Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Cultivation => Composts => Topic started by: Guff on August 14, 2008, 10:22:07 PM
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Been burning up twigs and branches this week, would wood ashes be good for crocus if sprinkled on top of my beds? I already put down a fresh layer of leaf compost on the beds. If they are, when do I add them, late fall?
Thanks for info.
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Wood ash should be good for crocuses - high potash. I'd apply round about now (late summer/autumn).
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Lesley, thanks.
How about bone meal, when should this be put down? Last fall I had bought a couple packets of granular bulb food, and I had sprinkled it around late October. Seems to have helped alot. I had alot of flowers, but then again, they are starting to clump up some.
Thanks for info.
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a sprinkling of bone meal just before growth starts would be useful.
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You can use wood ash at any time but it is especially beneficial to the bulbs just as the flowers appear.
Also it is good that you are burning twiggy growth as that contains the most potassium - large logs have very little.
Bone meal contains nitrogen and phosphorus and should be applied in the Autumn or when the bulbs are starting into growth.
For my feeding methods check out this bulb log link :- http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2005/160205/log.html
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David, Ian, thanks.
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You can use wood ash at any time but it is especially beneficial to the bulbs just as the flowers appear.
Also it is good that you are burning twiggy growth as that contains the most potassium - large logs have very little.
Bone meal contains nitrogen and phosphorus and should be applied in the Autumn or when the bulbs are starting into growth.
For my feeding methods check out this bulb log link :- http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2005/160205/log.html
Ian - Years ago I remember being warned not to use fresh woodash but better wait till it was subjected to a few months of leaching by rain. I can't remember what was to be leached out. Any thoughts? Perhaps it was fireplace ash.
Just finished repotting 600+ nerines and only 1 dead one, they seem to tolerate anything but the moister dormant pots had more live roots. Space is an issue!
johnw
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Space is an issue!
John,
I'm thinking there aren't that many of us here who wouldn't be saying the same thing! ;D With me, it's been an issue for years but it never stops me buying new plants or sowing new seeds. Ridiculous really!! You'd think I'd learn. ::)
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Wood ash should be applied thinly as a thick deposit is likely to turn into a layer of clay when it gets damp.
I have not heard of wood ash needing to be allowed to leach and we use ours either fresh, but cold, or stored dry in sacks.
Ash from a fire that has had coal in it should never be applied in the garden as coal has a high sulphur content which is harmful to plants. Leachate from tracks and rail lines that have been laid with boiler cinders leach sulphur into adjacent ditches for tens of years after the initial application.
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Whats everyones thoughts on cricket poo? I started a holding bin today, just to see how much poo 30-35 crickets would make in a week or two time period. Maybe next summer I will make some outdoor holding bins, with thousands of crickets. This is just an experiment, fall and winter on it's way.
I need something thats stronger than worm castings, but also free for my daylily's. I also thought maybe it would be good for crocus and cyclamen?
Cricket Poo vs Other Organic Fertilizers
Product % N % P % K Total NPK Value
CricketPoo! 4.04 2.18 2.26 8.48
Chicken Squat 1.00 0.80 0.39 2.19
Horse Plop 0.70 0.25 0.77 1.72
Worm Castings 0.86 0.37 0.25 1.48
Cow Patties 0.57 0.23 0.62 1.42
Swine Slop 0.49 0.34 0.47 1.30
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You're joking, right?
I've seen a few cricket games that could be described as such, but harvesting it?
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Lesley, nope not joking...............lol
I go through alot of worm casting/leaf compost every year(making new beds), but I need something stronger for my daylily's, and also FREE. Buying Miracle Grow ferts can get expensive.
http://www.cricketpoo.com/FAQ.cfm
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So why are crickets bred?
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Lesley, I think crickets have 5-6 week life cycle. If you don't breed them, you would have to keep buying them, or try to catch them like I did, and that wasn't so easy. Crickets are mainly sold as pet food for lizards, frogs, and such, and also for fishing bait.
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One of the best things about this forum is that my ignorance is being chipped away daily ;D
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Mine too Brian. I couldn't see why anyone would WANT heaps of crickets. Hadn't thought of dinners for lizards etc. My dog eats meat, bones, dog biscuits and the occasional grape or banana.
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Lesley, grapes are bad for dogs! Found this out only recently... had nasty moment, since previous dogs have loved all sorts of fruits and have scoffed pounds of grapes over the years...seems discovery that grapes and raisins are bad for dogs, indeed fatal in some cases, is quite recent too.Go figure!
One of the best things about this forum is that my ignorance is being chipped away daily
Well, yes, but some days my credulity is being stretched at the same rate....I mean, "cricket poo"....did you ever?
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"cricket poo"....did you ever?
Well not personally, no :P
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Well, I'm glad everyone had a good chuckle about the cricket poo.
If this can save me $30 a month on miracle grow ferts, I will be making bins next spring. Heres a video that shows 40,000 crickets eating lettuce in 1hr. They sure do chow down. I wonder how much poo they made in 1 hr...........lol
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1903006617799874773&ei=n-a-SNLtOKfy-AGGy_j3CQ&q=what+do+crickets+eat&vt=lf&hl=en
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Those crickets can sure chow down, as Guff says! Wouldn't want them escaping to my garden, poo or no poo! No doubting the high costs of many proprietary fertilisers, though.
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Hi Guff,
allow me an kind advise. If you breed critters at home please make absolutely sure they can't escape from your boxes and infest the foliage of your crocus ;) ;D ;D This might easily end up with fine crocus poo :o ;D
My advise laced with sarcasm have a true story behind - in my younger days I helped working in a pet shop where critters & cockroaches escaped underhand, breeded happy as a king and infested all herbal pet food ( open big packs/ sacks) during the nights when the pet shop was closed.
It was a nightmare until the epidemic plague had been stemmed.
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Armin, thanks for the insight. They will be outdoors, if I decide it's worth the effort. I can already see that I will need 10's of thousands of crickets to get the amount of ferts that I will need weekly. The 35 crickets or so I have, really haven't made much of a dent in the food I put into the holding box. Next weekend I will let them go, and see how much poo there is.......lol
I make a leaf pile once in the spring and then again in the fall. Below is my spring leaf pile. Hard to tell from the picture, but the pile is about 4-5 ft thick, and maybe 30-40ft diameter Usually come late June, I can start to screen(sticks,rocks) and start using the compost.