Dandelion for tomatoes?

[coreopsis]

I whacked a few plants around the garden,chopped them up and going to squish them into milk bottles with some water.Dandelion is rich in potassium(don't know how rich though) so it should be a nice feed for tomatoes as my comfrey is still small.
Anybody else makes dandelion pong?

[Snadger]

Only make nettle for nitro and comfrey for potassium. Chooks get the dandelions!

PS Good idea if you are right about the potassium levels!

[solway cropper]

I'm not sure the potassium content would be anything like equivalent to a regular tomato fertilizer but at least it's free.

[coreopsis]

I tried to research potassium levels in dandelions-it's up to 4% or to be more precise 314 miligrams per 100g.Seems not too far away from comfrey.
I'm looking for an alternative to comfrey as mine is still small.

It's not easy to find an info as a plant fertilizer because dandelion is considered as herb,so all searches come back as supplements and the other stuff.

[mrpaulbradley]

Dandelions can get a bad ole press. One if the few things in flower at the moment for bees etc and I actually quite like the look of them. The o/h is not so and said my lazy butt should get them out. I've never tried using them as fertiliser and was always reluctant to compost (danger of roots growing - I don't like them that much!). So this would make me feel better about lifting them.
Worth a try :-)

[Two_Sheds]

I have bunged them in with my comfrey tea (mine are way ahead, I've given the comfrey two cuts already this year and it's 12" high again now)

Dandelions survive for ages in water. To kill them dead I roast them on a path for a few sunny days, then chuck in the compost heap

[Florence Fennel]

My granddaughter goes around the garden collecting dandelions, so I might try some of this tea. I noticed last night that I can make my first cut of comfrey now.

[timethatthetaleweretold]

Good tip about adding dandelions to homemade teas...

I've read that they are "deep feeders" with lots of nutrients.
(not sure which nutrients though!)

Re: other weed teas

Has anyone made a tea out of ground elder and bindweed roots?
If so, any idea what the NPK might be?

[solway cropper]

I make a tea from most of my perennial weeds. It's the only way to be sure of killing the blessed things. Like TS, I leave them out in the sun till they are dessicated then bung em in a barrel of water for a couple of months. After that they go in the compost and the tea is used around the garden. I imagine the NPK levels are very low compared to conventional fertilizers but it costs nowt. The value probably lies in the trace elements and micro-nutrients it contains.

[coreopsis]

So far I've used just comfrey and nettles.I heard about dandelions being high in potassium but never tried them.I don't put any perennials into compost heap so this seems to be ideal solution-utilize dandelions growing where I don't want them and get something back.

[Snadger]

So far I've used just comfrey and nettles.I heard about dandelions being high in potassium but never tried them.I don't put any perennials into compost heap so this seems to be ideal solution-utilize dandelions growing where I don't want them and get something back.

You could always make coffee with the roots?: