Allotment Soil Improver

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mdjlucan

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Allotment Soil Improver
« on: August 30, 2017, 09:42 »
Allotment i'm finding it very hard to obtain Horse menu what other options can I  spread over the ground for next year


Edit to clarify title
« Last Edit: August 30, 2017, 10:43 by New shoot »
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Eblana

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2017, 10:08 »
I haven't been able to get manure for a few years now and my soil was really suffering as a result.

I used a product called Soil Renew last year with great results.  It is natural and Organic.   It contains living organisms, both aerobic and anaerobic. When spread on the surface and activated by moisture the pellets disintegrate and the microorganisms find their own level in the soil.  3kgs of Soil Renew is supposed to create as much humus as 1 tonne of manure.  It was much handier to use than manure as all you have to do us sprinkle it in the beds in the autumn.  The soil looks great in the beds I used it on so I have just ordered a large bucket of it and will be doing in on all the beds this year.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2017, 10:43 by New shoot »

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ptarmigan

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2017, 10:35 »
I bought 60 blocks of mushroom compost - £55 delivered.  It's quite light and easy to manoeuvre and good on clay soils.  Worth seeing if anyone near you does that. 

I live near the sea so I also collect seaweed and spread that over the winter.   

I also have space to  grow a couple of beds of green manure - borage and phacelia - great for the bees then; I cut them down (before they seed!) to either turn into compost or to mulch and improve the beds.   
« Last Edit: August 30, 2017, 10:43 by New shoot »

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mumofstig

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2017, 12:34 »
I trialled seaweed meal on one of my beds and thought it did a good job together with 6x Natural Fertiliser (I prefer the fibrous one rather than the pelleted one)

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hiccup

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2017, 18:58 »

    hi Eblana
               
                Do you have the address or website for that soil renew. it sounds interesting.
                                                                                                                  cheers.                                     
                                                                                                             
keep on digging

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mumofstig

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2017, 20:42 »
Eblana lives in Ireland and it looks as if you can only buy it there
http://soilrenewireland.ie/stockists/

Oops here
https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/product/soil-renew---soil-improver

« Last Edit: September 02, 2017, 20:46 by mumofstig »

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Salmo

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2017, 21:27 »
I haven't been able to get manure for a few years now and my soil was really suffering as a result.

I used a product called Soil Renew last year with great results.  It is natural and Organic.   It contains living organisms, both aerobic and anaerobic. When spread on the surface and activated by moisture the pellets disintegrate and the microorganisms find their own level in the soil.  3kgs of Soil Renew is supposed to create as much humus as 1 tonne of manure.  It was much handier to use than manure as all you have to do us sprinkle it in the beds in the autumn.  The soil looks great in the beds I used it on so I have just ordered a large bucket of it and will be doing in on all the beds this year.

This would be wonderful if it does all it says. Sounds too good to be true.

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hiccup

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2017, 09:37 »


            Thanks as always mum. Think i'am going to give that a try. Cheers.

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Thrutchington

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2017, 19:52 »
Aye, that looks like an interesting experiment, I can get hold of literally tonnes of beef cattle manure that turns black when rotted, but it's a fair job barrowing it onto the plot compared to spreading a tub of that over the beds.

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chillimummy

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2017, 13:23 »
Have just had a look at web site and think I am going to give that a try.
I also haven't been able to get hold of manure for a few years and think that is why crops last year and this year have not been great.
That's what I love about this site, always such useful information  :)   
 
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JayG

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2017, 14:22 »
Bullet point from their website page:

Quote
• Accelerates production of humus from organic matter

I've not used this product and have no idea whether it's good or bad, but you can't 'super concentrate' organic matter, and to be fair they don't claim to have done that, (nor do they pretend that humus can be produced out of thin air.)

IMHO you would still need to have other organic matter present in your soil to significantly increase its total humus levels (or use a lot more than the recommended dosage if your soil is very low in organic content.)
Sow your seeds, plant your plants. What's the difference? A couple of weeks or more when answering possible queries!

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victoria park

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2017, 18:56 »
I don't know about a bullet point, but it certainly markets itself as a magic bullet. I won't be buying it at that price, and in any case, I worry it might derail for some the concentration on real sustainable soil replenishment that quite clearly has always needed large amounts of organic matter.
It's a bit like activating a compost pile, it all still needs the huge amounts of base material.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2017, 19:01 by victoria park »

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sunshineband

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #12 on: September 06, 2017, 09:10 »
The soil improver advertised may well have an inoculation of useful bacteria etc and perhaps through the action of these the production of humus from vegetable matter is accelerated, but it would "create" humus from nothing (Wish it would make it from fresh air JayG, don't you?  :lol:)

For those of us that need to bulk up our soil, to develop a decent crumb from clay soil (us!) or give sandy soil better water holding properties, the tried and tested application of quantities of organic matter cannot be bettered.

However, if your soil is of the consistency you like, an application of soil friendly microbes would do no harm and might boost fertility a bit too. Eblana found it helpful in this respect  :D

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Eblana

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #13 on: September 16, 2017, 17:19 »
Hi I have been away on hols so only just catching up on this now.

It was expensive to buy but you don't use a lot and it worked out at less than half of what it would have cost me to buy bagged compost or manure to cover the same area, which was the alternatives that I looked at.

It looks like chicken manure pellets.  When it gets wet it swells and turns 'mouldy'.  The whole pellet then seems to break down and disappears.  I assumed that it was the bacteria working on the contents of pellet and the bits of plant material left in the ground that created the humus.  My soil structure wasn't too bad but when I was digging the spuds a couple of weeks back I felt that the soil was crumblier and there wasn't as many big clumps in it but maybe that was just my imagination.

It certainly helped with fertility and my plants seemed to be more vigorous.  I didn't seem to have as many plants being hit by rust etc.  My cut flowers are absolutely fabulous this year.

I have just ordered another bucket and will continue to monitor progress.

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riggers24

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Re: Allotment Soil Improver
« Reply #14 on: September 17, 2017, 18:18 »
I am looking at https://ecothrive.co.uk/product/charge/ to give my soil a boost. I will be liming the ground this year and start with grow more pellets next year. When I'm ready to plant I'm going to use this charge products



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