We have a lot of plants in pots. When scraping the bottom of the pond we bring up a greenish muddy slime. Someone said they thought this would be nutritious to mix with the soil in the plant pots. Would this be true? Would it be likely to be on the acidic side or not?
john hamilton wibbled on Wednesday 07 April 2010 11:09
This bit would be easy to check with a bit of Universal (pH) Indicator, often found in garden centres.
No. As it rots it will deplete the nitrogen in the soil. Add it to the compost heap.
No idea, but I doubt it.
"john hamilton" wrote .
I once saw a friend ruin a stunning bowling green type lawn by pumping that stuff all over it. It is a bit like chicken poo, powerful stuff and will burn plants if not diluted. I spread the stuff from our pond around the garden and dig it in just like I would horse manure but I wouldn't use it in pots.
Recently Aldi has been selling a brilliant pH meter for a quid or so. Just stick it in your soil and find out. I put it in a pot of what I thought was an ericaceous soil and lo and behold, the pH was 6.5. Perfeck. So at least the gadget works.
I expect it would also work if you put it in water.
The annoying thing about most stuff to do with pH is that you have to purchase some small quite expensive package where you only get enough chemicals for one or two goes.
someone
There may be a cheap way. I'd guess you must take your soil or pond scum and dry it which is a variable. Take a known weight and add water a known water vol. and then use pH papers.
Lets see if you can avoid a pH meter.
Why not chuck it on the compost heap to be safe?
someone wibbled on Thursday 08 April 2010 22:16
Typically one plant decides to dominate the pond, then we rake it out and into a composting bin. It can be algae, azola, duckweek, anacharis, cattails, or parrot feather. I would not recommend use of material that has not composted.
LOL
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