Nettle/Comfrey Fertilizer.... confused again

[JimmerG]

Dear All,

Forgive me for carping on about these natural fertilizers again... I believe I've got befuddled.

I was always of the impression that Nettle tea was high in Nitrogen, and Comfrey tea was high in Potassium.

So there I was last night eagerly digesting my shiny new copy of GYO - only to find a fascinating article that tells me Nettle tea is NOT high in Nitrogen and that Comfrey tea is better for both N and K (if I remember correctly)

IF this is the case - is there any point in brewing nettle tea - and having two foul smelling containers one labelled 'N' and the other 'K'

I understand I'm drifting perilously into the realms of 'gardening geek' here.... but once I know I've got this right - I'll be happy.

Thanks for your help

J

[krazy_krok]

here are the nutrients in each out one of me books:
Nettles: Ca, Cu, Fe, K
Compfrey: Ca, Fe, K, Mg
And suprisingly Dandelion has more than both: Ca, Cu, Fe, K, MG, P
Hope this is of some use
KK

[shirlthegirl43]

Hmm, can I bung all my flowering nettles and dandelions in one bucket of water?

[Incy]

Help! what do all those scientific looking codes stand for

[JimmerG]

Ca - Calcium
Cu - Copper
Fe - Iron
K - Potassium
Mg - Magnesium
P - Phosporous

All vital (trace) elements for plant growth..

Can't BELIEVE my GCSE Chemistry has FINALLY been usefull!!!

J

[Incy]

Thanks JimmerG,
I didn't do much in the way of science at school so never learnt the codes.
More philosophy and languages for me
Sounds like dandelion juice would be good for veg. How strange!

[JimmerG]

Hmm, can I bung all my flowering nettles and dandelions in one bucket of water?

Having done a bit of reading - I can't see why one can't just chuck everything in one bucket - sure some plants need slightly different trace elements.... but one only has so much time to mix different potions for different plants.

I reckon I'll stick comfrey and nettle together in the same bucket - I've even read that mares tails can be thrown in too as they're full of good stuff.... must be their 5 foot long roots tapping into deep reserves that other roots cannot reach.

J

[Incy]

where did you read about the mare's tail? Our garden is riddled with it It's a constant battle and it gets everywhere!!!!
If it can be put to some use then I would love to know. At the moment it goes in old growbags and gets disposed of. I don't want that in my compost

[maytreefrannie]

I've got nettle liquid and dandelion liquid in separate cartons but when I use them I usually mix a slosh of each into the water.

I've heard of dandelion being good, but never knew exactly why - thanks, Krazy Krok and Jimmer G
- I used mainly flower heads with the odd stalk sticking on and a few leaves.

I keep them in large milk cartons (though I've lost the caps) as recommended by Two Sheds on another thread.

One thing, the dandelion mix is non-smelly.

[JimmerG]

where did you read about the mare's tail? Our garden is riddled with it It's a constant battle and it gets everywhere!!!!
If it can be put to some use then I would love to know. At the moment it goes in old growbags and gets disposed of. I don't want that in my compost

Incy - I found it here... Liquid plant fertilizer - Green manure protects the garden

It talks about fresh/dried marestails (surely they can't be both!) in a bucket of water for one day!! High in Nitrogen apparently - which is handy as I have a blue drum half full of water which I use for 'drowing' maretails and couch grass - had no idea the water would be usefull.
There's also mention of a couple of interesting ways of getting rid of the 'open sewer' smell of rotting nettles and comfrey..!

J

[Incy]

Thanks J, looks good will have a read

[Flummery]

where did you read about the mare's tail? Our garden is riddled with it It's a constant battle and it gets everywhere!!!!
If it can be put to some use then I would love to know. At the moment it goes in old growbags and gets disposed of. I don't want that in my compost

Use for mares' tails. Scrunched up they make good pan scrubbers. It's the silica in them. Allegedly!

[Incy]

Pan scrubber ......No, not in my vocabulary, pans wash themselves round here ( or maybe OH does while I'm working)

[sarraceniac]

Surprised nobody actually mentions nitrogen (N) in their answers, only Jimmer in his question.

___________________________________________

Nutritional Value of Bocking 14 Comfrey.

L D Hills listed the following in his book Comfrey, Past Present and Future –
Comparative Nutritional Analysis of comfrey, compost and manure Material Water
% Nitrogen(N)
% Phosphorus (P)
% Potash (K) %
Carbon-Nitrogen Ratio

Farm Yard Manure (H2O)76.0 (N)0.64 (P)0.23 (K)0.32 14 - 1

Wilted Russian Comfrey (H2O)75.0 (N)0.74 (P)0.24 (K)1.19 9.8 - 1

Indore Compost (H2O)76.0 (N)0.50 (P)0.27 (K)0.81 10 - 1

I know it's a bit boring but no gardener should forget his/her nitrogen.

[coreopsis]

JimmerG,a VERY good question.
krazy krok,thanks for the explanation,at least I know what's in my pong.
Now I'm sure about dandelions(nobody believed me when I said it was good).
So,as a result-may I use my nettle pong to water toms and chillies(shortage of comfrey here)?
As for mare's tail-you can make some herbal tea-it's good for nails and hair(because of silica)