You may not have thought of using seaweed fertilizer in your home garden before but I hope that, after reading this, you will have enough confidence to give it a shot.

All the major and minor plant nutrients as well as trace elements are present in seaweed, whether it is fresh seaweed, dried seaweed meal or in the form of liquid seaweed extract. The only exception is vitamins: you won’t find them in the liquid extract, only in the other two.

For many coastal regions of the world, it has been common practice to apply seaweed, especially the large brown variety, to the land as a soil improver and fertilizer. Some people like to gather their own seaweed at their local beach (legally, we hope) and use it “wet” or dry or, they may turn it into an organic liquid fertilizer after some kind of fermentation process. Others may just buy the seaweed by the bag if they can get it that way.

However, today seaweed extracts are more widely used. Sold in concentrated form, they are easy for the home gardener to dilute and spray on or apply as a liquid fertilizer to plants. That’s not all. The nutrients in the liquid seaweed extract are immediately available to be absorbed by the plants whereas seaweed and seaweed meal, just like any other organic matter, must first decompose before the nutrients can be released and used by the plants.

Seaweed contains alginic acid which is a soil conditioner. It has now been proven by various studies that seaweed and seaweed products improve the water-holding capacity of the soil and alter its structure making it rich and crumbly.

The use of seaweed and seaweed products in the horticultural industry is now well-established and becoming more widespread as more and more people all over the world discover its many benefits to plants. When applied to vegetable, fruit and flower plants, they include:

• Higher yield of crop plants
• Improved seed germination
• Increased nutrient uptake from the soil
• Increased ability to resist garden pests such as red spider mite and aphids
• Increased ability to resist plant diseases such as mildew, scab and fungi
• Better capacity to resist frost

Here’s a very good example of how seaweed meal was used to great effect by an inventive market gardener:

In Kent, England a market gardener was losing all his seedlings and fertilizers down into the ditch because heavy rain was washing them down his sloping plots. Since he started to use seaweed meal, he has significantly changed the structure of his sandy soil so much so that even heavy rain cannot wash his plants away now.

Personally, I haven’t experienced this particular problem but, if I had, I would definitely have experimented with his method. It worked, didn’t it?

In any case, it’s very clear what amazing improvements seaweed fertilizer can make to your home garden. Among other benefits, your garden plants will enjoy easier access to nutrients and water in the soil and boost their natural resistance to pests and diseases. This translates into less effort on your part in maintaining your home garden and that can’t be bad.

Check out the finest selection of seaweed fertilizers and start producing better tasting vegetables and fruit in your home garden.

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Copyright © 2009 www.vegetablegardenplantingguide.com

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Since the dawn of time, mankind has always been on the lookout for new ways to do things. It’s no different in gardening. All over the world, gardeners have constantly invented better and better methods for improving the quality and quantity of the large variety of flowers and plants in their gardens. Mind you, not all of these attempts succeeded.

However, one that did gave birth to a product that is commonly referred to today as a seaweed fertilizer. In simple terms, this was the successful adaptation of seaweed as a natural soil fertilizer, especially in Great Britain and other European countries. What makes seaweed such an invaluable product is that it possesses unique qualities. Consider this. It is loaded with essential trace minerals and growth hormones that encourage plants to thrive and prosper. With only a small amount of cellulose in its system, grinding it is an easy task. And, if that’s not enough, seaweed does not share any known diseases with any land-based plant.

For these reasons, it’s not surprising that organic gardeners, whose numbers worldwide continue to increase by the day, have popularized and continue to use algae fertilizers in their home gardens in large quantities. They wanted something that is all-natural and plant-based, something that would not harm the environment and does not have the negative connotations that the major brand name chemical fertilizers carry with them.

So, how do you use this wonderful product in your home garden? Well, you can apply it as mulch by adding it directly to your soil and positioning it around your plants. It will break down fairly quickly, the likely reason being that seaweed is about 90% water.

Good gardeners also add seaweed to their compost heap or bin and swear that the humus generated is even richer and more friable than in a “traditional” compost. I can vouch for this as this has been my experience as well (not that I’m claiming to be such a good gardener).

Other gardeners turn the seaweed into a liquid fertilizer by letting it dissolve in some kind of suitable container before feeding their plants. Because this method may not be the ideal way to do it and also because of the high salt content in seaweed, you may be better off with an organic commercial product. Seaweed fertilizer is available in powder form as well and can be dissolved and used as a foliar spray.

However you decide to use seaweed fertilizer, you will end up with soil so fertile in your home garden that you will produce a crop full of healthy and beneficial vitamins and minerals in no time at all.

Check out the finest selection of seaweed fertilizers and start producing better tasting vegetables and fruit in your home garden.

Copyright © 2009 www.vegetablegardenplantingguide.com

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