DIY Kelp Fertilizer

[TheMushroomMan]

Living so close to an abundant source of fresh, natural, free kelp, I can't quite stomach the thought of paying $15 per liter of of liquid kelp. I thought that surely there must be a way to make my own at home, but a few searches of the forums returned nothing. After expanding my search too google, I found this.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/nyerges44.html
Specifically,

Seaweed

There are many low-cost methods for making your own fertilizer. One of the easiest and best is manufactured from seaweed.

We learned a lot about the beneficial properties of seaweed from Ernest Hogeboom, who used to be a professional gardener in the Pasadena, California, area. Hogeboom would collect several plastic trash bags of kelp from areas along the Pacific Coast. He would empty the kelp into a 55-gallon drum, fill it with water, and then cover it. As the seaweed began to decompose, the water would turn brown. Within about two months, the seaweed was fully decomposed. This liquid was used as a concentrate, which Hogeboom would then dilute with water before spraying it on or pouring it around his customers’ plants.

We’ve used this for our own garden service clients, with the addition of fish emulsion. Plants sprayed with this mixture seem more insect repellent, and generally show some renewed growth. The only pitfall is the fishy, oceany odor that is detectable for a day or two after the application.

The authors with their earthworm compost pit, to which their rabbits contribute by direct deposit. (Photo by Raul Castellano.)
Seaweed is a rich source of potassium —up to 12%. Though seaweed contains many trace elements, it is relatively poor in nitrogen and phosphate, which is why the addition of fish emulsion makes a nearly perfect fertilizer. Also, rather than use the heavy and bulky 55-gallon drum that Hogeboom used, we purchased a plastic trash can at a building supply store for under $10. This has served us quite well.

Has anyone else tried this? It looks pretty simple and straightforward. The only step I would add is to give the kelp several rinses to get rid of as much salt as possible.
Anyways, I'm going to give this a go. Just thought I'd share

 

[chef]

I've been planning on it
Take a drive on the beach, grab a pickup load, then by the sprayNwash & blast it off good on the way home.
I was thinking of buying a used chipper for it also?

 

[habeeb]

I've hear of some people trying this

but to be honest, I would buy some quality seaweed, as $15 is $15, and a quality nutrient such as seaweed, being one of the best add-in's one could buy.

also how little you have to use, will last you a very long time. I bought a maxicrop powdered seaweed over a year ago, and I would say I have 1/3 left still. depending on your garden how long it will last, but how little you use.. it's very much worth $15

 

[jaykush]

im all for making your own if you live near the beach. the ocean is a great source of natural fertilizers. you could also make kelp meal and just amend that into your soil or compost or vermicompost. just rinse a few times then let it dry, crush to a powder and store it until you need some.

 

[chef]

No prob here paying for quality kelp, this is for my outdoor compost & should be a fun learning experience. Might have to throw a few Chinook carcasses in there & put it down wind for the winter
I finally found bottled west coast Bullwhip recently, like to try it instead of Norwegian & together. I've always wondered why Bullwhip is so ignored?

 

[maryjohn]

kelp extract is a value added product- the work described above does not produce a concentrate at all, some work and space is required, and it in other ways lacks value found in 15$ a litre kelp extract.

sounds like it's worth it if you have the time and inclination, but I'll stick to throwing the odd batch into my worm bins.

 

[roots]

the plastic trash tote is a great idea, and will suit your needs alot better. you will have plenty of tea for weeks, maybe months to come. as a bonus, you can also throw in other beneficial ingredients along with the seaweed to make your tea extra yummy.

in addition to the sun tea, you should consider using it as a thick mulch around the stalk of your plants. mix it with some manure to make the mulch richer or give it to the worms.

 

[roots]

i forgot to mention: if you are just going to soak it when you get home, then you should get the dryer kelp because you can carry twice as more at one time than as when it is wet! i like it right out of the ocean if i use it as mulch... personal preference i guess.

 

[TheMushroomMan]

Thanks for all the responses! Man, am I glad I found this place. So friendly and informative.

chef - No need for a woodchipper, the whole shebang decomposes within two months... although I bet the smaller pieces would decompose even faster. And I'm actually going to be using Bullwhip kelp; it's all over the friggin place here.
habeeb - I hear where you're coming from. $15 is nothing, but it isn't so much about the price as it is the fact that I could be doing it myself - and having tons of excess so I could share with fellow gardeners.
jaykush - Well, I was planning on just water-composting it, but now you've got me thinking about putting my dehydrator to some good use (Not that drying fungi isn't a good use for it.).
maryjohn - I'm sure that this method won't be as concentrated as store-bought kelp products, but it is still strong enough to require dilution. Plus it isn't very labour intensive - get kelp, wash kelp, cover with water, then wait.
roots - Isn't it? I mean if you're a landscaper 55 gallons sounds about right, but I'm just going to use a 10-gallon container from work. It used to be home to a shitload of olives. And for sure I'd feed it to my worms! I'm going to have enough to bathe in.

Of course, this isn't going to happen overnight. I've got a SSH seedling that is starting to look ready for nutes, and I don't think she'll want to wait two months - so I will be buying some liquid kelp anyways.
I am still going to get some kelp composting, and when it's done send it to my local lab with some of my vermicompost for a nutritional analysis. I'd never heard of people taking their compost to labs for testing until I was in a lab myself getting some bloodwork done, and saw a technician take out a bag of dirt.
Turns out most commercial labs will test anything...
Which I find pretty cool.

 

[maryjohn]

If you dry some kelp or half dry it it is great in the worm bin, and if in small pieces can be added near the end.

 

[quadracer]

Yes I've been using seaweed in every possible way, and there are a few things I've learned:

Seaweed doesn't break down quickly. I made a hot compost pile, soaked it in a trash can for months, and used it as a mulch, and the seaweed is still around from the summer.

Seaweed needs a solid rinsing before anything can be done with it.

Seaweed works great, I need to go get some more. It can get very heavy taking it from the beach and you will need a truck of some sorts for any type of bulk seaweed gathering.

I've also been taking sand from the beach and mixing it in with the cacti soil, they needed a good transplant.