I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)

"Linda" wrote in message
...
I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

:-)) I don't limit myself. I use cow poop, horse poop, blood and bone,
pelleted chook poop, bagged cow poop, seasol, 'Sudden Impact for Roses',
Blood and bone with added sulphate of potash, compost, rotted leaves and
anything else that comes to hand including elephant poop which grew the best
corn we've had yet. I also use fire ash and dolomite, rice hulls, lucern
chaff, hay and lucerne straw.

I have a big garden on poor soil which is finally starting to improve and I
feed it by direct fertilising, by mulching and with scavenging.

On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:17:59 +1100, FarmI wrote:


:-)) I don't limit myself. I use cow poop, horse poop, blood and bone,
pelleted chook poop, bagged cow poop, seasol, 'Sudden Impact for Roses',
Blood and bone with added sulphate of potash, compost, rotted leaves and
anything else that comes to hand including elephant poop which grew the
best corn we've had yet. I also use fire ash and dolomite, rice hulls,
lucern chaff, hay and lucerne straw.

How much does all this cost each year?
In the last five years, "chicken manure" (floorscrappings from chicken
raising sheds) has doubled in price. This all sounds very expensive.

I have a big garden on poor soil which is finally starting to improve
and I feed it by direct fertilising, by mulching and with scavenging.

Works, but can take a few years to start getting decent crops.

Linda wrote:
I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)

The question has no answer because there is no such thing as the "best" soil
amendment under all circumstances. The best one for a given situation is
the one that does what is needed for that soil at that time for that crop
and is readily available and cheap. At various times I have used: chicken
litter, horse and cow manure, compost, garden lime, dolomite, gypsum,
potassium sulphate, seasol, trace element mix, blood and bone and probably a
few more that I have forgotten.

David

"terryc" wrote in message
On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:17:59 +1100, FarmI wrote:


:-)) I don't limit myself. I use cow poop, horse poop, blood and bone,
pelleted chook poop, bagged cow poop, seasol, 'Sudden Impact for Roses',
Blood and bone with added sulphate of potash, compost, rotted leaves and
anything else that comes to hand including elephant poop which grew the
best corn we've had yet. I also use fire ash and dolomite, rice hulls,
lucern chaff, hay and lucerne straw.

How much does all this cost each year?
In the last five years, "chicken manure" (floorscrappings from chicken
raising sheds) has doubled in price. This all sounds very expensive.

Not a lot - in fact I think my garden is cheaper than any of my other
hobbies if I dont' count the plants I buy.

We have our own cows, I own chooks, a neighbour has at least 20 horses (and
alpacas - I forgot to mention their poop - they poo in piles). The elephant
poo was free when the circus came to a town near us and the local radio
asked for gardeners to pick it up - I was first there with my ute.

I last bought a big bucket of Blood & bone (now nearly finished) about 4
years ago and the plastic bags of Suphate of Potash aren't extortionate. I
last bought a BIG bag of pelleted chicken poop I think at the beginning of
last Spring and it's just about done now and I need more. I buy the 'Sudden
Impact for Roses' in a huge box and that is the most expensive thing I buy
but I believe it's worth it.

The rice hulls I buy in a bale - dunno how much that is. Lucerne is
expensive but it's THe best thing IMHO for mulching tiny seelding and it
also feeds the ground - I think it's about $18-25/bag but the bags are huge.

Compost and leaves are free and I even collect them from a Guild I belong to
that has about 6 mature Oaks in the yard. they love me to collect them as
the gardener rakes and bags them and if I take them they don't have to pay
to take them to the tip.

I also buy hay bales and use them round beds and after a season I break them
up and spred them as muclch. I just bought a new lot and they cost me about
$80 or $90 for 9 bales.

I have a big garden on poor soil which is finally starting to improve
and I feed it by direct fertilising, by mulching and with scavenging.

Works, but can take a few years to start getting decent crops.

My first veg garden was about 6ft long and 3 ft wide and the plants were
pathetic. I now have a veg garden with some fruit trees too that is bigger
than many townhouse plots and it's now very productive. That's taken about
17 years to get to it's current stage doing it a bit at a time but it gets
more productive each year. I also have an orchard which also serves as the
day run for the chooks and it'd be about a quarter of an acre and it seldom
gets any fertilising because of the chooks.

"Linda" wrote in message
...
I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.
Are you talking about strawberries?
I prefer cream and topping with mine....

Linda (Perth)

On Wed, 7 Oct 2009 16:37:54 +0800, "Linda"
wrote in aus.gardens:

I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)



Absolutely, Fred and Rosemary West's garden was a picture.


