Nettle Tea

[jaykush]

So one could just throw plants into water and let it sit?

yea bascially, but specific plants have benefits over other plants, for example nettle FPE will give you much more benefits than say grass FPE.

All of the additional research on FPE I've done is saying that adding EM to the mix is a MUST

no, thats silly. ive used extracts without EM for years.

I guess it kind of makes sense, because I don't really know where the bacteria to ferment the plant material would could from otherwise.

bacteria and fungal spores are on just about everything on this planet, including plants and even inside plant leafs.

 

[Barahng]

yea bascially, but specific plants have benefits over other plants, for example nettle FPE will give you much more benefits than say grass FPE.



no, thats silly. ive used extracts without EM for years.



bacteria and fungal spores are on just about everything on this planet, including plants and even inside plant leafs.

Alright thanks for clarifying.

 

[BET]

Wow... great find here! We own an allotment and have used nettle ferts for some time, the allotment loves it. I didn't know why we needed to use them, but now I see why they'd be great as an organic fert for my grown. Awesome

 

[BET]

PS I didn't read every page of this thread so apologies if it has been mentioned... but beware that nettle tea will stink to high heaven. I know people who cannot actually stomach the smell and I've even seen one person reach because of it

 

[mosstrooper]

I also didnt read every post, but since there where so many mentions of Comfrey i thought id add that if you want to grow Comfrey in your garden get "Bocking 14" its a special cut that only propagates by root cutting and is less likely to take over you garden, since once Comfrey gets going its almost impossible to get rid of without chemicals, it can put down a tap root several metres, and is almost unkillable. Alternately, if you have access to waste ground, wait till the summer gets going a bit, and harvest root cuts from wild Comfrey plants, they will recover in no time and a 2 " root cut off of Comfrey will re grow in no time (well a couple of years really) you don't need to tend it, just poke a hole in damp soil, insert Comfrey root plug and make sure it doesn't get baked to death if its a very dry site, it will soon be able to look after itself and you can make your own uber Comfrey patch. And since this is actually about Nettles, you can do much the same with Nettles, but really to make a good nettle patch you need a very high nitrogen site to begin with, places where large quantities of cow shit have been dumped/stored next to old graveyards, where animal carcasses have been buried over the years, another good indicator of high nitrogen sites is Elder which often grows along side nettles.

Incidently Bocking 14 is from the Henry Doubleday Research Association (UK based organic charity).

 

[GreenMAX]

Is it possible to dry nettles and comfrey in summer and then grind to powder and mix it in recycled soil mix when you need it and let it cook??
It would be nice to store it in very concentrated form without smell....

 

[mosstrooper]

Is it possible to dry nettles and comfrey in summer and then grind to powder and mix it in recycled soil mix when you need it and let it cook??
It would be nice to store it in very concentrated form without smell....

Yep, my herbalist friend dries enormous quantities of nettles every year. Comfrey probably can be dried, but you would need to do it pretty fast its so fleshy, it rots down to nothing in next to no time, it has very little fibre or cellulose to hold it together, its all water.

Nettles are best dried like cannabis, on its stalk, i wouldn't dry it in the house though, Nettles are a host for large numbers insects so probably better to dry them in your shed.

As a child i used to earn money collecting Ladybirds out of the nettles, i would get half a penny each for them (showing my age).

I liked the idea someone posted earlier about making a liquid concentrate using two litre pop bottles, this would be an alternative to drying them since im sure you could bottle the concentrate and freeze it as you could with Comfrey.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Nettles to the rescue.................

 

[jaykush]

Is it possible to dry nettles and comfrey in summer and then grind to powder and mix it in recycled soil mix when you need it and let it cook??
It would be nice to store it in very concentrated form without smell....

you can dry all of the plants used to make plant extracts. best to dry them, then crush to a powder and store in a jar or if you have a lot, a sealed 5 gal bucket. the dried powders will last a year with the same results. a smart person like your saying would collect and dry what they need in season for the rest of the year.

PS: you get used to the smell, nettle tea actually smells kind of good to me now. its got subtle smells to it.

 

[gOurd^jr.]

