Anyone use kelp?

[BMcW]

Does anyone have any experience with or know of any research in the use of
kelp/seaweed extracts as plant "fertilizer"? On the recommendation of
Rodale's Landscape Problem Solver book, I started giving my groundcovers,
shrubs, small trees, and lawn foliar "snacks" of diluted seaweed extract.
Rodale says it's like giving a vitamin pill to the plant -- doesn't
provide N-P-K but plant benefits from the vitamins. Also says kelp
improves drought and disease tolerance.

Hard to judge whether it has made any difference yet in my garden,
although I like the seaside smell it gives the place!

Brian
Durham, NH - Zone 5

[Gary Maxwell]

BMcW (bm...@aol.com) wrote:
: Does anyone have any experience with or know of any research in the use of

: kelp/seaweed extracts as plant "fertilizer"?

I have used powdered kelp meal (imported from Norway - not made in U.S.?)
with a 0-0.5-12 analysis for several years. (This is not the water soluble
kind - it runs about $43 for a 55 lb. bag.) The folks at Harmony Farms
in Sebastopol recommend it because:
- Long term release natural potash
- Many trace minerals unavailable in other supplements
- Seems to improve plant resistance to disease
- Helps prevent transplant shock
I can't say it's better than other sources of potash, since I started
using it when I went whole hog organic, but I do have less fungus
disease, fine blooms, and vigorous transplants.

Of course, is it available elsewhere?

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[Garry Williams]

bm...@aol.com (BMcW) writes:

I've been using kelp meal and liquid seaweed in my garden for years and
although I have no controlled experiments to prove it, I feel that my
garden has benefitted for it. I find that using kelp extract helps to
root plant cuttings, as well. For the be-all, end-all, know-it-all scoop
on seaweed, you should contact Dr. Bargyla Rateaver. She used to be on
Prodigy, although I don't know if she still is. If you want to write via
snail mail, let me know and I'll see if I can find her mailing address
for you.

Garry Williams "A goblet, a goblet, yea even a hoop, the eyes
gdw...@salzo.cary.nc.us of time their seasons savor. And all things
flow, yet who can know? But such is life,
business is business, and Dort is not mocked.
Yea, yea."-The Seven Wonders of the Universe