Regards
Oscar

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum - Lucretius

g'day linda,

we now don't sue any, preffering instead the feed the medium on a
continuing basis with food scarps, spent vegetable plants and green
type mulches along with mostly kitchen water and urine mixed in, we
have our composting worms in the garden beds (producing their castings
and worm wee right where we want it)and they look after all that along
with the other processes in breaking that down into nutrients for the
plants.

len

On Wed, 7 Oct 2009 16:37:54 +0800, "Linda"
wrote:

I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)

With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

"Linda" wrote in message
...
I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)

well, i don't know, because it all depends! :-)

i like blood & bone because you can just throw some around when you think of
it, in a not-a-hassle type of way. but, it won't add any bulk organic matter
to the soil if one's soil lacks humus (e.g. mine), so it's certainly not the
Answer To Everything - it will never actually _improve_ your soil.

in terms of fertilising in general, good soil with lots of humus needs much
less of that, which is where i'd like to be. (one day).
kylie

"0tterbot" wrote in message
"Linda" wrote in message

I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)

well, i don't know, because it all depends! :-)

i like blood & bone because you can just throw some around when you think
of it, in a not-a-hassle type of way. but, it won't add any bulk organic
matter to the soil if one's soil lacks humus (e.g. mine), so it's
certainly not the Answer To Everything - it will never actually _improve_
your soil.

in terms of fertilising in general, good soil with lots of humus needs
much less of that, which is where i'd like to be. (one day).

So what are you doing to increase your humus level Otter?

FarmI wrote:
"0tterbot" wrote in message
"Linda" wrote in message

I know some swear by chook poo, some seasol,
personally I can't find anything better than blood and bone.

Linda (Perth)
well, i don't know, because it all depends! :-)

i like blood & bone because you can just throw some around when you think
of it, in a not-a-hassle type of way. but, it won't add any bulk organic
matter to the soil if one's soil lacks humus (e.g. mine), so it's
certainly not the Answer To Everything - it will never actually _improve_
your soil.

in terms of fertilising in general, good soil with lots of humus needs
much less of that, which is where i'd like to be. (one day).

So what are you doing to increase your humus level Otter?


hello

Ok all you poo specialists i have just moved to a warm climate and now
have a garden that looks like a jungle the plants are so exotic looking
well they would be if they were not almost dead what is the best poo i
could use to get the garden going again.

abigail

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:56:41 +0000, ted wrote:

Ok all you poo specialists i have just moved to a warm climate and now
have a garden that looks like a jungle the plants are so exotic looking
well they would be if they were not almost dead what is the best poo i
could use to get the garden going again.

What is available?
What do you want to grow?
How much do you want to spend?
How often do you water?

terryc wrote:
On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:56:41 +0000, ted wrote:

Ok all you poo specialists i have just moved to a warm climate and now
have a garden that looks like a jungle the plants are so exotic looking
well they would be if they were not almost dead what is the best poo i
could use to get the garden going again.

What is available?
What do you want to grow?
How much do you want to spend?
How often do you water?

I water every second day but as water is an issue its only a light
watering. there are all sorts of palms, Australian natives and what i
would class as tropical orchids. The garden was so neglected over a
long period of time i just don't know where to start so far its been all
trimming and just general tidying up. The soil is sandy and in need of
something. As far as cost goes after the move i want to spend as
little as possible until i have been in the place a little long and work
out exactly what i do want. I would like to at least try and save what
is here and then figure it out from there.

abigail

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:32:54 +0000, ted wrote:

terryc wrote:
On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:56:41 +0000, ted wrote:

Ok all you poo specialists i have just moved to a warm climate and now
have a garden that looks like a jungle the plants are so exotic
looking well they would be if they were not almost dead what is the
best poo i could use to get the garden going again.

What is available?
What do you want to grow?
How much do you want to spend?
How often do you water?

I water every second day but as water is an issue its only a light
watering. there are all sorts of palms, Australian natives

Well you can stop watering those two.
Also, Australian natives do not need poo. Probably too rich and toxic and
poison them. Maybe a light dusting annually

and what i would class as tropical orchids.

My understanding is that these can be fiddly and require specific
treatments to get the best out of them.


The soil is sandy and in need of something.

Look for sawdust(free?), rice husks(sold at some produce) or stable
cleaning(mostly shavings, free?) and just use that as mulch. Regularly
top it up. Do not work the soil. Alternatively look around for retailed
bags of mulch or bales of straw, hay, lucerne, etc.

terryc wrote:
On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:32:54 +0000, ted wrote:

terryc wrote:
On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:56:41 +0000, ted wrote:

Ok all you poo specialists i have just moved to a warm climate and now
have a garden that looks like a jungle the plants are so exotic
looking well they would be if they were not almost dead what is the
best poo i could use to get the garden going again.
What is available?
What do you want to grow?
How much do you want to spend?
How often do you water?
I water every second day but as water is an issue its only a light
watering. there are all sorts of palms, Australian natives

Well you can stop watering those two.
Also, Australian natives do not need poo. Probably too rich and toxic and
poison them. Maybe a light dusting annually

and what i would class as tropical orchids.

My understanding is that these can be fiddly and require specific
treatments to get the best out of them.


The soil is sandy and in need of something.

Look for sawdust(free?), rice husks(sold at some produce) or stable
cleaning(mostly shavings, free?) and just use that as mulch. Regularly
top it up. Do not work the soil. Alternatively look around for retailed
bags of mulch or bales of straw, hay, lucerne, etc.

Thank you for your reply terryc and yes the orchids may be a tad fiddly
but will search the net for some info on them as it seems such a shame
to get rid of them they are just so lovely.