garden and the little buggers have scoffed all of my peas and beans!
Not sure how good it is for keeping slugs and snails away from plants. If the seaweed is dry and crispy it might. If you don’t wash it the salt could harm the plants.
If it does work let us know.
Angie
A possible solution for you slug and snail problem is taking crushed up eggshells andworking them into the soil. The creatures supposedly stay clear of them for fear of cutting themselves on the sharp shells.
Tracy
Thanks Tracy, I will dry and crush a few eggshells and try sprinkling them around plants instead of adding to the compost heap. Will report back on how well it works.
Thanks
Angie
Great article, thanks for the info and reminding folk not to go taking the weed that is on the rocks.
Angie: Did the egg shells work??
Z
Hi Zac
Have not had a chance to try the eggshells yet. As I only eat about one egg per month it could take me a while to get enough for a decent trial!
Angie
Tracy, Do you think crushed eggshells work? Only asking b/c….what’s the intelligence of a slug? How would a snail know that there’s danger afoot? Not being fresh, only now my perception of the world has changed dramatically. Do you think the cat next door respects me? (kidding, I kid)
Hi Chris
Must admit I have wondered what slugs do when they encounter eggshells – do they turn round and go back or keep going as they have to start going across the eggshells to know they don’t feel good. Anyone know?
Still have not tried it yet as we don’t eat enough eggs to get a good amount to use as yet.
Angie
Hi I live in Adelaide, Australia.
I go crabbing every year & this year filled a sack with seaweed. I put it in my compost & boy did it break down the compost really quickly. Probably the best compost I’ve had, full of life & holding moisture really well.
I wet my compost regularly so no problem with the salts even found worms through it.
Go get your hands dirty!
PS – 7th day in a row at 40deg C/104F
[…] quick to desompose and is also high in nutrients. It increases microbial life in soils too. See here for more […]
I like the idea that it makes the leaves break down quicker, will give it a try, could solve my problem of never having enough compost.
Angie
egg shells work wonders!
as you would for before putting them on your heap, dry the shells out, then crush them (into pieces about as big as your finger nails – any smaller and they’re not sharp enough, any bigger and the snails and slugs crawl round them).
Over winter i’ve not much growing in my veg patch so collect a big old jar full of them ready for the growing season to start in spring. I’ve got a great local bakery who keep egg shells for me too when they’re doing thier cake-baking days.
Make sure that you spread them in a big thick band around the plants. it needs to be as wide as the length of a big slug (if that makes sense!).
after a while, you’ll need to top-up your egg sheel bands or rings as the wind etc will spread them around a bit. great for the soil too as they are exposed to sunlight, they break down quicker.
good luck!
I have heard sharp seashells work as well so maybe if you live near the ocean that would be easier than waiting until you have eaten enough eggs?
I have just started to prepare a new small raised bed for vegtable growing, as I live very near to the sea, can I use fresh washed seaweed as a layer when building up the bed from scratch?
Susan
I would think so, have never tried it.
Angie
We use seaweed without washing, but we put it on in the fall (we’re in Maine). We will put seaweed around our cherry tree now (April), but the rain should do a good job of diluting the salt. I wouldn’t worry about rinsing, that would remove some nutrients.
Thanks for the info on the seaweed. I live right on the coast but have never tried it. My neighbor puts it in the garden every fall. I always worried about the salt.
Best thing to get rid of slugs and snails: Sprinkle a ring of wood ash a few inches out from the stem of the plant. It doesn’t need to be a large ring at all. They HATE ash! Redo the ring if it rains. Also, you can pour beer into shallow containers and set them by the plants. Slugs and snails are attracted to the yeast smell. They crawl in and die. Replace the beer every few days. Hope this helps!
About taking care of slugs — I give them a liquid diet of beer. Just pour a little in a pie tin or shallow dish and at night they head in to party and can’t seem to find their way out. It doesn’t take long to clear a garden of slugs.
