Friday, May 13, 2011

Seaweed fertilizer

I did a little research to see if nori can be used to make seaweed fertilizer. I didn't find much, so I decided to compare the nutrient content of nori and kelp. Plant macronutrient (Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur) aka mineral (for human food) content in foods should be described in the USDA nutrient database. I compared the mineral content of kelp with lavar (I think this is nori). The table below lists the minerals for 100g of kelp/lavar. I included amino acids since I thought this may be the source of nitrogen (though I am not sure of this).

Nutrient
units
KELP
LAVAR
Calcium, Camg16870
Iron, Femg2.851.8
Magnesium, Mgmg1212
Phosphorus, Pmg4258
Potassium, Kmg89356
Sodium, Namg23348
Zinc, Znmg1.231.05
Copper, Cumg0.130.264
Manganese, Mnmg0.20.988
Selenium, Semcg0.70.7
Tryptophang0.0480.043
Threonineg0.0550.232
Isoleucineg0.0760.259
Leucineg0.0830.501
Lysineg0.0820.222
Methionineg0.0250.145
Cystineg0.0980.1
Phenylalanineg0.0430.273
Tyrosineg0.0260.254
Valineg0.0720.402
Arginineg0.0650.285
Histidineg0.0240.14
Alanineg0.1220.651
Aspartic acidg0.1250.567
Glutamic acidg0.2680.547
Glycineg0.10.363
Prolineg0.0730.251
Serineg0.0980.299

In terms of the "macronutrients", kelp and lavar is quite comparable. Lavar is lower in calcium and magnesium, but is richer in potassium. This is as far as I got scientifically and I pretty much made up my recipe for the fertilizer. I took 2 sheets of nori and shredded it before adding to a gallon of water. I also added 3 tablespoon of coffee (for nitrogen) and 3 tablespoon of crushed eggshells (for calcium).
I mixed it up on Friday and left it on the floor, shaking it up every once in a while. I decided to start the experiment on Wednesday since the tomato and basil seedlings I set up for the experiment needed some water. Lemme just say, even if this experiment shows that the seaweed fertilizer is fantastic, I will not be using it. It smells SO bad. I had the seedlings inside, but I had to take them out after using this "fertilizer" nastiness.
So now they live in this little drawer that I found at my friend's apartment complex. I will have to find another way to fertilize my plants. Speaking of free stuff for the garden, I also found this little table. It is amazing the things people throw away!
And today I found this under my zucchini pot...I did a little searching and I believe it is an earwig. Ewwww....

4 comments:

  1. I'll be interested in your nori experiment. And ewww, yep that looks like an earwig.

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  2. Hi Holly. I should have squished it, but I left it out on the street and I think a bird got it. So nasty! I will definitely continue to report on my nori experiment!

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  3. omg - I can't believe you found that table! it's great. I have that ikea dresser - well, mine has 4 compartments. What a great idea. I think it's brilliant to use as a sort of coldframe!!

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  4. Ugh, my yard is infested with earwigs (I called them pincher bugs, as a kid). I've been trying to attract birds to my yard to eat them.

    And I have that table on my desk, in a dark cherry color. Great find!

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