I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden because being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used a lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get some in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.
Helen

"HPBudlong" wrote :
I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.

Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some positive hits
as well.

Jason

Jason Quick wrote:
"HPBudlong" wrote :

I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some positive hits
as well.

Jason


is the salt taken out?

Jason Quick wrote:
"HPBudlong" wrote :

I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some positive hits
as well.

Jason


is the salt taken out?

In article ,
Someone wrote:

Jason Quick wrote:
"HPBudlong" wrote :

I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some positive
hits
as well.

Jason


is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?
--
K.

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Someone wrote:

Jason Quick wrote:
"HPBudlong" wrote :

I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden
because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used
a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get
some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp
meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some
positive
hits
as well.

Jason


is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?
--

Not necessarily,

Besides (maybe) drying the seaweed, did the Irish, Scots, and any
other
coastal people who used it, process the seaweed before adding it as manure?

My mother years ago worked for someone who loved to fish! And, every
now and then, we'd get the fish he caught (mainly seatrout, I think). One
time, the
fish developed freezer-burn, so I chopped the fish up- not wanting to waste
it-
and buried it into my peppers! That was the best pepper-crop I had

And, forr an even SALTIER tale, I once saw canteloupe vines growing
below the window of a fishing camp less than a mile from the seashore! They
were growing in a mound of oyster shells and dirt.. with the salty air all
around
them!

My guess? Certsin crops can take certain amounts of- at least- sea
salt.

K.P. Graham

In article ,
"Kelly Paul Graham" wrote:

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Someone wrote:

Jason Quick wrote:
"HPBudlong" wrote :

I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden
because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used
a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get
some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp
meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some
positive
hits
as well.

Jason


is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?
--

Not necessarily,

Besides (maybe) drying the seaweed, did the Irish, Scots, and any
other
coastal people who used it, process the seaweed before adding it as manure?

My mother years ago worked for someone who loved to fish! And, every
now and then, we'd get the fish he caught (mainly seatrout, I think). One
time, the
fish developed freezer-burn, so I chopped the fish up- not wanting to waste
it-
and buried it into my peppers! That was the best pepper-crop I had

And, forr an even SALTIER tale, I once saw canteloupe vines growing
below the window of a fishing camp less than a mile from the seashore! They
were growing in a mound of oyster shells and dirt.. with the salty air all
around
them!

My guess? Certsin crops can take certain amounts of- at least- sea
salt.

K.P. Graham



Makes sense... ;-)

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article ,
"Kelly Paul Graham" wrote:

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Someone wrote:

Jason Quick wrote:
"HPBudlong" wrote :

I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden
because
being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used
a
lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get
some
in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp
meal.
I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some
positive
hits
as well.

Jason


is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?
--

Not necessarily,

Besides (maybe) drying the seaweed, did the Irish, Scots, and any
other
coastal people who used it, process the seaweed before adding it as manure?

My mother years ago worked for someone who loved to fish! And, every
now and then, we'd get the fish he caught (mainly seatrout, I think). One
time, the
fish developed freezer-burn, so I chopped the fish up- not wanting to waste
it-
and buried it into my peppers! That was the best pepper-crop I had

And, forr an even SALTIER tale, I once saw canteloupe vines growing
below the window of a fishing camp less than a mile from the seashore! They
were growing in a mound of oyster shells and dirt.. with the salty air all
around
them!

My guess? Certsin crops can take certain amounts of- at least- sea
salt.

K.P. Graham



Makes sense... ;-)

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

il Sat, 25 Dec 2004 11:26:55 -0600, Katra ha scritto:

is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?

Some people just collect seaweed and mulch it. No idea what they do
with the salt.

Maybe you should swap some sand for somone else's clay soil. :-) You
would both be happy.

Lots of organic matter is what you want, I don't see why it has to be
seaweed. Grass clippings sawdust (untreated), straw, - anything that
increases the humus levels. And it will always need topping up. Hot
climates will make the material break down quicker. I don't have
sandy soil except in one patch (sand or silt) but even for ordinary
soil I feel you can't have too much humus. I even leave corn stalks
lying around to break down at their leisure. A bit like having fibre
in food for digestion. :-) I'd love to have a semi trailer come and
deposit compost on my small garden!

