Fresh seaweed from Maine

Hi all,

My daughter is "surprising" me today with bags of fresh seaweed that has washed ashore at a nearby beach in Maine. My thought is to lay the fronds around the drip edge of my juvenile trees which are starting 4th season in my orchard. Apples are from Fedco, Peach, plum and pear from a local high-quality VT nursery which were probably 3 years older than the Fedco when planted. Any watch outs I should be looking for? I will cover them with chips in a week or so.

Thanks,

John

Honey Meadow Farm, LLC
Southwestern New Hampshire, Zone 5A

So this was not the fronds I was thinking of but a conglomeration of many smaller pieces of seaweed tangled together. 10 bags of it! Just enough to go around each of the trees. We kept it about 1' away from the trunk and extended it out to the dripline.
John

Honey Meadow Farm, LLC
Southwestern New Hampshire, Zone 5A



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2017 09:22PM by John Snowdon.

Hi John,

Wondering how this worked out for you in your orchard.

The micro nutritient boost would be really nice, but my concern would be with the salts that would come with the seaweed.

Curious how this worked out for you. Any before & after photos to share?

Gopher Hill Apples
Zone 8 in California

Hi Paul,

Sorry, no photos...My orchard is small, 15 trees, 50 blueberries, 100' of raspberries and raised bed strawberries. Along with our 40x80 veggie garden, it really helps serve as a wonderful pollinator habitat for our honey bees. Our trees and berries are just entering their 4th growing season. My apples were all bare root "sticks" planted in a compost/clay mix enriched with mycorrhizal powders and various organic fertilizers, i. e., fish meal, bone char, humates etc. The peach, plum , pear and cherries were sourced at the same time from a local reputable nursery and were 2-3 years old when planted. All have since been treated using Michael's holistic sprays and compost teas. I added the seaweed exactly for the micronutrient boost you mentioned. I'm not sure what happened to Michael's response to my first post but, at the time, I recall he felt the salt issue was not going to be significant vs the boost the trees would get. As I layered the seaweed around the plants last April, I am hoping to see the difference when our season starts this year. I do know by September only some shells were left as evidence of the seaweed placement. We did have our first ever peaches and even a few apples last year. The peach trees exploded with fruit, even tho' I thought I thinned them enough. I obviously did not as our 3 peach trees (a Red Haven and 2 Reliance) were laden with fruit and I had to support most of the branches while still thinning as they grew. I'm doing soil samples again this year so hopefully I will see an effect and will let you know.

Honey Meadow Farm, LLC
Southwestern New Hampshire, Zone 5A