Outside my house is a bucket of blended nettle leaves in water. It's gonna be dilluted 1:20 for my plants (Lowryders), when should I start and stop fertilizing with this and do I need anything else or can I fertilize my plants with only this? Thanks!
qetuo12 In my opinion, nettle tea is the finest fertilizer liquid you can apply on any garden. It's extremely high in phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, etc. and the best part is that all of these nutrients are in the best form for quick uptake by the plant. A 1:20 ratio is definitely in the safe zone. I would apply it about every 3rd watering and apply it as a foliar application up to the 2nd or 3rd week of flower and then limit it to the soil. Besides being an outstanding fertilizer, nettle tea is effective against mites and powdery mildew - very effective. I would add some liquid silica with each watering (with or without the nettle tea) as well as adding it to your foliar application. Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt is very affordable and easy to find. Use 1/4 tsp. per gallon of water. Best wishes on using your nettle tea - you won't believe the immediate effect it will have on your plant's health. LD
Whoops, noticed how you already mentioned the subject in your previous post. Thanks anyways, will notify how it goes
I would suggest some wintergreen oil and a paper dust mask. Sprinkle the oil in the dust mask and put it on your face. You're probably now ready to work with your "stuff"....LOL! That stuff stinks don't it!?! Cheers!
Started to smell a little, is there something I can add to sterilize it? Or would that not be necessary... I was thinking of adding some 3% hydrogen peroxide, but how much per liter?
REALLY!!!! I live in the land o nettles. So given the choice of stinky fish hydrolysate or nettle tea, which would i prefer? Nettle compost or nettle tea, or both?
Would not use hydrogen peroxide in organics. It will kill beneficial bacteria and fungi in the soil that is needed by the roots.
Yes it smells...lol...When its really fresh nettle i pack a 50 gallon tubs with leaf cover with filtered water put on lid after a couple weeks i open it...WOW You should smell it then.I make and sale nettle tea for farmers markets in the summer i cant make enought of it and always sell out.I have lots of nettle on my land.I dont know how long it last for but i tell people to us it the same day if they can.I have people coming back to me all the time telling me all the great stuff it did for there plants and garden.
Skunk, you really jumped quick there on the nettles to get away from the fish!! Getting kind of ripe around there, huh? Sounds like you better get picking some nettles. LD, is that nettles at any time of their growth? I know we used to pick and eat them in the spring when I lived in Alaska and Washington. They were very good food. JaK
just one source but, according to ATTRA, Yes, any stage of growth (Biodynamic Farming & Compost Preparation)
ARe you talking about the nettles that sting really bad when you touch them? If so, I have a huge supply for free in my backyard. Just thought I would ask to be sure. edit: I just saw that quote at the bottom snickers. So yes! Free ferts!!
Rudolf Steiner is considered the father of bio-dynamic farming. Nettle is one of the cornerstones of his method of farming and growing plants along with yarrow and especially comfrey. As JaK noted, you can eat the nettle plant (I don't but know a few folks who do), feed them to poultry as it has a benefit there by preventing several poultry diseases, the extract added to dog shampoo to kill fleas and in particular ticks, etc. If you have a bunch then using it in a thermal compost pile would be a great addition. Worm bins. Straight fermented teas and especially using lactobacillus bacteria strains to make highly-concentrated fermented plant extracts (FPE). The spent plant material from straight and lacto fermenting processes should be added to your compost and/or worm bin - waste nothing. A perfect organic biodynamic gardening environment (if I were to set it up for someone) would include nettle, comfrey and yarrow 'fertilizers' as the main players after kelp meal, alfalfa meal and neem & karanja meals. I've never seen a dying or sick nettle plant - has anyone here seen one? Just a thought. LD
Jak, Well it's just soooo fishy! Actually it's not just the fish, if i had to place the odour really, i would guess at an infection like gangrene. How's your baby's this morning, still hot or did they settle in? They will ya know, just feed water only and they will loose some leaves and then grow like a house on fire when they get settled.
As i have nettle and a ton of local kelp of all kinds and not the others that i know of, i will use those... So FPE is what i have been making? The fish one, cuke-banana-tater skins and the kelp one are all FPE's of a kind. I never posted this but i bubbled a bucket with my next door neighbors willow tree tips in it, and while i usually use that kinda thing as a transplant aide, i threw it into a vegging plant and it's gowing like hell, the auxins are ok for something past transplant stage i would gather. I think i just like brewing things, a holdover from the 'bottle days'??? I loved fixing the 'nutes' that never worked quite right, so now i play with highly-concentrated fermented plant extracts and teas? These at least work
skunk, what species of willow - pussy willow, weeping willow? I wonder if I could make a tea out of the willow acacia or cactus, or mesquite or any of my local vegetation? I will have to look at your favorite list again. JaK
I had an acacia in my yard when i was in school, San Diego State. It's poisonus though, don't think that would work. My neighbors tree is a weeping willow, but pussy would be the same, it's just the tips that you need, fast growing and full of auxins. Willows of all sorts are FAST growing. I'm looking at Paulownia's now, i grow them and pot and tomatoes inside(ask me what a pot leaf and tomatoe sandwich should look like someday, it's an interesting mix and the leaves are spicy and peppery with the tomatoe...mmm, i'm hungry again). Anyway...The paulownia tree is unique for many reasons and they have mineral and protien dense leaves that are used as animal fodder in other country's. Good compost, but i was wondering what tea i might make from them...
Skunk, thanks for the info. You know, I have a sissyoo, from INdia, in my yard and curious if I could get something out of it as a tea. DO you, possessing a plethora of knowledge, know of this tree and its properties as a compost? I will have to get a hold of the cooperative in my area to look into it. You know, I have heard of a Paulownia, but I don't remember in what respect. FLora or fauna, I do not remember. Is it a name like Stellar's, associated with many forms of fauna? Take it easy, Skunk. JaK
SkunkPatronus If I've posted this to you before I apologize. But if I haven't then I think that you'll find this article by Gil Carandang quite helpful. He's considered the genius behind using these preparations particularly in Third World countries. I've done every one though the 'water spinach' did require me to use good ol' organic baby spinach after an email to Mr. Carandang which he was kind enough to answer my questions. In particular check out the Calcium Phosphate recipe - I use that in conjunction with langbeinite (Sul-Po-Mag) for both it's calcium content (duh!) and the orthophosphates (PO43-) and the metaphosphates or pyrophosphates (P2O74-) profiles. Best part is that this particular formula is basically free - egg shells and vinegar - pretty brutal simple, eh? LOL I think that if you print out this article and really study his suggestions and why he recommends specific plant materials for use in an FPE will be time well spent. HTH LD