willow feeder resources WIKI

Andrés Bernal wrote:Willow feeders are a best solution than compost for gardeners:

Shayok Mukhopadhyay wrote:

Andrés Bernal wrote:Willow feeders are a best solution than compost for gardeners:

I understand that the product is superior in nutrients to compost, but if the product is only usable for willows, it is a product of limited use. I was hoping that the Wiki would say that it has wider use. I was also hoping to hear a claim that willow itself has wider use.

Ben Zumeta wrote:

Shayok Mukhopadhyay wrote:

Andrés Bernal wrote:Willow feeders are a best solution than compost for gardeners:

I understand that the product is superior in nutrients to compost, but if the product is only usable for willows, it is a product of limited use. I was hoping that the Wiki would say that it has wider use. I was also hoping to hear a claim that willow itself has wider use.

This is a fair consideration, but willows are very useful plants that can handle very wide ranges of nutrients from barren river gravels to outhouse drain fields. In addition to weaving material, they make excellent composting or mulching biomass. They can also be soaked in water for a rooting hormone source for cuttings or seedlings. That liquid can also be used as a compost tea addition or on its own for foliar application. The growth hormones improve vigor and also seem to help with disease resistance. Willows and the habitats which grow them are also very fire resistant, as demonstrated by Australian firefighters noting where these “invasive” plants (to Australia) are as a potentially lifesaving evacuation zone.