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#1
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soot in compost?
We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#2
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In article , Klara writes: | | We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, | so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are | there any other uses for it? A traditional use is to put around susceptible plants to deter slugs. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#3
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| We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood,
| so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are | there any other uses for it? A traditional use is to put around susceptible plants to deter slugs. Regards, Nick Maclaren. I'd better stow it until spring, then... thanks- -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#4
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Klara wrote:
We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? A traditional use is to put around susceptible plants to deter slugs. Regards, Nick Maclaren. I'd better stow it until spring, then... 50-50 soot and salt makes a traditional dentifrice: I've never tried, but I have used salt on its own. Mike. |
#5
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"Klara" wrote in message ... We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- -- Klara, Gatwick basin I would put in my compost bins |
#6
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In message , Mike Lyle
writes Klara wrote: We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? A traditional use is to put around susceptible plants to deter slugs. Regards, Nick Maclaren. I'd better stow it until spring, then... 50-50 soot and salt makes a traditional dentifrice: I've never tried, but I have used salt on its own. Mike. Wonder if you could bear to look at yourself in the mirror while brushing??? -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#7
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Old gardeners used to add it direct to the soil. I believe that it has a
reasonably high nitrogen content and it darkens the soil so helping it to absorb heat. It has fallen out of favour because it is no longer safe to assume that it has a 100% organic origin, which would include coal. Having said that I added some to my bean bed last spring, donated by a fellow allotment holder, and they certainly flourished. So I'd definitely use it. Bruce "Klara" wrote in message ... We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#9
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"Sacha" wrote in message k... On 25/11/04 12:38, in article , "Klara" wrote: We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- My grandfather always scattered it round roses, straight from the chimney. I have no idea why but that seemed to be the traditional use for it at one time. Intelligent fly-tipping? Franz |
#10
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"Bruce" wrote in message ... [snip] Old gardeners used to add it direct to the soil. I believe that it has a reasonably high nitrogen content and it darkens the soil so helping it to absorb heat. It has fallen out of favour because it is no longer safe to assume that it has a 100% organic origin, which would include coal. That last sentence is ambiguous and both the possible interpretations are flawed. What wood go you know which is not of organic origin? What coal do you know which is not of organic origin? Franz |
#11
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In message , Sacha
writes On 25/11/04 12:38, in article , "Klara" wrote: We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- My grandfather always scattered it round roses, straight from the chimney. I have no idea why but that seemed to be the traditional use for it at one time. Presumably, though, not until the summer? Or might it be just as useful now? -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#12
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On 27/11/04 23:51, in article ,
"Klara" wrote: In message , Sacha writes On 25/11/04 12:38, in article , "Klara" wrote: We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- My grandfather always scattered it round roses, straight from the chimney. I have no idea why but that seemed to be the traditional use for it at one time. Presumably, though, not until the summer? Or might it be just as useful now? From childhood memory, as it came out of the chimney it went onto the soil and, IIRC, those were coal fires. This would have been around September/October where we lived, because autumn is mild. I really can't swear to that but that's what I seem to recall. Having written the above, I went off and Googled and found this: "ROSES -- BLACK SPOT -- POWDERY MILDEW -- MILK 2: 22 April 2004 * as a nuisance that must be corrected. It is the price that the rose lover pays for living where the air is unpolluted by the burning of fossil fuels." * No wonder, the head gardener commented, that the city dwellers of the industrial societies of the eighteen and nineteen hundreds were able to grow such marvellous blossoms. Indeed, in the U K, that was the position right up to and beyond World War II. Even now, he noted -- in 2004 -- there were towns of the United Kingdom where the local authorities refused to introduce clean air zones, and permitted the burning of raw coal in domestic grates. * "In short, dirty air kills off the spores of the black spot," he summed up, "and leaves the roses with clean faces." * Soot was one organic cure, if it could be obtained -- soot created by the burning of coal and taken from the domestic chimney, not from the burning by any means of gasoline or oil or wood. * "Wait for the affected bush to become fully dormant," he prescribed. "In the U K that is in November, December and January. Choose a windfree day when the weather is truly miserable, a