Wednesday 8 April 2020
Before breaking up our Royal Horticulture Society Level 2 Practical Horticulture Students were asked to make a Nettle tea which could then be used to fertilise the plants they had grown. We wanted to give you the opportunity to also make this fantastic organic ferlitiser which is cheap and easy to make! The nutrients in stinging nettle fertiliser are those same nutrients the plant contains which are in turn beneficial for other plants. The nutrients nettle fertiliser contains include chlorophyll, Nitrogen, Iron and Potassium. Brewed nettle tea will last up to 6 months, enough to get you through the growing season (spring). It works best on leafy plants and heavy feeders.
How To Make Nettle Tea Fertiliser:
Collect young nettles during your daily exercise past the local fields or from your garden [with gloves on please!].
Crush up or cut up into small pieces to increase surface area and release the sap more quickly.
Place in large bucket; without holes!
Add water to just cover the nettles, ideally with water collected from a water butt, but tap water is fine.
Add a weight such as a brick to submerge the nettles.
Wait patiently to brew. Watch the bubbles and smell the aroma!
After 3-4 weeks your Nettle tea will be ready to use.
Dilute 1 part nettle tea to 10 parts water and apply liberally to your growing plants.
if you continue to fill up bucket throughout the year and you will have free organic fertiliser available for all your garden plants.
