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Klara 25-11-2004 01:38 PM

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

Nick Maclaren 25-11-2004 02:02 PM


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.

Klara 25-11-2004 03:12 PM

| 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

Mike Lyle 25-11-2004 07:54 PM

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.



bnd777 25-11-2004 08:19 PM


"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



Klara 25-11-2004 08:24 PM

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

Bruce 27-11-2004 06:08 PM

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




Sacha 27-11-2004 06:16 PM

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.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)


Franz Heymann 27-11-2004 09:38 PM


"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




Franz Heymann 27-11-2004 09:38 PM


"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






Klara 28-11-2004 12:51 AM

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

Sacha 28-11-2004 01:11 AM

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)




Klara 28-11-2004 02:42 AM

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

Franz Heymann 28-11-2004 12:51 PM


"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




Mike Lyle 28-11-2004 01:06 PM

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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