Salt water

Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
27
Reaction score
1
I had a client tell me he pours salt water (really salty like after freezing ice cream) over his asparagus to kill the weeds. Has anyone else tried this. He told me it doesn't hurt the plants at all. Would this work for the rows in the garden or would it be too much for other veggies?
 

zigs

Cactus Grower, Kent.
Moderator
Joined
Oct 10, 2012
Messages
9,624
Reaction score
11,384
Location
Kent
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United Kingdom
Its only found in the wild in South Western coastal area in Britain so i'm guessing it evolved to tolerate salt spray.

I remember a Gardeners World report on gardens in Wales that had been flooded by the sea. Everything in them was dead except for the Cabbages, they too evolved by the sea & could handle it.
 

Jed

Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
453
Reaction score
159
I had a client tell me he pours salt water (really salty like after freezing ice cream) over his asparagus to kill the weeds. Has anyone else tried this. He told me it doesn't hurt the plants at all. Would this work for the rows in the garden or would it be too much for other veggies?
In the state of Western Australia they are having a huge problem with arable land becoming salty due to the water table rising from land clearing.
Here's a PDF of vegetables that can handle salty water to some extent.
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/lwe/water/irr/f07199.pdf

Photo of severely salt-affected land

16fig2b.jpeg
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
4,180
Reaction score
2,714
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United Kingdom
Its only found in the wild in South Western coastal area in Britain so i'm guessing it evolved to tolerate salt spray.

I remember a Gardeners World report on gardens in Wales that had been flooded by the sea. Everything in them was dead except for the Cabbages, they too evolved by the sea & could handle it.

Interesting, didn't know that!
 

zigs

Cactus Grower, Kent.
Moderator
Joined
Oct 10, 2012
Messages
9,624
Reaction score
11,384
Location
Kent
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United Kingdom
Unfortunately, wild asparagus is that rare, i've never found it myself, despite fishing most of the south west coast ( I always look at the plants where i'm fishing)

Heres some Sea Kale growing on the Chesil Beach.

004.jpg


This part of the beach gets lashed with waves in the winter, but it still survives.

Its a bit bitter to eat without blanching though.

There are lots of specialised plants living there, Yellow Horned Poppy, Sea Beet, Sea Campions etc.
003.jpg


Sorry the pics are a bit dull, we just didn't have any Sun last year:(
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
27
Reaction score
1
I would love to take pics of my patch for you but it's covered in snow. I'm tempted to try the salt water on the patch that only produces a few spears each year due to it being covered in weeds in the ditch. I don't want to destroy my good patches.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
I have used salt water around curly kale. It did the job! Just make sure to not pour it directly over the roots when the sun is shining, do it at the start of the evening instead.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
109
Reaction score
17
My sweet hubby dumped out our salt water from our ice cream maker three years ago and it killed the grass. We are just barely seeing the growth come back.
 
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
66
Reaction score
11
I heard that sea salt, original dawn dish liquid and water mixed would kill any weed you wanted gone. They also said the mixture will kill healthy plants if touched by the mixture.
 
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
116
Reaction score
16
Location
Queensland, Australia
I have known gardens by waterfront properties being flooded with king tides, but when having it then flooded with fresh water to rinse the salt out.
They survived ok, none the worse for wear.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,590
Messages
256,660
Members
13,264
Latest member
Ann

Latest Threads

Top