Just saw this page. I make a perimeter of a fine line of 20 Mule Team Borax all around each garden–like a little white fence for slugs. They will not touch your garden. It is so alkaline (I guess) that it will kill the grass under the fine line and, after 3-4 weeks in rainy weather I do it again, but it keeps the pests from the garden and ants from the house if done against the foundation. You do not need much and it works. Best of luck. Mary
We have 28 allotments created from an old cottage garden we rescued from the brambles and 30 years of fly-tipping. All are used free by local people and groups for the disabled. We would be interested in getting some of the seaweed being cleared from the beaches – say about 20 tonnes – to add to our 9 compost heaps and as a mulch.
Does anyone know how to arrange a delivery?
Chris x753558
Hi Chris
Sorry for delay, I had no idea who to contact for large amounts of seaweed but found out yesterday Cheetah Marine have organised the removal in the past. Also a couple of posts down is Brighstone Landscaping which collects seaweed from Island beaches.
Sounds like a great project you have going over in West Wight.
Angie
[…] carting bags of weeds to the tip. On the18th we go to Swanpool beach and collect many bags of seaweed – the recent stormy weather has bought a lot ashore. On the way to the allotment we buy two […]
I have been using seaweed straight off the beach when it comes in big drifts. I throw it on the beds and in winter pile it at least 8 inches deep Ireland has heavy rainfall so maybe this washes out the salt quickly but, it has not deterred the worms there are masses of them big fat and shiny. I am delighted to say that it seems to discourage the nasty flat worm [ from Down Under]that I find under the pots and wood rounds in other parts of the garden !
Hi
Brighstone Landscaping Ltd carry out the daily cleaning of all our major beaches on behalf of the council and as such remove seaweed which goes to landfill at lynbottom. We would be happy to talk to any group(s) which maybe interested in using seaweed on their gardens or allotments etc. Please feel free to contact us on the above e-mail address
Doug
[…] go to Swanpool Beach on the 6th and in misty rain collect five bags of seaweed. We cannot be mad as there are other like minded people there doing the same. Collecting seaweed on […]
Greetings from Wolfgang in Central Philippines.
After Years of successful Composting & producing VermiCast –& a few Months of happily producing/applying VermiTea– I’m given to understand that Variations of the Components in VermiFood cause varying Reactions in Vegetable Plants (Tomato, EggPlant, SweetCorn, etc.), when the resultant VermiTea is applied.
What are the Components that will promote
the Vegetative Stage
and then
the Flowering Stage
of Vegetables (Tomato, EggPlant, Legumes & RootCrops) and what Substances should be added to the VermiFood/Tea to achieve each of the above effects?
Right now I’m hot-composting (45 Days) the following to produce what I call “SuperFood” from which my African Nightcrawlers will deliver “SuperCast”, from which my 3-Pump Brewers (60 hours) will derive “SuperTea”, which will have a little CookingOil and HumanUrin (from a FarmHand not taking any Medication or Drugs) added:
>150kg very old –already decomposing– CocoNut Husk
>150kg Hagonoy (Chromolaena odorata, Asteraceae Family = “Siam Weed”)
>150kg Fresh Indigofera (Livestock Legume)
>>the above were mechanically
shredded TWICE<100kg PigManure –already decomposing SawDust
>50kg air-dried SheepManure
>30kg Snails fermented in Lactobacillus
>100kg SeaWeed (Kelp) fermented in Lactobacillus
>50kg NeutriPhosphate (with ~21% GuanoDung) fermented in Lactobacillus.
The above is moistened with IMO every second Day.
Can you suggest any beneficial Additives to the VermiFood/Tea to enhance
the Vegetative Stage
and then
the Flowering Stage
of Vegetables?
Many Thanks, Wolfgang
Greetings from Wolfgang in Central Philippines.
After Years of successful Composting & producing VermiCast –& a few Months of happily producing/applying VermiTea– I’m given to understand that Variations of the Components in VermiFood cause varying Reactions in Vegetables, when the resultant VermiTea is applied.
