[RonBin]

We have had an awful lot of rain here in the South East of England and it looks as though it has washed away quite a lot of the nitrates and goodness out of the ground, so much so that my cabagages and brussell sprout plants are looking decidely yellow. Can anyone offer any remedies for this problem please??

I am building up a compost heap and someone has told me it is perfectly safe to put weeds on it!! I am not at all sure about this, surely they will grow again once I spread the compost on the allotment next year?  I got hold of 16 bags of rotted horse manure late last year and spread that on the plot this spring, I have never seen so many weeds since, they are everywhere.  A lesson learned. Next year I will stick to man made compost, pellets, fish bone and blood or any other recomended substance. I have had enough weeks!!

If anyone can offer any advice, I will bevery grateful.

RonBiin

[Yorkie]

A high nitrogen fertiliser should perk your brassicas up - chicken pellets would do, I think.

As for composting weeds, the general advice is that unless your heap gets really hot, you should avoid seeding weeds and perennial weeds (or their roots, at least).

Some people drown all weeds for a few weeks until slimy and smelly - they're safe to compost then  :blink:

[m1ckz]

u cant beat a load of muck in the spring,but,,,,weeds a a big problem on most plots i guess,i know i have trouble keeping them down,,,to my mind    no muck   no veg lol  but  gl

[RonBin]

Thanks for your comments folks. I don't think my compost heap will ever get very hot, it will never get big enough to generate or hold any heat, we only put kitchen waste i.e, raw vegie waste and peelings and drecently some weeds on it, plus grass cuttings and the cuttings off the hedge.. There is only my wife and I so we don't generate much waste. I take your point about weeds and rather than mess about with drowning them, I will take them to the tip!!

I will pop down to the garden centre tomorrow and pick up a tub of chicken pellets and spread them about. I hear now that we are threatened with temperatures of 25 to 29 right after the week end! From one extreme to the other...

Cheers,

RonBin

[sunshineband]

There are only two of us as well and we generate enough waste to keep two daleks and big pallet bin going 

Every single bit of green waste that is not disease ridden goes in - grass clippings mixed with shredded paper, veg peelings, hedge clippings run over with the lawnmower to chop them up, weeds that are not seeding,  cut down nettles, perennial weed top growth, dried out dead perennial weed roots, a few autumn leaves (although most go in a third dalek for 2 yrs;alternate years have to go in black bags until we can acquire a fourth dalek) anyhting that has 'gone over' gets recycled, chopped cardboard, egg boxes, egg shells crushed up, teabags, coffee grounds.... all get shovelled in. The water collected in the bottom of the plastic buckets where it gets stored for the week at home goes in, old pot plants, old bedding plants, pond plant thinnings.... you see what I mean

And those daleks get pretty hot, I can tell you 

[azubah]

We love our daleks. We fill them up and a week later they are only half full, so we fill them again and the same thing happens. This goes on for ages until we need the compost. I never put compost where I am going to sow seeds. The weed seedlings are easier to deal with if they come up among the potatoes or sprouts.

[sunshineband]

Masses of ours goes in with potatoes and with the peas too 

[LilacSandy]

i am fanatical about putting back everything that has been taken out of the ground, my theory is that there are a million seeds already waiting to sprout in my soil so a few more will not matter from the compost heap.  If you keep on top of the hoeing then they do not have a chance to get big.  My two heaps are overflowing and by autumn I will have a lovely heap of organic matter to improve my soil.

[Kirpi]

Seven compost bins here; four pallet and three daleks to take the overflow, comfrey beds and clumps of nettles. I thin about 30% of my plot is occupied by composting and green manure.

I put weeds into the compost bins, seeds and all as I find it is only the seeds on the outside of the heap that germinate; the rest of them rot with everthing else. Perennials go in as well, without their roots which I bake on top of any nets I happen to have out and then throw the baked dry roots onto the beds to rot further.

I find with lasagne beds I dont have to worry about weed seeds germinating so much as if the soil were exposed to sun and rain.

[BabbyAnn]

Like LilacSandy, I too put weeds in the compost bin seeds and all because there are already a gazillion seeds on the plot so what's a few more.  The exception to the rule are bindweed and marestail as this is one battle which I'm still fighting. 

With so much rain, I've gone around the plot with fertiliser (ammonium sulfate) to rescue crops that are faltering and going yellow - with foxes on my site, chicken manure is a no no as they just dig up all my plants. 

[Growster...]

The best tip I had for the heavy stuff like brassica stalks, was DD's when he advised us to bury them in the bean trench!

They're still there, and holding up the other soil nicely!

We have a squillion bramble roots still lurking about 12 ft down, and they never get anywhere near the compost heap, although they often try, usually by subterfuge...

[chrissie B]

we have 2 bins 1 darlek and the other converted whilie bin from previous owner they are allways full we put allsorts in , had some problems this ear with too much moisture and smelly but they are on the mend now , glad to say as they did pong abit .
chrissie b

[Kirpi]

Don't forget the good old nettle and comfrey teas for picking up flagging veggies.

[yorkiegal]

i had some very yellowing cabbage and kale last week and it's picked up a lot after a seaweed treatment.

I currently have a big tub of nettles which have been breaking down in water for the past two weeks. When I use it, do I need to dilute it further or will it be ok neat?

[Growster...]

i had some very yellowing cabbage and kale last week and it's picked up a lot after a seaweed treatment.

I currently have a big tub of nettles which have been breaking down in water for the past two weeks. When I use it, do I need to dilute it further or will it be ok neat?

I'd use half the stuff and half water to be on the safe side YG!

In general, organic feeds like yours are taken up by the plants in quantities they can 'digest', whereas too much manufactured fertiliser can burn, or divert your plants in some way!

At the moment, we're feeding everything each weekend, and use roughly one third nettle/comfrey/6X liquid, and two thirds water to the can, and everything seem to thrive well - especially the leeks, courgettes and the runner beans!