Hi,

Thanks for looking in.

Rather happily, I have cause to go to the seaside quite often,
and for the first time I have looked at seaweed in a different light

Unless there's a compelling reason not to,
I'd like to have a go and make some of my own seaweed juice.

I get that I should wash the seaweed initially to get rid of the sea-salts,
and to leave the seaweed steeping in water for several weeks,

but I don;t get if I should crush/pulverise the seaweed like grapes for winemaking?

I'm guessing if I do it would release the stuff that's inside, that's not on the surface to
be leached off by water.

I also appreciate that my method does not make the extract to a standard,
but I'm happy to accept that.

I'm also wondering if my wormery could cope with the leftover seaweed -
for that one I'll give it a small try and see what happens.

What's your thoughts?

regards
quickly

Ive seen a video on youtube where they made nuits from nettles, might be the same, love to know if you make some ok.

Nettles?!

Wow!

I'll have a look now! Thanks!

stuff i read lead me to believing, stinging nettles has 40 trace elements, seaweed 60, rock dust has near 80.

Thanks, grandad, I'm assuming rock dust is crustaceans?


So no closer to deciding if seaweed should be crushed?

Can't really help you, I love it, dig sackfulls of raw seaweed into me allotment, along with boxes and boxes of fish heads, guts and bones....

Plants love seaweed. I dunno about making a juice extract though, can't be that hard, just drain it ooff the bottom of a cpomposting tub?

Monk...x

I don't think it's *that* easy - IIRC it has to be properly rotted and then composted before you can then make a 'tea' type solution from it.

you may as well buy a 250ml bottle from walkinsons its organic, will last for ages, only costs 2.60 ish and no messing around

Your comments are all valid;

one of the benefits (to me) of using seaweed itself was to use the seaweed remains in my allotment,

and, yes, it is convenient to buy a bottle, but, you know, sometimes it's just nice to do the thing myself!

Thanks for your input guys ;-)

i would think the main aim would to extract or wash the salt away.

I think that's part of the first processes that are required, grandad, but I think that they also require rotting and composting so as to allow all the goodness that they contain to be provided in a useful form that the plants can make use of.

someone was talking bout this a few months ago, can't remember who it was but i took note as it sounded interesting and i wanted to give it a go next year. they said get a 10 gallon drum or something, cut the top off and fill halfway with the washed seaweed. top up with water and leave for about three months then it'll be ready. it was also mentioned that you would dilute this liquid further as would be strong.
i can't comment on this really as i haven't done it myself, but i deffinately want to try it, yeah you could buy a bottle but not half as much fun as preparing your own!

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?show...p;#entry1901494

Thanks janet and chilli!

That gave me a smile!

i thought.... if there is any salt left i wouldnt be good for the plants would it? i personally wouldnt risk it

thinking about that, might be possible that you wash it off properly initially, but as it sits in the water for 3 months could it be possible that more salt is sort of within the seaweed and would leach out into the water during the 3 months? might not be good for the plants, i do want to give a go though,may jus collect a little seaweed and use on 1 or 2 plants just to see if there are any effects positive or negative

oldtimer1 had a guide to making comfrey juice I imagine nettle juice would be same http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?s=&a...t&p=1889274 remember nettle is is high in N comfrey is high K seaweed must be washed first to remove the salt but the problem with seaweed is which one, rock dust take's an age to be broken down. But seaweed extract is easily available in most garden centre's

e2a imo it's bit late in the year for nettle and comfrey

Ive done the seaweed tea thing in a small way.A few handfulls of seaweed washed well with a hose then given a wizz in a blender,put in a metal pot and covered with boiling water and left to cool.Then i poured it into an old sweetjar and left it outside for a few months shaking it every few days.After a few weeks it got a lovely frothy white head.I diluted it with water 10/1 and added to my outdoor chillis and garden plants just to make sure there were no adverse effects.I diluted it 20/1 and sprayed my seedlings.Im sure i saw an improvement.I would like to say it improved my final yeild but i started useing compost teas with so many different ingredients this year that i couldnt put my increase in yeild down to seaweed alone.But it certainly didnt harm my plants.Give it ago mate make a small amount let it ferment over the winter