So has anyone done this type of FPE with Kelp Meal? I assume it should work fine and I could just add a bit of Kelp in with my Alfalfa jug, or would it be best to ferment seperate and then dilute them together at application time?
I am mostly after Mg, but more diverse micros and minerals can't hurt right? I try not to complicate things too much but I know my plants need some extra Mg, for now I add in a couple drops of Molasses After diluting Alfalfa extract and see how they like it. From what I can find Alfalfa might give me some Mg, but not like the Nettles do.
Hope to find a nice patch when things start growin around here again. Can't wait for the Dandelions and yarrow to spring, plenty of those around right in the yard!

 

[jaykush]

yes you can use kelp meal. and yes you can mix them if you like. though i advise against it for one reason alone. when you do them together, you have to apply them together at the same strength. when you make separate extracts, you can apply each to its own ratio for the extract you have made.( for example if you make a strong nettle tea you need to dilute more, if you make it weaker then you wont need to dilute as much) i guess you could also say that each extract has its own effects on the plant and soil which can be properly timed for the best results. and that's hard to do when you mix them all together.

 

[gOurd^jr.]

Great thanks Jay! I think your right and I will just ferment them seperately and store the filtered extracts as you've indicated earlier. certainly gives the best options for adjusting formulas and dialing in the plants needs at varied stages. I've got plenty of jugs and enough space to spread em out so might as well.
This thread rocks!

 

[DocLeaf]

Peace n respect to jaykush for keeping this thread rolling with info.

Get the buckets ready ... it's spring tea time folks !!

 

[habeeb]

yea, it would be nice if we can get nutrient data on a ton of plants too. but for the most part its so damn hard to find for uncommon plants and weeds. for now its trial and error. good thing with plant extracts, i haven't had much error in the ways of hurting my plants. i can really only think one one or two times where i actually did something negative, and that was because i used it too strong.

I believe this might help

 

[jaykush]

yes i know about that book. unfortunately it costs 226$

i really like this website though(copy and paste without the space in http)

h ttp://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/highchem.html

you cant search by plant, but you can search by nutrient/mineral/chemical and it will give you a list of plants with what you searched for. as well as there PPM of searched chemical. find some at the top of the list that grow near you and your set.

 

[MJBadger]

Got my two drums bubbling away & one of them will be ready next week , nettles seem early here this year but we`re having a real warm spring . Eating them 2 or 3 times a week as well , it`s just early Spinach & i like the price !!! also a terrific source of tasty iron . Good luck with your gardens this season .

 

[jaykush]

yea ive been foraging the nettles like a madman. got tons of it brewing up.

made nettle pesto today for lunch. damn good.

 

[harold]

i personally have never had as good results mixing up things with nettles. it likes to be on its own as with most of the plant extracts( and they are better used alone for many reasons). some EWC might not hurt but there is no need, waste of EWC imo. the nettles contain enough biology in there plant matter to get the process started. an all in one tea might work, but youll get far better results applying teas fit to the time of growth. like you said nettle will be better for veg and comfrey for flower.

Hi jay, could you explain why if you made a tea with several plants the tea wouldnt be better? ive heard this mentioned before but never understood why?

cheers harry

 

[jaykush]

first off let me re-define what i call good results because i dont want it to sound like mixing them will kill your plants.

did it grow the plant, yes. did it hurt the plants, no. was it better than specifically applied extracts in the appropriate times, imo no. i guess my main concern is with people just starting this, its hard to judge how strong a mix is, and when you make it there are things that make the extracts stronger or weaker, making you in turn have to dilute less or more or not at all. when you mix them all up your just shooting blind and hoping for results rather than getting to know the system first.

if someone wants to work out a system for themselves where they mix and match plants, trying to find the right ratios and all that, feel free to go for it. trust me its much more work than tossing some plant matter in water, waiting a few days to a week depending on how you do it and when done diluting accordingly. i like to make gardening as easy as i can on myself for what i have to do.

when using all kinds of plants, i think its best to just mulch them. you can dry and crush them up for quicker use in the soil. coarse material for longer term nutrient sources. or just chop up the fresh plants and toss them on the previous mulch. this way all you have to do is plain water or ACT, which i do for at least 80-90% of my watering.

 

[jaykush]

was out foliar spraying nettle tea with a wind, got sprayed a few times. smelly but harmless.