Seaweed Compost

[silvester growdrobe]

I'll admit I don't really know much about composts, so I might be way off the mark here, but with us having to go peat free in mind I stumbled across this stuff listed on eBay just as:

Multi Purpose Seaweed Compost 40L

 

I'll copy and paste the wall-of-text description here: 

An Organic, Renewable & Environmentally friendly Seaweed Compost, Fertiliser and Soil Enricher, all contained in one product.

NOTE - If requiring more than one bag could you kindly contact me with numbers and postcode and I'll source the best postage rates.

This Seaweed product is made using No Chemicals, Plastics or Polluting Processes.

This Seaweed product provides a rich compost to germinate your plants, and support them through the growing phase, whilst naturally stimulating healthy soil(s) & adding mineral rich organic fertiliser which is readily absorbed by plants, all contained in one product.

This concentrated Seaweed product is intended to replace shop bought composts, & ‘chemical fertilisers’ by providing all the benefits, and more, in a concentrated natural Seaweed product, that is Renewable, and Environmentally friendly.

To get best results either use this product to plant seeds, or as a rich compost to grow on established plants.

Alternatively, to obtain maximum results continuously add this Seaweed product to your shop bought compost(s), or home garden soil(s), and rake, or dig in as you would any fertiliser, and then simply let the Organic Seaweeds extensive natural properties boost the health of your soil(s), to provide rich plant growth.

The enriching properties can be used all year round to prepare/enrich your compost(s) & soil(s).

The natural richness found in this concentrated Seaweed Fertiliser provides long proven benefits, including-

* Aids soil nutrition adding minerals that promote plant growth/health.

* Seaweed has no transferable diseases with land plants.

* Increases soil structure of shop bought compost(s)/ or soil(s).

* Seaweed is high in complex Carbohydrates, and vital minerals, which are essential building blocks for healthy growing plants.

* Encourages more extensive root structures (Especially beneficial for Vegetable growth)

* Gives greater resistance to plant pests.

* ‘All’ plants can benefit from this rich Seaweed product.

* Seaweed is the best natural source of Iodine available anywhere, (often lacking in our soils, and diets, making this product ideal if growing Fruits, or Vegetables)

Would this be any good for our needs or is this really more of a soil conditioner for you garden having folks?

The caveat being that I'm not particularly interested in making my own mixes and shit, I grow on such a small scale that I really just want pre-bagged stuff. 

[Eldo]

Sounds like a good sales pitch for some regular peat free MPC with some added kelp to me

 

Feel free to prove me wrong. I got 120litres of clover left then I'll need to make the switch. Right now I'm tempted in going straight up Coco coir with organic feed

[MindSoup]

From the sounds of it, and the link in the advert it looks pretty legit, but it would be nice to have a full list of ingredients. You could always contact the seller and see what they say about it. 

[disco survivor]

A bit confused by the advert to be honest. It's either a fertiliser or a compost, it can't do both jobs well. If it's a compost, it's too weak as a fertiliser (you would need to increase the volume of growing medium in your pot every time you wanted to fertilise the plants - would work like a top dressing).  If it's a fertiliser, it's too strong as a stand alone growing medium - This concentrated Seaweed product is intended to replace shop bought composts, & ‘chemical fertilisers’   - to obtain maximum results continuously add this Seaweed product to your shop bought compost(s), or home garden soil(s), and rake, or dig in as you would any fertiliser,

Seaweed contains a lot of nutrients including high levels of nitrogen. I use seaweed as a fertiliser as well as a rooting solution for cuttings/ cloning as it promoted cell division and root formations are quickly established. However, high concentrations of seaweed can cause deformations in plant stems, irregular growth patterns and a reduced harvest. I made this mistake a few years ago with a full crop of tomatoes. 

Also, seaweed is a superb product but does lack some micronutrients. I always fortify seaweed fertiliser with bonemeal/ fishmeal fertiliser. 

 

My advice......make your own growing medium. This is my recipe for tomatoes, cucumbers, Melons, peppers and now cannabis. I use a cement mixer (purchased specifically for mixing growing medium) but you can mix by hand (on a large tarp).  I use the following mixture - 2 parts peat free compost, 1 part sterile soil, 1 part horticultural vermiculite (fine), 0.5 part well rotted manure (12 months). To that, I add bonemeal and seaweed (about 100g of each per half cubic metre of mixed compost medium). I also add worms. I store for 3 months as I'm using fresh manure that has been left for 12 months but has a high pH so need to get the growing medium down to pH 6.5. This step is not necessary if you buy the bags of manure from Wickes etc, you can use the growing medium straight away. All growing medium is recycled.

you can buy the compost, sterile soil and manure from outlets such as Wickes and B&Q and the seaweed, bonemeal/ fishmeal from Wilko etc. The vermiculite or perlite should be purchased in 100 litre bags and can be bought from horticultural suppliers. I currently pay £25 for 100 litre bag of vermiculite

 

Took these images this morning and the photo and autos seem to be thriving in the growing medium mentioned above. Think the photo is thriving a little too much, might have to crop again but feel like I'm fighting a losing battle 

 

[Shumroom]

6 hours ago, disco survivor said:

I use a cement mixer (purchased specifically for mixing growing medium) but you can mix by hand (on a large tarp).

@Revive have you considered getting a cement mixer to make life a little easier?  

 

Atb

 

 

 

[Revive]

 

26 minutes ago, Shumroom said:

@Revive have you considered getting a cement mixer to make life a little easier?  

 

Atb

 

 

 

Tbh mate mixing it up is the easy part, I just use a big sheet of dpm and a garden rake, pretty easy..its collecting it bagging it up taking it to 1 of my lockups, mixing it then bagging it up again to take to the plots thats the ball ache bro  with added seaweed 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Revive

[silvester growdrobe]

@disco survivor

 

I'll just run the suggestion of a cement mixer past my missus. Might have to kick the boy out of his bedroom, but hey, we all have to make sacrifices. Especially those of us living in flats, in cities, with no gardens...

[Greenfingers420uk]

On 7/14/2023 at 3:29 PM, Shumroom said:

@Revive have you considered getting a cement mixer to make life a little easier?  

 

Atb

 

 

 

 

i use a tarp and mix around 200ltrs dry and then dampen with water it and let sit for a few months in if possible, seams to be working for me