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

il Sat, 25 Dec 2004 11:26:55 -0600, Katra ha scritto:

is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?

Some people just collect seaweed and mulch it. No idea what they do
with the salt.

Maybe you should swap some sand for somone else's clay soil. :-) You
would both be happy.

Lots of organic matter is what you want, I don't see why it has to be
seaweed. Grass clippings sawdust (untreated), straw, - anything that
increases the humus levels. And it will always need topping up. Hot
climates will make the material break down quicker. I don't have
sandy soil except in one patch (sand or silt) but even for ordinary
soil I feel you can't have too much humus. I even leave corn stalks
lying around to break down at their leisure. A bit like having fibre
in food for digestion. :-) I'd love to have a semi trailer come and
deposit compost on my small garden!

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

I have been told by "locals" here at the coast that the salt will leach out of
the seaweed without harming the plants. I gather sea grass from the shore and
from a public boa tramp and then add it to my compost pile. I usually soak it
and rinse it first but have not noticed any harm to the grass where I soak it.

Ed Upshaw

Anna Maria Island,
A quaint little drinking village
With a fishing problem

I have been told by "locals" here at the coast that the salt will leach out of
the seaweed without harming the plants. I gather sea grass from the shore and
from a public boa tramp and then add it to my compost pile. I usually soak it
and rinse it first but have not noticed any harm to the grass where I soak it.

Ed Upshaw

Anna Maria Island,
A quaint little drinking village
With a fishing problem

I have been told by "locals" here at the coast that the salt will leach out of
the seaweed without harming the plants. I gather sea grass from the shore and
from a public boa tramp and then add it to my compost pile. I usually soak it
and rinse it first but have not noticed any harm to the grass where I soak it.

Ed Upshaw

Anna Maria Island,
A quaint little drinking village
With a fishing problem

In message , EDUPSHAW
writes
I have been told by "locals" here at the coast that the salt will leach out of
the seaweed without harming the plants. I gather sea grass from the shore and
from a public boa tramp and then add it to my compost pile. I usually soak it
and rinse it first but have not noticed any harm to the grass where I soak it.



In Brittany there is an enormous build-up of seaweed on some beaches. In
summer it starts to rot and smells worse than a sewage works. It also
provides a breeding ground for millions of flies. From time to time they
load it onto lorries and spread it across the nearby arable fields,
without any sort of treatment. Some of the salt may have been leached
out by rainfall, but I imagine there is still quite a bit remaining. The
crops always look good so it can't be doing much harm.
--
Graham

Kelly Paul Graham wrote:
"Katra" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Someone wrote:


Jason Quick wrote:

"HPBudlong" wrote :


I was checking into using "water crystals" in my organic garden

because

being
in Zone 9, we need to retain as much moisture as possible in the soil.

A British company suggested that I use "Seaweed meal", i.e. ground up
seaweed,
as this would help retain water in the soil. I see this is being used

a

lot on
England, but can only find liquid seaweed or kelp here.

Does anyone here have any experience with this stuff? Where can I get

some

in
the US, prefereably Los Angeles area.


Dunno about LA specifically, but doing a Google search for "kelp meal"
(include the quotes) yields plenty of mail-order sources for kelp

meal.

I'd imagine that calling local garden shops would get you some

positive

hits
as well.

Jason



is the salt taken out?

It would HAVE to be!
Or so I'd think?
--


Not necessarily,

Besides (maybe) drying the seaweed, did the Irish, Scots, and any
other
coastal people who used it, process the seaweed before adding it as manure?

My mother years ago worked for someone who loved to fish! And, every
now and then, we'd get the fish he caught (mainly seatrout, I think). One
time, the
fish developed freezer-burn, so I chopped the fish up- not wanting to waste
it-
and buried it into my peppers! That was the best pepper-crop I had

And, forr an even SALTIER tale, I once saw canteloupe vines growing
below the window of a fishing camp less than a mile from the seashore! They
were growing in a mound of oyster shells and dirt.. with the salty air all
around
them!

My guess? Certsin crops can take certain amounts of- at least- sea
salt.

K.P. Graham


well, i will be dadgummed! thank you!