Seaweed and your Garden

Tue Oct 26, 2004 4:45 am

I already know that adding seaweed to you garden increases the Nitrogen content in the soil but, does anyone know what other nutrients seaweed adds? Specifically pertaining to Red Algae (Rodophyta), Brown Algae (Phaeophyta) and Green Algae (Chlorophyta).

Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:49 am

Hi Opabinia,
These seaweeds are calcareous alagaes and contain calcium compounds.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm
http://www.cutlervillecs.org/links/ocea ... alcare.htm
http://www.paleo.geol.vt.edu/geos3604/l ... plant.html

Newt

Wed Oct 27, 2004 1:53 am

Thanks Newt,
The pages were/are very useful.

Do you know of any pages/articles that describe the internal marcro.micromolecules of the Chloro, Rodo and Phaeophyta?
I don't know where you are from but, if you are ever on Vancouver Island, BC Canada, some spectacular examples of Calcareous Rodophytes exist at Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew.

Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:22 pm

Kelp is the seaweed of choice for most gardeners (although I doubt there are bad ones) While this article was focused on human health there was a good listing of trace elements (more important to plants than us...)

http://www.viable-herbal.com/herbdesc2/1kelp.htm

Scott

Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:37 pm

Hi Opabinia,

You are very welcome! Glad you found that useful. It was enjoyable doing the search.

Do you know of any pages/articles that describe the internal marcro.micromolecules of the Chloro, Rodo and Phaeophyta?

I think one of the links I gave you had some info on that, but I could be wrong. Maybe it was another site I had found. I'm trying to remember how I searched. Sorry, but I'm not feeling well and am not up to doing any searching at the moment.

I live in Maryland and have never been to B.C., but it's on my list! Lately I've been traveling to South America and they have some interesting fossils there as well! I noticed your name. :-)

Regards,
Newt

Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:30 pm

Cool, I'm surprised that you recognized my name. Most people have no clue what Opabinia is, or that it was found in the Burgess Shale (another place you should put on list of places to visit). I've yet to make it there but, I will someday.
We have a lot of great fossil sites here on Vancouver Island (and on the mainland as well.) There are cambrian Rocks on the Island but, they are all volcanics. There are some great plant fossils out of Nanaimo.

Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:03 pm

I have to admit that I didn't recognize your name but it sounded like something I need to look up. I thought that it was interesting.

Newt

Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:45 am

Oh, I see. Opabinia was one of the "wierd wonders" that came out of the Cambrian Explosion (when all modern phyla originated 543 million years ago). It had three eyes and a sort of tubular shapep body with spicules protruding from it.

Fri Nov 05, 2004 9:35 pm

NICE choice for a name, Opa! I'm glad there weasn't anything wierder for you to pick from... :lol:

Scott

Sat Nov 06, 2004 7:53 pm

Thanks Scott, actually the Burgess has several wierd wonders that I had toyed with such as Bomalocha, wiwaxia. And also some neat taxa that gave rise to phyla that are still around today such as Anamoloceras and so on. :wink:

Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:33 am

I have found that seaweed also contain significant amounts of potash.

Okay, here is the question; What is potash and what does it do for your garden?

Mon Nov 22, 2004 8:56 pm

Potassium is sort of a hardiness and fruiting thang; with it you have strong healthy growth and without you get weak funky growth...

http://www.loudzen.com/garden/soil/potassium.html

Opa this is general info and I doubt that will work well for you; I'd suggest further googling and we'd be happy to hear the results...

Scott

Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:27 pm

Alright, that's Potassium. What about potash?

Yeah, I'll do more than just googling, I'll look up in some Journal's "the effect of Potassium on plant physiology and development" and see what I can find. I'll also look up potash. Though, I am still confused as to what it is.

Thu Nov 25, 2004 5:03 am

Just found this information on a chart that I've had lying around for about a week: :oops:

Kelp is a dynamic accumulator that adds: Sodium, Iodine, Nitrogen, Calcium, Magnesium and Iron to your garden. Kelp and other seeweeds also contain significant amounts of Pot Ash also known as K2O4 or something the like. The short of the long about potash is that it is a Potassium compound that once broken down; adds Potassium to your soil! :shock:

Thanks Scott for the info on Potassium!!!

Another great Dynamic Accumulator is coltsfood; adding Boron, Magnesium and Calcium to your soil.

Flaxseed apparently adds Calcium to your soil. I think the best bet would be to grind the seeds up into a flour and spread that on your tomatoe beds but, I use it in my Breads (like the Roti that I made tonight!).

Apparently, Eastern Bracken (obviously after being mulched) adds: Potassium, Phosphorus, Manganese, Copper and Cobalt to the soil.

The list goes on, and on, and on. If anyone is curious about any sort of plant and what it adds to the soil after decomposition just ask. I'll see if it is here.

Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:04 pm

Here is a good website that has some tables showing nutrient (N, P, K) values for various fertilizeng agents:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/cons ... ables.html

The site also has a wealth of information on trees but, you have to navigate back to the main menu from where this link takes you. It's a great site. May be quite useful for those undertaking bonsai.