Background: Don't have any of the store bought goodies here that you guys have, so was looking into a DIY for the above mentioned ingredients. Have grown twice with Hydro in coco with good results, now looking into organic: I've been able to get some good Bone meal here. Also managed fish meal and blood meal, though both of these are sold in loose packaging and are unbranded; which means there's no way of confirming their quality, or even contents for that matter. (In it's defence, fish meal does smell of fish) Question: Alfalfa is pretty common here, as is seaweed (coastal city). 1. Would it really be the same thing if i process these into meals myself? 2. Would doing that be as easy as rinsing, drying and chopping em up in a blender to add to the soil mix? 3. Would the month or 2 that i give the soil mix to break down and get activated, be enough for these DIY ingredients? EDIT: 4. I know seaweed and kelp are the same yet different. Would either substitute for the other?
where do you live? I would stick to a good, more commercial, source of kelp since the waters might not be in that good of shape. Make sure the alfalfa is organically grown but yes, you can just crush it up and add to your soil mix and let cook for 2mo or longer. really the longer your mix can cook, the better.
Im in Pakistan. Thought as much about the seaweed. The waters really aren't in the best of shape here.... but would that really have that much of a negative impact in the soil (once the salt etc are rinsed off)? I highly doubt the Alfalfa would be organic. Pesticide free sure, but not organic.
All kelp is seaweed, but not all seaweed is kelp. From what i've read, kelp is the largest form of seaweed. Im not sure if they substitute each other as nutes for plants though.
Varying degrees of both i suppose: The kelp i've seen is more brown than green. The smaller seaweeds are more green than brown.
Since seaweed are accumulators, meaning that they store whatever they are being grown in/around it could be great or not-so-great. If the water is pretty clean then I'd certainly use it. Composting would be your best bet to break it down. If the coastal waters are a swampy mess of boats and other pollutants then I probably wouldn't since Seaweed takes in and stores whatever is around it. You could also (hang) dry it in the sun and chop it up for later use. The best Seaweed is brown. I'd certainly use the alfalfa if you have it available. Again, composting would be a great way to incorporate these items into your soil. J
Yeah, that isn't comforting. The waters closer to the city are anything but clean. I'll see if i can find some packaged seaweed from the store and give that a shot. Alfalfa added to the composting list...