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Posted by Ross (U14811235) on Friday, 1st April 2011
Does any one else remember Monty forcing his rhubarb a few weeks ago?
Compost tea! I for one wouldn't be putting things onto my soil if I didn't know just what is was. Fair enough we are not sure how it works but please, the ingredients!
I have been using a worm tea and seaweed fertiliser on a lot of my garden in different applications. I think it may be a benefit in dramatically reducing blackspot on roses and blight on potatoes and as a general tonic. Growing a naturally healthy plant with out the aid of synthetic fertilisers can only mean a sturdier and more robust plant, stronger and less susceptible to pests and diseases. Its cheaper than the mysterious compost tea too.
Does any one else remember Monty forcing his rhubarb a few weeks ago?Â
Yes
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by Pumpkin_Patch_Paul (U14565900) on Friday, 1st April 2011
He coverd is ruhbarb at the end of program one....
Sure you get the hook but not the main point of the post. Duh.
Surely you worked out the compost tea was compost plus nutrients to help the microbial flora flourish.
Stick a large bucket of compost in the greenhouse, add water, air pump from a fish tank and a sprinkle of FBB and you won't be far off the mark. DUH!
Surely if I had worked it out I would'nt have made the post! But now you come to mention it seems logical. Why then did the RHS and GW create such a mystery about the ingredients?
A natural product will never be popular unless some one can produce a synthetic copy and make lots of cash from it. Why use' Miracle Grow' when there are products like 'Chase SM3' seaweed extract?
Having time to Google 'Compost Tea' and look at some of the info, I am more informed and much impressed. I feel like I have been missing out on something important.
, in reply to message 7.
Posted by Pumpkin_Patch_Paul (U14565900) on Saturday, 2nd April 2011
If it had not been so late in the day I would have thought April fools day....
Yeah, thats funny. This is even weirder but I think its incredible stuff.
I laughed a bit when he showed us about the rhubarb. I know he is in cold Herefordshire but here in dorset i have been cropping unforced rhubarb for some time now. Right now my rhubarb patch is like day of the triffids! Anyone fancy any rhubarb?
Compost tea? Not what i thought of as compost tea. I always thought you made it the same way as nettle or comfrey tea. No gimmics, no science, no cost. I dont make any of them personally but do have a wormery and use the liquid from it as a feed with decent if unquantifiable results.
I posted this explanation earlier today. Take a look
PJ
Yes, we've been eating unforced rhubarb for a few weeks. Forced is sweeter, but I rather like the green version.
On the Archers last week there was some comment that the outdoor rhubarb won't be ready yet (as per the agricultural story editor no doubt), on the same day that we made rhubarb crumble, in Cheshire.
It could be down to variety - ours is probably Timperly Early. I didn't plant it so I don't know for certain.
Hi Trillium
Will I ever be able to see the words Timperley Early without remembering that they need 130 Accumulated Cold Units???
Margi x
Don't rely on The Archers storyline for gardening advice or information! I can remember Doris and Jill waxing lyrical about their radioland Lilac being full out when ours down here in the soft south was still tight shut buds - the exact whereabouts of Borsetshire is never pinned down but it's definately supposed to be north of Birmingham so that line was very wrong.
I don't know why some posters think that using a "natural" product will produce better plants automatically - this simply is not the case - a proper balance of "natural" or "artificial" products will produce indistinguishable results. And imbalances can cause similar problems - for instance, you don't see much living in the lacdate oozing from a farm effluent tank but it's fine when diluted.
Bunging a dustbin on top of a Rhubarb crown isn't pukka forcing - you may be forcing it to grow in the dark but little else. The proper art of forcing was to cultivate unpicked crowns, then lift them in frosty weather in the hope that the cold would help form more sugars in the cell structure - they were then housed in subdued light to produce the familiar thin pink stalks - the crowns are, of course, completely ruined by the process.
back to the mystery tea brew just a money spinner i feel why else why else would the suppliers not give the ingredients. i planted my comfrey yesterday so hopefully i can try what others have used for years and for relatively free....don't be tempted to part with your cash for that 'designer label' pehaps we should re-brand comfrey CONFREE
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