Seaweed compost.

[Westi]

I had never heard of this & only used & seen liquid mixes, but it popped up on one of the US garden sites I read & I thought that could be good for the Asparagus bed as they are a sea side crop by nature. After I found it & got over the shock of the price I bought it anyway.

I was thinking I'd just generously sprinkle over the beds after I weed & still mulch on top with some of the well rotted horse manure the lottie shop got this year. 2 questions though - a) What do you think of my logic? Will it have lost the rich salty mineral content from the heat treatment process I assume the bagged product must have gone through & b) What else might like it?

The picture just looked like shredded up dried seaweed but hard to tell except it was green (it's always brown when found on the beach) & they do another cheaper one as a soil improver with crushed sea shells in it along with the sea weed, which might be good if the sea shells are finely crushed & not chucks. There was the ratio thing in the blurb but haven't a clue what that means or what the asparagus would want so it was no help. It's not being delivered until next Friday so can't report or take a pic, but I will.

[Primrose]

Can,t really help much Westi but when we had a holiday home in the coast I would bring home occasional bagels of beach strewn seaweed for compost. Didn,t harvest the fresh growing stuff. I usually used to dig it straight into the soil and found it took quite a long time to compost down. However I,m sure the soil was improved . Can,t imagine any plants which wouldn't benefit apart from perhaps blueberries which like acidic soil.

Probabky sorinkling on the surface and then covering with manure would be best to stop heavy rain leach it away.

[Monika]

I have recently been using a potting compost called 'Grow+ Seaweed 60' and so far it has turned out very well, certainly compared with more recent peat-free or peat-reduced composts some of which contained lots of hard bits. I no longer have the bag so don't know its exact composition but the word 'seaweed' featured very large on the bag!

[Colin2016]

I have used seaweed when there is a lot washed up on the beach mainly in my compost beds and as dressing on beds plants grew ok. Cant answer your specific questions though Westi

[snooky]

When I lived in Cardiff I used to go to the local beaches,Barry Island,Penarth,or Lavernock, and fill a couple of black bags with seaweed. Used as a mulch on my Asparagas beds straight from the bag.If it was to go in the compost heap or used as a mulch then it was tipped out of the bags and left open to the elements to wash the salt out before use.

[Diarmuid]

If you google " Island growers turn seaward- The Irish Times" there is quite an informative article on this subject.
I put a mulch of seaweed on my asparagus bed. The asparagus grows up through it and the salt in it deters slugs and snails
Regards D.