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  • Newcomer to nettle "tea"

    While clearing a nasty patch of nettles about 3 weeks ago, I suddenly had the urge to make nettle tea fertiliser. A quick Google suggested that it was a simple matter of putting some nettles in a bucket, filling it with water and giving it a stir once a day.

    There was no indication of nettle quantities, so I just filled the bucket to the top with them and added water to fill the voids.

    I have to say, it made one of the nastiest smells I've ever encountered while it brewed in a dark, lidded bucket in a sunny spot. The smell has now abated a little and the nettles have mostly dissolved into goop and stringy bits.

    I gather the next step is to strain out the remaining solids and the stuff will be ready for dilution and use.

    Questions: I'm told that nettle tea is exceptionally high in Nitrogen. Would this make it an ideal feed for the brassicas?

    Are there other crops that are particularly partial to this witches brew?

    Any suggestions on dilution rates?

  • #2
    Re dilution - the usual rate for these "teas" is - until it looks like weak tea. Don't drink it by mistake!

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    • #3
      Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
      Re dilution - the usual rate for these "teas" is - until it looks like weak tea. Don't drink it by mistake!
      No danger of me drinking anything that smells that bad.

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      • #4
        I can't make any of these teas - they smell disgusting. I'd rather go without than smell that stuff.

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        • #5
          Beetroot benefit from nitrogen feeds.

          Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
          I can't make any of these teas - they smell disgusting. I'd rather go without than smell that stuff.
          I find my weed drowning barrels (which have a mix of bindweed, horsetail, dandelion and couch grass) always smell of cow manure. If I leave the lid off, it's like it's muck spreading season on my allotment.
          I actually don't mind the smell, but I imagine others don't feel the same way, so I always make sure to seal them up.

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          • #6
            Onions and beans like nitrogen too.
            Location ... Nottingham

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            • #7
              I've never made any, off to find a suitable container, this throws up another question, can I take a wheel barrow on my daily exercise walk...………………………………………?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by burnie View Post
                I've never made any, off to find a suitable container, this throws up another question, can I take a wheel barrow on my daily exercise walk...………………………………………?
                In the absence of any legal document specifically banning the addition of a barrow to your permitted exercise period, I'd say it's probably OK. If the Lycra louts can take a bicycle, I see no reason you can't take a pedestrian unicycle.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Bonjour View Post
                  In the absence of any legal document specifically banning the addition of a barrow to your permitted exercise period, I'd say it's probably OK. If the Lycra louts can take a bicycle, I see no reason you can't take a pedestrian unicycle.
                  .....................as long as you wear lycra.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mr Bones View Post
                    Onions and beans like nitrogen too.
                    Although bean plants do need plenty of nitrogen, they don't actually need any nitrogen fertilizer, as the root nodules can fix nitrogen from the air.
                    As for onions, be careful with giving them too much nitrogen if you are prone to onion mildew where you are. Nitrogen makes them produce lots of soft fleshy leaves, which although do help make the bulb swell faster, are also more prone to fungal infection.

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