Re: Seaweed as Mulch/Fertilizer

I can certainly vouch for the value of sea weed as both a mulch and
invaluable fertiliser.  I wait for the autumn storms to deposit enough
on the beach down the road for me to fill several big sackfuls and for
the most part, I simply spread the weed thickly over the beds.  By
early spring it has disappeared, all the humus and nutrients having
been eagerly absorbed by my stony, thin soil, but not before it has
provided valuable insulation from our occasional frosts in December
and January.  The spring storms in early March deposit huge piles of
the stuff back on the beaches and I go for a second helping.  This
time, I chop it up roughly before putting down a 3" thick layer.
Because of extremely dense planting, weeds are never a problem here
and those seedlings that do appear are invariably from cultivated
plants, so my main reason for mulching is for moisture conservation
later in the year.

Seaweed, rinsed clean of its salt and allowed to soak in water makes a
wonderful, albeit highly pungent liquid fertiliser which is readily
accepted by those plants not normally known for their tolerance of
such things.  I stuff as much as I can get into a large container and
fill it with water.  Allow to ferment for a couple of weeks et voila!
The evil smelling, dark brown liquor is diluted one part to 8 parts
water for a general feed, or half or even a quarter of this strength
for delicate plants.  It is excellent for tree ferns (well any ferns
really), perfect for Rhodos, Epacreas etc and many Australian/South
African plants which curl up at the sight of a traditional, chemical
brew, positively flourish with the occasional wee dram of 'seaweed
tea'.  I still use Miracle Gro and Tomorite for main fertilising, but
like to use weed-water every couple of weeks as an additional fillip.

Dave Poole
TORQUAY  UK
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