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Is there any reason i cant....

Make my own seaweed fertilizer from dried kombu/dashima (used for dashi) and wakame? I normally have both on hand. Neither of these is roasted. Its just dried seaweed. The kombu is a large "leaf" type kelp for making soup stock. Its usually just thrown away after being used.
 
Large bags of dried seaweed only cost around $10 at the Korean market. I realize the sodium is a tad high but it would be rehydrated and rinsed well. I was thinking about using some for compost tea and then combine with fish emulsion.
 
 
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
I recently bought a package of shirako seaweed and while the added labels report INGREDIENTS:SEAWEED (only) there's also one that  states in CA it's considered dangerous under Prop 65.

Dunno?
 
That appears to be roasted like a nori sheet. Im sure what i have is just dried kombu and dried wakame.
 
Kombu dashima looks like this.
20151008134831037_002.JPG

 
dashima-590x428.jpg

 
Dried wakame looks like this
ww1_wakame.jpg

51gax%2BuCfUL.jpg

 
Both are quite different. Kombu is thick and tough. It also gets slimy when cooked. Wakame is more tender and much thinner but expands like mad when rehydrated. Its also WAY more expensive than kombu.
 
Boil a piece and then try to pick it up. Its like trying to hold on to snot. My concern in using it dry and grinding it is sodium content. I think it was lower than the wakame so it might not be an issue. I could always rehydrate, rinse and redry but that sounds like a huge pain in the ass.
 
 
 
 
 
I will try just giving it a good wipe down then grinding. Im heading out in a few minutes to pick up some fish emulsion. I found quarts of the Alaska 5-1-1 for under $6....Might pick up another one of the Mucho Nacho plants too if they still have some.
 
I.. guess.. you could do this, but I would say to consider a couple of things:
 
1 is just the cost of the stuff. To obtain a quantity sufficient to make a good soil out of seems illogical, when so many complete mixes are already for sale out there, and already properly broken down.
 
2. Seaweed can suck up a whole lot of water from it's dry state, increasing in volume by as much as 10x over. If you supplement soil that you have now with seaweed and the pieces are too large, that could create a problem with air pockets throughout your dirt after you water. 
 
So what I'd say is that if you had some leftover, it wouldn't hurt to throw it in the compost bin, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to build something using the raw ingredient. I like it much more in soups.
 
Off topic, but dried wakame is fantastic with top ramen. Say you normally eat two packages of the stuff like me, start with 5 cups of water, boil the seaweed in that for about 5 minutes, and then add your noodles and seasoning as you normally wood. 
 
So much glutamate. So brothy. So amazing. 
 
 
grahamsprodigy said:
1 is just the cost of the stuff. To obtain a quantity sufficient to make a good soil out of seems illogical, when so many complete mixes are already for sale out there, and already properly broken down.
 
Exactly. The whole draw of seaweed fertilizer is that if you live near the coast it is practically free.  Importing it from Korea to St. Louis is probably not getting that same cost-benefit.
 
Wikipedia (i know i know) says that seaweed fertilizer is about 0.3 - 0.1 -1 with lots of trace elements and amino acids.  All of the products that claim to do this same thing (Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed, Bio-Bloom, Sweet-Raw) are pretty expensive in comparison.
 
Neptunes Harvest is around $16 per quart or more and 1/8th cup per gallon for outdoor use. So roughly 32 gallons of fertilizer. Fish and Seaweed Fertilizer 2 – 3 – 1
 
I already have kombu and wakame. The Alaska 5-1-1 emulsion was almost $6 for a quart. 2 tbs per gallon for full strength. Also roughly 32 gallons of fertilizer but higher in N. I can only guess at a $10 or more savings its worth a try. Kombu actually dashima (in Korean) is cheap at Korean markets if its works out.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Neptunes Harvest is around $16 per quart or more and 1/8th cup per gallon for outdoor use. So roughly 32 gallons of fertilizer. Fish and Seaweed Fertilizer 2 – 3 – 1
 
I already have kombu and wakame. The Alaska 5-1-1 emulsion was almost $6 for a quart. 2 tbs per gallon for full strength. Also roughly 32 gallons of fertilizer but higher in N. I can only guess at a $10 or more savings its worth a try. Kombu actually dashima (in Korean) is cheap at Korean markets if its works out.
 

Alaska fish is not too high in Nitrogen.  Don't believe everything that you hear about pepper growing.  That stuff will grow some wicked peppers.  I used to think that Neptune's Harvest worked better.  Until I realized that it didn't.  LOL
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I have used both products, and Alaska Fish is just about as cheap as it gets for a commercially sourced product.
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That being said, I've made fish and seaweed fertilizer, of my own.  This year will be my first full season trial.
 
I didnt mean that to come off as sounding too high. I only meant it was higher in N than the Neptunes if mixed as directed. Alaska mixed at half strength (1 tbs) and mixed with a seaweed "tea" might yield similar numbers as Neptunes which would be a larger savings.
 
On a side note i rehydrated a few grams of some wakame. A small handful ended up being quite a lot. This bag has been around awhile and i need some fresh for miso anyway. I would imagine i have enough to start a small 1 gallon test batch of "tea"
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
I didnt mean that to come off as sounding too high. I only meant it was higher in N than the Neptunes if mixed as directed. Alaska mixed at half strength (1 tbs) and mixed with a seaweed "tea" might yield similar numbers as Neptunes which would be a larger savings.
 
On a side note i rehydrated a few grams of some wakame. A small handful ended up being quite a lot. This bag has been around awhile and i need some fresh for miso anyway. I would imagine i have enough to start a small 1 gallon test batch of "tea"
 

I don't think Neptune's numbers are exactly optimal, anyway.  The best luck that I had with a Neptune formula, was the tomato and veg.  But like I said, Alaska showed better for me, and at half the cost.
 
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