Seaweed Fertilizer

[Cerulean]

Does anybody else out there like to keep plants or flower gardens? Perhaps a veggie patch? I was poking around youtube the other day (I spend way too much time doing this I'll be quite honest) and found a few videos of people using seaweed that had washed up on shore to make fertilizer for their gardens. I was intrigued by the idea, and was wondering if anyone else has ever tried using it either as a product from a garden supply store or by making it themselves.

I thought since I'll be near the coast soon I'd try it out. Commercial fertilizers that are either chemical based, or made from composted animal manure eventually run off into water ways and the ocean, which of course negatively affects the life there. Since seaweeds are noted for growing quickly theyre a more sustainable thing to harvest. I know kelp especially is able to grow quickly, something like 2ft per day "under good conditions" whatever that means.

I'll probably test it on a few plants first but hopefully it works out well enough that I can use it on everything.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Yes they do, not me personally. Be aware, seaweed drying in the sun, it stinks like sulphur.

If you don't know what that is, it smells like farts. Very very bad farts.

[Cerulean]

Yeahhhhh I know what you're talking about, whats worse is the crowds of black flies that are on the smelly awful seaweed. Blech.

I was considering just grabbing a bit from whats smacking me in the face when I go swimming. That is a really good point though that I hadn't considered. Most of the things I looked at involved keeping it in water and just using the liquid, or blending it up... but I wouldn't want to use one of my blenders for that heh I dunno I suppose I'll see if it smells or how bad it smells, but I plan on keeping it outside so hopefully thatll be mediated a little.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I think the stuff from the store won't stink as much.

[Coradion]

You can, but you have to rinse it or soak it in freshwater for a bit if your plants are sensitive to residual salt.

[Capt Nemo]

I cleared the channel of seaweed (freshwater) a few years ago. It makes great compost!!! Didn't stink either! Most was Eurasian milfoil and water celery that had taken over. I waterjet it out by the roots and it doesn't come back very fast.

Green slime algae on Lake Michigan/Green Bay really stinks when decomposing in the water, and contributes to dead zones in the bay. Thanks zebra mussels!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Seagrass stinks really bad. Its worse in the summer esp when we drive past at low tide.

This seaweed clearing business... Some seaweed are homes for marine creatures, don't be all greedy and clear out the entire lake or channel.

[Capt Nemo]

There was so much seaweed that the fish avoided it!!! It was a choked up mess! The channel was 60' wide and I cleared to the opposite side + 15'. The rest of the bay was still choked. Just what happens when invasive spiecies take over. Zebra mussels brought more sunlight, and exploded the Eurasian milfoil and water celery.

After clearing, the bluegill and bass came back.

2 years ago they chemically treated the bay south of us to kill the milfoil. The water flowed north and deforested our bay quite a bit. Didn't kill everything, but cleared out a lot of the water celery back to levels similar to 35 years ago. It did wipe out much of the wiregrass bank that I used to spear carp in when I was a kid. The only areas to survive were heavily choked that year, so none of the chemical got to them. Milfoil wevils also made a big difference in the extent and regrowth of the milfoil.