Why make your own feed

[rary]

What benefits do you get from making your own liquid feed for your veg, apart from cost is it any better or as good as a balanced proprietary brand that is easy to buy at supermarkets or GCs.

[greenishfing]

I make comfrey tea. Years ago I read somewhere that it was really good so cadged a piece of root off a neighbour. Then one year my husband decided to weed around it. Evidently he must have dug up a few bits of root which fell on the ground and then grew. I now have a large (by accident rather than design) comfrey patch and I just don't like to waste it and I would hate to try and dig it up. It gets put on the compost bin to act as an accelerant (supposedly) and gets made into tea which is used to feed assorted plants ( it seems to do good). Being free is an added bonus.

[bikermike]

For me, it's a by-product of drowning weeds.

It's quite satisfying to get back the nutrients they had taken up...

(and this year, when I have used it almost weekly, I have had much better yields)

[lottie dolly]

Same as growing your own veg,you know whats in it,waste not ext,also always there when you want it,

[ameno]

Same as growing your own veg,you know whats in it

Do you, though?
You know what went into it, but you don't know what's in it now.
You don't know what the actual nutrient levels are, nor do you know what other by-products might be in there which may harm the plants.
High acidity is the main potentially problematic by-product. As the comfrey/nettles/weeds/whatever decompose anaerobically in the water, they create acid as a by-product. Whenever I empty the dead weeds from my weed barrel, the fork I use is always covered in bright orange rust two days later, despite the fact that it never normally rusts even slightly, even when I leave it out in the rain. It's the work of the acidic water.

[toomanytommytoes]

Mostly for sustainability. Synthetic nitrogen fertilisers are derived from natural gas via an energy intensive process, while phosphates and potash are both mined. That said, we still use synthetic fertilisers to feed potted plants.

My issues with things like comfrey tea are that the nutrient content will vary, the NPK values may not be ideal and I struggle to make sufficient quantities to feed hungry plants from the nightshade and cucurbit family. This was our first year using a soluble high potassium fertiliser in the greenhouse and the growth and yield was much improved over years where we only used comfrey tea and the odd bit of liquid tomato feed. The comfrey was mostly left for the bees to enjoy instead.

[roitelet]

‘Cos It’s cheaper! Rary you have competition!!!!!!!!!

[rary]

‘Cos It’s cheaper! Rary you have competition!!!!!!!!!

Yur jist a beginner

[rary]

Do you, though?
You know what went into it, but you don't know what's in it now.
You don't know what the actual nutrient levels are, nor do you know what other by-products might be in there which may harm the plants.
High acidity is the main potentially problematic by-product.

Is it a problem, tomatoes, potatoes etc. prefer slightly acidic conditions, also as you should never feed full strength home made liquid feed, it is recommended that you dilute at a rate of 1 of solution to 10 of water,which of course will alter the ph value of the final feed being given to your plants

[roitelet]

Been doing it for years!

Yur jist a beginner

[rary]

Been doing it for years!

Of course if you are of the same generation as VC you have a decade or so of a start over me

[Thelma Sanders]

I don't make a liquid feed, but use plant remains, especially comfrey leaves direct on the soil surface - just chop and drop, like the Gertrud Franck method.
It seems to me an easier way to feed plants and it's not smelly LOL.

[ESBkevin]

For me the lack of fuel miles on purchased products sort of matters. Also I believe that natural elements are absorbed better by the plants (via the soil food web) than artificial chemicals that need to break down and might damage the delicate balance in the soil. My view on this has changed or hardened over the last 5+ years.
I make nettle tea and comfry tea as well as recycle water passed by the management! The greenhouse tomato, pepper and cucumber plants are the main beneficiaries on a weekly basis, along with the pots and hanging baskets. (I try to apply dilute urine late in the evening for the benefit of any passers by), with random applications of all the above elsewhere when I fell like it and have a surfit.
I don't get much wood ash these days, but we have a small annual bonfire on the plot and make use of the ash from that.
I do buy and use epson salt on rare accasions and well as BFB, I still have a tub of chicken pellet manure that I sometimes add as a boast for things like spuds. Otherwise lots and lots of composted material and let nature balance itself.
I've watched the Korean natural farming methods with interest over the last few years. I've even bought molasses ready to try and create the quantity in indiginous microorganisms (IMO). I've yet to start the process because It's totally new concept to me. I need an old fish tank pump from a car boot or similar. Then I need to get working on the project.
Heres a taster for those not familiar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_natural_farming
I've had increasing success with the organic methods as the soil has improved and my technique developed. We still have bad years for this and that (like all gardeners) as well as stunning years for some things.
I'm comfortable with my journey on this and enjoy the challenge.

[ESBkevin]

As an addendum, I have just nicked this text from the web

The father of modern-day fertilizers even admitted himself that the salty path might not the best to walk along. A couple of quotes from the man himself (Justus von Liebig) indicate that thinking we can improve on nature is fundamentally flawed:

“When a chemist makes a mistake in creating agricultural fertilizers, don’t be too critical of his errors, because he has had to base his conclusions upon facts which he can’t know from his own experience, but rather, has to take from agricultural texts as true and reliable. After I learned the reason why my fertilizers weren’t effective in the proper way, I was like a person that received a new life.”

“I had sinned against the wisdom of our creator and received just punishment for it. I wanted to improve his handiwork, and in my blindness, I believed that in this wonderful chain of laws, which ties life to the surface of the earth and always keeps it rejuvenated, there might be a link missing that had to be replaced by me: this weak, powerless nothing.”

Justus von Liebig knew (eventually) that we need to work alongside natural principles and enhance their effectiveness, rather than try to re-invent the wheel altogether.

[rary]

For me the lack of fuel miles on purchased products sort of matters. Also I believe that natural elements are absorbed better by the plants (via the soil food web) than artificial chemicals that need to break down and might damage the delicate balance in the soil.

ESB I don't disagree with your overall view but wonder about the bit about plants absorbing natural elements better, would plants absorb a natural (home made) feed easier than they would a manufactured liquid feed, and before there is any splitting of hairs, I mean any proprietary brands