Seaweed- no dig

[offwegoParticipant]

This year I’m using a lot of seaweed on my beds , just as my father used to do years ago, difference is he dug it in always had great crops and did well at local shows etc

I’m doing no dig with seaweed will I need to cover over with compost or will it rot in and be taken in by worms etc.

[ApplescruffsParticipant]

I’ll be interested to see how you get on, I’ve just ‘got into’ Charles’ no dig and I have spread approx 20 bags of seaweed over my , existing, allotment in preparation for the new season.

I can also get hold of an almost inexhaustible supply of spent hops, coffee grounds from My local Costa and Horse Manure.

At the moment I’m putting it all into plastic compost bins and basically hoping that something good will come out in a few months time.

I hope that the seaweed etc. Will be OK as I can get a lot of it for free !

All the best

Richard

[offwegoParticipant]

I have used coffee and loads of horse muck with great success. Trouble is I have used all the stable near me had so to get usable material I will need the manure the horses produce this winter to wait until Jan 2020 before I use it.

So as I can get seaweed locally I am trying using it as part of no dig.

[charlesModerator]

No dig seaweed works well, I saw it in Leitrim Ireland.
They simply spread it 3-4in over beds say now or December, and by April there is little visible: worms and other organisms like it and take it into the soil.
You will surely win prizes.

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

Hi Charles,
I concur. Our family experience was in the Outer hebridies where potatoes were planted inside piles of seaweed. Very no-dig. I recently had a conversation with my mother about this practice and apparently it dates back to before the days of The Potato Famine. Source is oral history I’m afraid.
I guess you cannot call the Gaelic lazy beds no-dig, but the turfs were important in our part of the world to hold everything down and not get blown away! (context is everything!)..

Richard, you will be astonished at how quickly seaweed rots down, but be warned, dont let it rot before you use it as it can lose its goodness quickly.
BR
Neil

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

For interesting reading on seaweed have a look at:
http://sea-nymph-ireland.com/benefits.html sellers of seaweed produce for growing and
https://www.quickcrop.ie/blog/2014/02/growing-potatoes-in-seaweed/ who is an Irish blogger..

[ApplescruffsParticipant]

Many thanks for the links Neil,

I’ve used my allotment conventionally since I’ve had it and have always been a bit disappointed with the results so I’m very keen to get into Charles’ no dig, and to plant and sow using the moon phase will be a new thing for me.

Ive just tried to book on one of Charles’ courses at Cambridge…. fully booked !

Really looking forward to next season, and as I can’t wait I’ve bought some winter lettuce and herbs to grow in the greenhouse !

All the best and apologies to offwego for hijacking a bit of his thread

:0)

Cheers

Richard

[J S BeanParticipant]

Hello all,

I’ve been loitering for a while, but this is my first post. Thanks for the wealth of information on these forums.

Apologies if this is a daft question, but…

Should you rinse any salty residues off seaweed before using it? I live near the coast, so can get hold of a fair bit of seaweed, but wonder if it would be too salty. Or is it negligible?

Thanks,

Jonathan

[offwegoParticipant]

I don’t think it’s too salty, about three weeks ago I put some on my polytunnel beds after shredding it with a mower, on inspection by pulling back some of the mulch today the worms are hard at work if it was too salty the worms wouldn’t go near it.

Just my view and I may be wrong.

I’ve topped up one of my raised beds with 4″ today and I will be taking pictures periodically to show how it rots down between now and spring , I will update accordingly

[offwegoParticipant]

Apologies I meant to add picture now attached

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[NeilfrazermParticipant]

Hi Richard,
I will be really interested to see your pictures. It will convince any doubters about how quickly it breaks up. You can understand any sceptics though, since it looks pretty indestructible while sitting on the beach!
Rinsing the salt off was never an issue in the West of Scotland. I will let you work out why! But is should be rinsed one way or another before it goes on the garden.
Living in London I am reduced to using processed seaweed products, but as you will see from the links, papers on how it works as a nematicide looks really interesting in improving crops through improving soil.
BR
Neil

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Issue/pn84/PN84_18-20.pdf

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

here is another example of garlic as a nematicide which may explain why some people do companion planting.. http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Issue/pn84/PN84_18-20.pdf

[offwegoParticipant]

Sorry on two counts, neither of your links appear to work my end and I think you are mixing up posts as I am not Richard.
I will however post pictures
Regards
Andrew

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

Hi Andrew,
Apologies, I copied the links but did not check them.
the second link is accessed from reference No. 4 on this page in wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematicide
I’ve tested this route and it works in Firefox.
BR
Neil

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