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What dilution rate are you mixing your nettle tea with water?
Thanks!
CC
What dilution rate are you mixing your nettle tea with water?
Thanks!
CC
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Nettle Tea
- Thread starter DocLeaf
- Start date
not much i can help ther coot
i dont really measure,
i just dilute to feel and always go light on the new batches till i get the feel of dilution
this last batch was a little more potent
for i filled 3/4 of a 5gal container w/ nettle matter and left for about 4 wks in water.
stuff is brown not green so i dilute to a tea like color
i dont really measure,
i just dilute to feel and always go light on the new batches till i get the feel of dilution
this last batch was a little more potent
for i filled 3/4 of a 5gal container w/ nettle matter and left for about 4 wks in water.
stuff is brown not green so i dilute to a tea like color
yes coot there is no ratios or measurements. everyone's extract will come out at different strengths. close to each other but not the same. it depends on the plant matter used, particle size, time, temperature, the health of the plants you collected from, water, native microbes, lots of stuff.
like i have said many times, things like nettle tea are user interactive, not necessarily user friendly. they make you think, its not lazyness in a bucket. don't let that stray you, plant extracts have got to be some of the easiest things to make. you kind of cant mess up as long as you use the basics, plant material and water. dilute on the low side until you get " the feel of it" like darc mentioned and you good to go. when people start tinkering and adding shit, then you need to do more work and pay attention to what your doing.
diluting to a light tea color is a general rule to follow i guess you could say.
like i have said many times, things like nettle tea are user interactive, not necessarily user friendly. they make you think, its not lazyness in a bucket. don't let that stray you, plant extracts have got to be some of the easiest things to make. you kind of cant mess up as long as you use the basics, plant material and water. dilute on the low side until you get " the feel of it" like darc mentioned and you good to go. when people start tinkering and adding shit, then you need to do more work and pay attention to what your doing.
diluting to a light tea color is a general rule to follow i guess you could say.
jay and others:
i'm curious about anyone's experience with top dressing dried nettle in comparison with using the fermented nettle extract?
i'm curious about anyone's experience with top dressing dried nettle in comparison with using the fermented nettle extract?
Amber Trich
Active member
I used flowered/seeded nettle meal top dressing a year ago, worked great and still have nettle sprouting out of the soil.. even transplanted some outside after the winter
i was gonna suggest the same thing DocLeaf, at least that way you don't over feed them and can judge exactly what concentrations to use for any given job. think i have to go and pick some nettles today. i want to spray my veg cab with this stuff asap. maybe i'll put them in the mixer with water to chop them up finely so it's ready faster?
Amber Trich
Active member
cool! do those same numbers work for different plant extracts too, or is that nettle specific?
redneck shogun
Member
I was wondering why my fpe wasn't as dark as others, measured them and they were super weak. I honestly haven't been measuring at all but this next time I am going to add 2 tablespoons to a pint of water and see what the EC is in a few weeks(I only make a pint at a time).
LesterBangs
New member
Nettle tea is so awesome, its so efficient!
I wanna thank this thread for the nettle topdressing idea, the whole thing with dried nettle meal got me going and now i can plan all my fertilizing with lots of different weed meals, haha!
And thats not all, i also do nettle soup, nettle beer, nettle pesto and nettle tea!
I wanna thank this thread for the nettle topdressing idea, the whole thing with dried nettle meal got me going and now i can plan all my fertilizing with lots of different weed meals, haha!
And thats not all, i also do nettle soup, nettle beer, nettle pesto and nettle tea!
The same numbers for vegitative stages of growth.
Note: with organics the reading is normally slightly lower than the content, since many minerals are yet to be broken down completely
measuring EC on nettle extract really inst needed with living soil
i just use the FPE, every other watering,(if that) along with compost/casting slurry & your gold all threw veg
(the most easiest part of the grow)
foliaring with nettle is actually were i see most goodness happening & less is always best
i just use the FPE, every other watering,(if that) along with compost/casting slurry & your gold all threw veg
(the most easiest part of the grow)
foliaring with nettle is actually were i see most goodness happening & less is always best
but the ec will let you know approx how strong your dilution is. if your extract got extra strong you will notice and be able to dilute more as needed. seems kind of logical no?
determining strength of the teas is an acquired skill, one that doesn't take long to acquire. diluting on the low side for beginners is the best option. ive only ever burned one plant with nettle tea, and i was trying to see how strong i could make it, for most people theres no point in that.
if you want to check EC go for it, no ones stopping anyone from doing anything.
if you want to check EC go for it, no ones stopping anyone from doing anything.
depends on the grower i guess
the way i see it,
strong extracts have a pretty distinct color and you would no how strong it is by the amount of OM to water ratio,after all, your personally making these extracts..
logic in my personal grow,would be to stick with my routine
buying a ec meter wont do much when pushing or even feeding the plant, isnt the approach
start with a soil thought out in design and its pretty much a walk in the park from ther
i get what you are saying. you have it down so no meter needed to know the strength of solution. i am at the very beginning of even having to think about these long term soil builds, so for me the ec meter i have anyway for my coco grow would help me feel sure i wasn't giving the plants higher ec concentrations then i feel comfortable with. i'm sure with time i won't need the meter to feel comfortable spraying the plants with the nettle tea either.
I, as a matter of routine, dilute my teas. My summer time eight gallon teas, cover a lot of plants diluted, i can do my whole yard and garden. But I see no difference in performance between a tea diluted by 3/1 to a straight tea. If i thought a undiluted tea was better I'd use them that way, but for me the main thing is just to use teas every week or so, and I try to mix up the type of teas......scrappy
i always under-count the reading with organic teas.. many of the natural compounds (such as nettles) are still in the process of breaking down in water and when they hit soil,, and the EC pen cannot read these measurements that accurately IMO.
Thus if it reads 1.3 EC ,, it's probably slightly stronger at 1.4 or even 1.5 when its organic. Although i'd be the first to admit to the principle of under-feeding rather than over-feeding in soil,, even when mixed in with coco , so maybe i'm bias
Interestingly the 'nettle patch' was the first area to be infested by white/green fly this season and subsequently removed from the outdoor garden completely. Still there's plenty of wild nettles and cultivated Burdock left to make tea with these sides
Peace n nettle soup
Thus if it reads 1.3 EC ,, it's probably slightly stronger at 1.4 or even 1.5 when its organic. Although i'd be the first to admit to the principle of under-feeding rather than over-feeding in soil,, even when mixed in with coco , so maybe i'm bias
Interestingly the 'nettle patch' was the first area to be infested by white/green fly this season and subsequently removed from the outdoor garden completely. Still there's plenty of wild nettles and cultivated Burdock left to make tea with these sides
Peace n nettle soup
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