damp and wet day, when it is no time for sensible human beings to be in the garden. * "Remove every bit of the mulch and debris that is on the earth around the plant's base. Do so with the least disturbance to the lifted mulch. In fact, good practice is to take it up in small, undisturbed quantities which are immediately and carefully placed into a plastic bag, with the top of the bag being kept closed until more has to be added. At the end of the job, tie up the bag or bags tightly and take them off site for disposal in a safe kind of way. You can be sure that what you cart away in this very controlled manner contains black spot spores just waiting to rise up and settle on the new growth as the season improves and the plants revive from their dormancy. * "With the old, infected mulch removed, apply the soot to the plant -- a handful or so scattered over what at this time of the year are pruned branches. Then spread it on the ground -- a large handful to the square yard or square metre of surface. The damp conditions will encourage it to stick to wherever it is put, which is what you want." * The operation must be repeated six weeks later. * "If soot is not to be had," continued the head gardener, "and judging by her words, this lady gardens where little coal is burned domestically, then, in exactly the same way, with exactly the same rate of application, use charcoal that has been ground up into charcoal dust. You can get it by the bag from the merchants who sell charcoal for the barbeque and other cooking devices." http://www.moongardening.cwc.net/roses.html -- Sacha (remove the weeds for email) |
#13
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In message , Sacha
writes We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- My grandfather always scattered it round roses, straight from the chimney. I have no idea why but that seemed to be the traditional use for it at one time. Presumably, though, not until the summer? Or might it be just as useful now? From childhood memory, as it came out of the chimney it went onto the soil and, IIRC, those were coal fires. This would have been around September/October where we lived, because autumn is mild. I really can't swear to that but that's what I seem to recall. "ROSES -- BLACK SPOT -- POWDERY MILDEW -- MILK 2: 22 April 2004 * as a nuisance that must be corrected. It is the price that the rose lover pays for living where the air is unpolluted by the burning of fossil fuels." * "In short, dirty air kills off the spores of the black spot," he summed up, "and leaves the roses with clean faces." * Soot was one organic cure, if it could be obtained -- soot created by the burning of coal and taken from the domestic chimney, not from the burning by any means of gasoline or oil or wood. Thanks, Sacha - though it looks a bit as if our soot isn't quite dirty enough, as it's from burning wood. Still, if charcoal is second-best, then wood soot should at least do no harm - I'll have a go, anyway, as black spot is really a problem with some of our roses! -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#14
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"Martin" wrote in message ... On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 20:38:16 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann" wrote: "Bruce" wrote in message ... [snip] Old gardeners used to add it direct to the soil. I believe that it has a reasonably high nitrogen content and it darkens the soil so helping it to absorb heat. It has fallen out of favour because it is no longer safe to assume that it has a 100% organic origin, which would include coal. That last sentence is ambiguous and both the possible interpretations are flawed. What wood go you know which is not of organic origin? What coal do you know which is not of organic origin? One could add which fossil hydrocarbons used to make pesticides are not organic in origin. Indeed. Tortuous are the ways of those willing to follow the paths of faddism. I wonder if the organists are aware that plants cannot absorb much by way of organic molecules, and that the organic manures they apply to the soil cannot be absorbed until they have been ripped apart into inorganic fragments Franz |
#15
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Klara wrote:
In message , Sacha writes We have a big bag of soot the sweep left behind. We only ever burn wood, so no coal soot is included. Is it ok to put this on the compost? Or are there any other uses for it? Thanks- My grandfather always scattered it round roses, straight from the chimney. I have no idea why but that seemed to be the traditional use for it at one time. Presumably, though, not until the summer? Or might it be just as useful now? From childhood memory, as it came out of the chimney it went onto the soil and, IIRC, those were coal fires. This would have been around September/October where we lived, because autumn is mild. I really can't swear to that but that's what I seem to recall. "ROSES -- BLACK SPOT -- POWDERY MILDEW -- MILK 2: 22 April 2004 as a nuisance that must be corrected. It is the price that the rose lover pays for living where the air is unpolluted by the burning of fossil fuels." "In short, dirty air kills off the spores of the black spot," he summed up, "and leaves the roses with clean faces." Soot was one organic cure, if it could be obtained -- soot created by the burning of coal and taken from the domestic chimney, not from the burning by any means of gasoline or oil or wood. Thanks, Sacha - though it looks a bit as if our soot isn't quite dirty enough, as it's from burning wood. Still, if charcoal is second-best, then wood soot should at least do no harm - I'll have a go, anyway, as black spot is really a problem with some of our roses! I'm surprised about the charcoal: I'd always thought it was the sulphur in coal which killed off the mildew, and didn't think there was much sulphur in charcoal. Mike. |
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