What are the Components that will promote
the Vegetative Stage
and then
the Flowering Stage
of Vegetables (Tomato, EggPlant, Legumes & RootCrops) and what Substances should be added to the VermiFood/Tea to achieve each of the above effects?
Right now I’m hot-composting (45 Days) the following to produce what I call “SuperFood” from which my African Nightcrawlers will deliver “SuperCast”, from which my 3-Pump Brewers (60 hours) will derive “SuperTea”, which will have a little CookingOil and HumanUrin (from a FarmHand not taking any Medication or Drugs) added:
>150kg very old –already decomposing– CocoNut Husk
>150kg Hagonoy (Chromolaena odorata, Asteraceae Family = “Siam Weed”)
>150kg Fresh Indigofera (Livestock Legume)
>>the above were mechanically shredded TWICE<100kg PigManure –already decomposing SawDust
>50kg air-dried SheepManure
>30kg Snails fermented in Lactobacillus
>100kg SeaWeed (Kelp) fermented in Lactobacillus
>50kg NeutriPhosphate (with ~21% GuanoDung) fermented in Lactobacillus.
The above is moistened with IMO every second Day.
Can you suggest any beneficial Additives to the VermiFood/Tea to enhance
the Vegetative Stage
and then
the Flowering Stage
of Vegetables (Tomato, EggPlant, Legumes & RootCrops)?
Many Thanks, Wolfgang
hi just wondering whats the best way to keep weeds down just starting an allotment this year my patch very weedy any advice
How fast does seaweed decompose? Can I put in on my beds in the spring?
There are many types of seaweed. Which do you recommend? I prefer to use eel grass so far …it has a silver sheen when dried and breaks down quickly. Easy to handle and wash as well.
We tend just to use what has washed up on the beach after a storm. We don’t harvest seaweed from the rocks or sea due to the danger of messing up ecosystems.
I like using the eel grass that washes up on our beach. I usually rinse it off and use it to mulch veg and ornamental plants. Is it just as beneficial to my garden as the seaweed you show in the lead photo?
[…] some seaweed this evening. A quick google tells me Kelp is the stuff I’m after. Here’s a nice little blog about the benefits of seaweed to a garden and […]
I have a plot about 20ft by60ft how thick would you put the seaweed on to garden if I was to put it on now and leave till next year.thanks
Farmers have always used in-blown wrack as fertilizer and for grass-land they just spread it out on the surface and left it to nature. One farmer neighbour used to put a layer of dung and a layer of seaweed, when it was available, in his dung hill. I have often helped to spread it in my youth and every farmer had rights to a share of the in-blown wrack on our beach. In Carlingford Lough the farmers raised stones on the strands to attract and grow bladder wrack. It was harvested with sickles / hooks like any other crop and spread on the fields. The stones have now disappeared back into the sand again and the men who “raised the wrack-beds” every few years have likewise disappeared into the soil The in-blown wrack was kelp from the Hellyhunter Bank and it would be piled up on the shore in hundreds of tons after the “calm-tail breeze” which was the first big storm after the summer. It was considered better for grass but was also used for potatoes.
I filled a large plastic barrel with ‘calm tails (Kelp) three years ago and topped it up a few times. I weighed the kelp and allowed it to liquidize and then weighed the liquid. It was about the same weight. I subsequently added a few baskets of sycamore leaves which had gathered in a sheltered corner and a few buckets of herring roe and a few buckets of whole frozen herring that had passed their sell by date, from a fish filleting factory and let it ‘ripen for a couple of years. I am not a keen gardener but I gave the resulting liquid to some of my friends and they are excited with the results. No water we added except what rain got in. A lot of bluebottles laid their eggs in it last summer and it was a hive of maggots so I sealed it and presumably the maggots composted also. The bluebottles laid their eggs on the herring as soon as they defrosted and there really was a lot of them. It smells bad and we agreed that it would need diluted 100 / 1. I once buried a bucket of fresh fish offal close to a beautiful little fuchsia tree and it killed it. Was in the doghouse for a while after that.
True story by trawler skipper Gerry Doyle—– who lives beside the sea and came from a farming family.G.D ..