I used pond moss on some wild pears this year as an experiment as a mulch. It fairly quickly turns into a black dirt that seems very rich. I came up with idea when I was walking the beaches in Galveston early this year and noticed the very rich black soil. I asked around and found out rotting seaweed was the original source of the black soil. Does anyone know of a downside to using pond moss I have not considered? I know some plants bind water toxins etc.
I was in Galveston last fall and they had huge piles of sea weed at the west end of the beach. The disadvantage I noticed was that it smelled like a hog pen😝lol.
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It should great green compost pure nitrogen. I could not think of the downside other then the work itself.
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Seaweed is long respected as fertilizer, but I don’t know the specifics, and I don’t know if it needs to come from the sea (ocean) to so highly regarded. I doubt it.
But the tradition started before mercury and pcb contamination, so it would behoove one to delve into it closely before getting carried away.
At first blush I’d load up on it and spread it like crazy!
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Pond moss? sounds like a lot of work but, of course, most any green plant material is high N and the moss should break down quickly. The only possible downside I see is too much of a good thing. Fruit trees need to be carefully managed to maintain MODERATE vigor if you want productive trees of highest quality fruit.
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Thinking I could make a good harvest of cat tails, filatenous algae, and coontail plants Composting Organic Waste. The pond plants make a heavenly compost. I composted a pear last year with it and it grew a foot. Does not sound like much but it was a 6 inch pear on it’s first year.
If you can irrigate from the pond, you’re killing two birds with
one stone. You’re feeding and watering at the same time.
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Ray,
I like the way you think! I do siphon water downhill from there for plants (apple trees) when it’s not wet enough (seldom). Planning to do even more fertilizing pretty soon with the left overs from fish harvests. Great idea on water + moss = vegetables & fruit! I could use my gas water pump and pump water nearby and make a new melon bed. Still getting accustomed to sitting on top of two acres of water and not having to be stingy with it. The moss holds water a long time to similar to peat moss so I wonder if I could use it for air layering after it’s composted.
Would salt concentration be an issue for anything from the ocean? Or do the seaweed not absorb much salts?
It’s my understanding that ocean coastal seaweed has long been prized as fertilizer in Ireland and elsewhere. I think that in well drained soil excess sodium chloride would leach through pretty quickly. Hard to imagine a more abundant source of micronutrients than seaweed.
I’ve never had to deal with particularly heavy soils and I wouldn’t want to. It might be different with those.
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I actually add a very small amount of ocean salts to my dirt for micro nutrients. Salt is only bad in high concentrations. This is the product I use http://www.seaagri.com/. With that said the use of salts is highly controversial and most do not use it and grow fantastic produce without it.
Clark,
You’re making me very jealous…
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When I lived in coastal CA I noticed that the sweetest tomatoes seemed to come from plants right by the shore, I vaguely remember reading articles about gardeners watering tomato plants with a certain amount of sea water to increase sugar in their fruit. I don’t know if this has ever been subjected to a controlled study, however.
After writing the last sentence, I did a search. Check the second section of this article- or read the whole thing. http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/Improve-tomato-flavor
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Alan,
Great article! This article from acres is the one written about the gentleman who used techniques I first read about http://www.oceansolution.com/Sea-Energy-PDF.html. I think it was the first edition of this I read but it may have been this second edition https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Energy-Agriculture-Maynard-Murray/dp/091131170X
I use seaweed as a mulch spot applied by my fruit trees and as a layer in sheet mulched raised beds- plants love that stuff!
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