Seaweed Compost Pros and Cons

gle2011

10 years ago

I am doing a small re-hab and was wondering if anyone has used Seaweed compost.

If so; what were your results and the pros and cons.

Thanks

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

10 years ago

KGB in full sun is self healing. If you are mowing it at the mower's highest setting and deep watering no more than once a week in the hottest heat of summer, it should be taking over.

The Milorganite is doing more to improve your soil than the compost will do. The longer you have grass growing in it, the better and better it will get. I had white beach sand fill at my house in San Antonio. When you dug it up it looked black due to all the organic stuff in it. The improvement comes from old grass roots that get sloughed off and replaced every year.

Compost will not fill in low spots. Compost is organic and will completely disappear in a year leaving the original low spots. If you need to fill, use more sand. Again, repeated use of organic fertilizers is the best thing you can do to improve sand. If you can get something else, like soybean meal, corn meal, corn gluten meal, or alfalfa pellets, it can be good to mix up the organics.

It seems like most people are unhappy with topsoil unless they pick it out. IMO it's all equally poor unless and until you tune it up with organics, like you are doing, and with a soil test for chemistry.

So back to compost, I just think it is far too expensive for what you get out of it. In my area to get compost delivered in a useful quantity, it literally cost 15x more on a per 1,000 square foot basis, than it does for Milorganite or other organic fertilizer. So I could apply organic fertilizer 15 times before I paid as much as I would for one load of compost.

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Comments (8)

dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Is this stuff pure composted seaweed?

Where do you live?

How were you planning to use it?

What results were you expecting?

Generally my opinion of compost has changed considerably over the years. I believe you get 15x times more bang for your buck using organic fertilizer than using compost. Having said that, seaweed has micronutrients not found in other materials. If you were feeding livestock, I'd want seaweed.
gle2011
Original Author
10 years ago
Zone 5 Wells, Maine (Southern Coastal area).

I have other post concerning the re-hab and have received helpful hints from the bloggers; with that help and hours of pulling weeds weekly the 20' x 20' area of KBG really doesn't look that bad. Just looking to improve it while the proper time to re-seed is coming upon us.

I was going to use the compost (1/4" top coat) to fill in slight irregularities in sandy soil from where I have pulled large weeds i.e. crabgrass; chickweed, dandelions etc prior to over-seeding.

I was hoping to improve the soil composition while filling in the divots.

I have been applying Milo on a monthly basis since I tried re-seeding in June when the builder dropped off what I considered not very good top soil.

Your thoughts?

Thanks
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Don Zebowitch
10 years ago
Stupid question: I am also looking to level some low spots in Northeast Ohio. I'm seeing sand mentioned a lot, but I haven't caught on to whether it's ideal because of the existing soil type, or its the way to go regardless of soil type. May I just use a bagged topsoil?
User
10 years ago
So I could apply organic fertilizer 15 times before I paid as much as I would for one load of compost.

Question is, do you get as much organic matter out of 15 bags of Milorganite as you would out of the compost which is 50%+ organic matter.
gle2011
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Can you apply too much Milorganite over time?

Is applying at the recommended rate on a monthly basis too much?
User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I am also looking to level some low spots in Northeast Ohio. I'm seeing
sand mentioned a lot, but I haven't caught on to whether it's ideal
because of the existing soil type, or its the way to go regardless of
soil type. May I just use a bagged topsoil?

Don,

You should start a new thread for your question. Keeps it from getting confusing. Keeping it short so as not to hijack this thread: use sand.
Don Zebowitch
10 years ago
Ok, will do. thanks!