Gardening, seaweed composting

[Chief Broom]

Ive been collecting seaweed from the beach which has varying amounts of sand attached, i shake off as much as i can but wonder how important this is. Theres conflicting advice when i google the question so has anyone observed any problems due to the salt content. I found some turf discarded by the golf course maintenance crew so have been adding that to the seaweed but thats quite sandy/salty too.

 

[oldwheels]

Ive been collecting seaweed from the beach which has varying amounts of sand attached, i shake off as much as i can but wonder how important this is. Theres conflicting advice when i google the question so has anyone observed any problems due to the salt content. I found some turf discarded by the golf course maintenance crew so have been adding that to the seaweed but thats quite sandy/salty too.

We used to gather lots of seaweed and used it as a general mulch with particular emphasis on potatoes. It was spread generously between the rows and kept weeds down and eventually just got dug into the soil.
We had a trailer for the car which we took to a bit of beach away from habitation with easy access and filled it. Once tried bags in the back of the van but that stank a bit on the way back and all sorts of beasts emerged into the van so that was not repeated. At one time lots of people gathered seaweed from the town beach but I was never very keen on that idea as at that time the sewers all discharged straight into the sea.

 

[KnittyNorah]

If you're actually going to be composting it in an enclosed heap or container then for best results you should be adding other organic matter each time you make a layer of seaweed eg lawn clippings, but if you're using it more like as a mulch, or even dug into the ground directly, the salt will wash out rapidly unless you live in an area of low rainfall.