[sion01]

I was watching a Geoff Hamilton DVD that I got for Christmas and he used calcified seaweed around young salad plants to protect them from slugs.I'd never heard of that before.Does it work?.Protecting from slugs and enriching the soil at the same time is a very appealing idea.

[gobs]

I do not know, Sion. I haven't tried this one.

What I know, alot of things get claimed as slug deterrent, none I tried ever were.

Could be one dog proof mulch/feed though.

[sion01]

I do not know, Sion. I haven't tried this one.

What I know, alot of things get claimed as slug deterrent, none I tried ever were.

Could be one dog proof mulch/feed though.

That had entered my mind too but Geoff Hamilton definetly said slugs

[gobs]

I do not know, Sion. I haven't tried this one.

What I know, alot of things get claimed as slug deterrent, none I tried ever were.

Could be one dog proof mulch/feed though.

That had entered my mind too but Geoff Hamilton definetly said slugs

Lol.

[solway cropper]

I would certainly use calcified seaweed as a soil conditioner but I find the best slug deterrent is a healthy population of frogs!

[New shoot]

You might find calcified seaweed hard to get these days Sion, but seaweed meal is available.  This came up a few months ago and here is the link   

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=83854.0

[mumofstig]

Because I only use small quantities I buy my calcified seaweed on fleabay, and they sell seaweed meal as well.

[AlaninCarlisle]

Many years ago my wife was conned into buying 5cwt of calcified seaweed and granulated seashell as an alternative pasture fertilizer. It constantly clogged up the spreader and was totally unsuitable for grass anyway as it was low on nitrogen.

I worked off the wretched stuff over the following few years by spreading it each year on the veg and flower beds. I must say that as far as veg was concerned it had little nutritional effect and I still ended up buying a Growmore equivalent

[Trillium]

I can't begin to imagine why Geoff thought seaweed was good against slugs, because it isn't. It contains loads of trace elements that boost soil and plant health and is a bit alkaline. The RHS says its a good substitute for fertilizer, but only if you can get it in massive quantities. With the legal problems these days of harvesting wild seaweed, that could be tricky.

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=301

I add seaweed meal along with rotted manure to cover all the nutrient bases. I'd never use it in place of manure (or fertilizer if I wasn't organic).

[sion01]

Many years ago my wife was conned into buying 5cwt of calcified seaweed and granulated seashell as an alternative pasture fertilizer. It constantly clogged up the spreader and was totally unsuitable for grass anyway as it was low on nitrogen.

I worked off the wretched stuff over the following few years by spreading it each year on the veg and flower beds. I must say that as far as veg was concerned it had little nutritional effect and I still ended up buying a Growmore equivalent

  :DI've been imagineing my reactions if I came home and found out my wife had bought 5cwt of calcified seaweed.The conversation over the dinner table must have been great

[AlaninCarlisle]

We had a horse that suffered from laminitis, apparently brought on by eating rich new grass. The guy persuaded her that if the pasture was fertilized with Calcified Seaweed instead of the usual high nitrate stuff laminitis would become a thing of the past

[sion01]

Did the horse get laminitis?

[Christine]

Now I use calcified seaweed instead of lime to sweeten the clay soil if that's what I have. All the other suggestions here are novel to me.

[AlaninCarlisle]

Did the horse get laminitis?

I honestly can't remember. But I'll tell you this, it's five years after I used the last sack of the damn stuff and my soil is still speckled with white from it. I think it must be the ground-up seashell that's in it but granite decays faster

[seedman]

Hi this is where i get mine from fast delivery but you have to pay for it, the calcified seaweed cheap enough http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/seactiv-calcified-seaweed-25kg