Digging seaweed in in the Autumn
HU-904935760
2 years ago
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HU-904935760
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seaweed in garden?
Comments (51)Yeah, Ron, thank you for checking back into this thread. I think most would agree that the problem is bacterial wilt and rotation is S.O.P. in our gardens. I have tried all areas of the garden and only once have I seen a crop of peas (and hardy persistent buggers too, they flowered right through the summer heat and into the fall) and I distinctly recall that I mulched with seaweed. When using seaweed as a mulch I generally do rinse it before using, but in this case there was urgency as I had a pan full of sprouted pea seeds that were getting a bit leggy and a two day burst of hot weather was coming so I just took it straight from the 5 gallon bucket and worked it all into a 12' row. Tonight, I was watching big black carpenter ants deliberately walk around the bed (salt eh?) Anyway, frustrated by the wilting peas I was searching the internet for organic controls for bacterial wilt and came across several references to chitin, described in Wikipedia ..." The natural bio-control active ingredient, chitin/chitosan, is found in the shells of crustaceans, such as lobsters, crabs, and shrimp, and many other organisms including insects and fungi. It is one of the most abundant bio-degradable materials in the world." Also "The bio-control mode of action of chitosan elicits natural defense responses within plant to resist against insects, pathogens, and soil borne diseases.[6]" A commercial product based on crab shells is being widely used by Washington state organic potato growers to control blight. I did not have time to get to the clam banks in Seabrook so I went to Rye beach and mixed my seaweed buckets with the most fragile, dried out crab, mussel and clam shells I could find, then I mixed in several large scoops of the gray "sand" from above the high tide mark. This "sand" is gray in part due to the granite substrate but also due to a large component of pulverized crustacean exoskeletons. The gray sand is also the native beach pea's favorite growing medium. poor man's chitin? We'll see. BTW, I planted in the exact same location which saw roughly a 50% germination rate and a 95% mortality rate of those seedlings (one healthy plant left in a 12' row). Like I said in my original post, I'll give a progress or "lack-of-progress report in about a week. Doug...See MoreSeaweed
Comments (8)Mora, I've been using seaweed in the gardens for a couple of years now, but discovered that generations of Acadians before me have been using the stuff for years!! On a visit home this summer, spent some time with a neighbour in her early nineties who still gardens. Her Dahlias were fabulous, and the other flowers in the gardens were amazing. She told me her secret was seaweed!! She never rinses it either. Neither do I. I just apply it in the fall a couple of inches from the crowns of the plants, and then when things start to get really cool, I apply a mulch of chopped leaves or wood shavings. By spring, I find that most of it has 'disappeared' into oblivion, and just mulch with compost which has seaweed in it too. I get mine from our neighbours who have slips for their boats and small beaches which they want to rid of seaweed during the warm months. It's full of potassium and micronutrients which are not found elsewhere. Sometimes I leave some in a bucket, and after a week make a tea for the plants or a foliar spray for the leaves. You should find a few less slugs too! Won't make them disappear altogether, but they will die from the small amount of salt present when you lay it down. Hope this helps!...See MoreShould I dig up and move my Autumn Clematis?
Comments (2)I dunno, I think you could move it now and it would have time to get settled before the snow flies in Vermont. I would in any case give it a hard prune in early spring. Gary...See MoreFlorida Ocean Seaweed safe for garden?
Comments (2)When I had my garden in Odessa FL, I often went gathering seaweed for mulch. I would spread it out on the grass that I didn't much care about, and rinse it well - that's all, just to be sure not to overdo on salts. Then I spread it on the gerden. The garden loved it, as far as I could see. The weed is usually full of little crustaceans that pip and pop around - they're good for the garden, too! ;-D Blossom end rot is related to calcium levels, and also to inconsistent moisture. There are calcium sprays you can use for this, but I've never tried them - I save my eggshells and dig them into the garden where the tomatoes will go. Mulching and drip irrigation helps a lot with the moisture consistency. Still, sometimes on those hot days, the plants transpire more moisture than they can suck out of the ground! You can find some varieties of tomato that are somewhat resistant. Good gardening!...See More- HU-904935760 thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
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