Homemade fertiliser

Ted Plain

Hi

I am building myself a couple of raised beds for the garden this year and by coincidence saw a gardening program on TV a couple of days ago where they showed how to make nettle brew fertiliser.

So I did some reading up on it and by all accounts it smells absolutely ghastly and as I only have a terraced hose with a small garden I don't want to upset the neighbours.

This got me thinking about maybe trying it differently: collect a load of nettles, egg shells, perhaps a bit of seaweed, etc. and just boiling them and then blending the lot into a soup. This could then be diluted further and poured from a watering can or even just worked into the soil.

Would this not work equally as well as the fermented brew? Would the elements like calcium and nitrogen be equally as available doing it this way?

Has anyone ever tried anything like this?

Thanks,
JV

iainBB

Jordy Verrill wrote: »

Hi

I am building myself a couple of raised beds for the garden this year and by coincidence saw a gardening program on TV a couple of days ago where they showed how to make nettle brew fertiliser.

So I did some reading up on it and by all accounts it smells absolutely ghastly and as I only have a terraced hose with a small garden I don't want to upset the neighbours.

This got me thinking about maybe trying it differently: collect a load of nettles, egg shells, perhaps a bit of seaweed, etc. and just boiling them and then blending the lot into a soup. This could then be diluted further and poured from a watering can or even just worked into the soil.

Would this not work equally as well as the fermented brew? Would the elements like calcium and nitrogen be equally as available doing it this way?

Has anyone ever tried anything like this?

Thanks,
JV

We make the standard nettle fertiliser and yes it smell very bad, I have a good stomach for it but it sometimes get me. but if you make a small batch of it say 5 to 10L of it and put a lid on it , it will be fine.

sillysmiles

How do you make it, and what do you use it for?

iainBB

sillysmiles wrote: »

How do you make it, and what do you use it for?

I make it on a bit bigger scale then you will be doing,
I use a wheelie bin size about 240L batch, put as much nettles weeds green in it, variety is my idea, a lot of different plants take up different levels nutrition minerals etc.. nettle are great as they have deep roots and take up nutrition from deep in the soil. but you can use anything.

Place all the material in the bucket cover with water. stir every day . about 2 to 4 week in the materiel will start to break down sieve it out and use the liquid ,water down a good bit.

we use it for veg, the lawn and everything in between.

Ted Plain

Thanks for that, ianBB. I'll try it out.

Marhay70

I don't think boiling them will be beneficial at all, it will just kill of all the little microbes which are necessary for the decomposition process and it's their activity that produces the beneficial ingredients. For a small garden like you describe, a 2 gallon bucket with a lid should be plenty, that will produce 20 gallons of fertilizer at a ratio of 10:1 water. It is not recommended to make it any stronger.
Seaweed is just as good, just make sure you collect it from the beach and don't take the stuff growing on rocks, really cram the bucket full and then add water.
I have never seen a need to stir, I just hide it away for about six weeks and Bob's your uncle.
Make sure when you are diluting it not to get any on your skin or clothes, if you do you will soon see your friends deserting you in droves. It is very hard to completely remove the smell from skin or clothes so don't say you haven't been warned. Seaweed doesn't smell quite as bad as nettles but it's still enough to put most people off their dinner.

Ted Plain

Thanks again. I'll give it a try.

Can you tell me if it smells bad after being diluted and applied? Would it be lingering for ages afterwards?

Marhay70

Yes, it does smell a bit but no worse than any granular fertiliser. If you're worried about a lingering smell in the garden then no.

maringo

Made some in a bucket last year with just nettles. Was quite smelly but once diluted and used to water the plants it left no smell around. Seemed to bring the plants on a lot. Used it on the house plants too with no lingering smell.

joanmul

Marhay70 wrote: »

Seaweed is just as good, just make sure you collect it from the beach and don't take the stuff growing on rocks, really cram the bucket full and then add water.
I have never seen a need to stir, I just hide it away for about six weeks and Bob's your uncle.

My father used to gather seaweed in September as it is supposed to be at its most nutritious then.

Marhay70

joanmul wrote: »

Marhay70 wrote: »

Seaweed is just as good, just make sure you collect it from the beach and don't take the stuff growing on rocks, really cram the bucket full and then add water.
I have never seen a need to stir, I just hide it away for about six weeks and Bob's your uncle.

My father used to gather seaweed in September as it is supposed to be at its most nutritious then.

Never heard of there being a "best" time to harvest it, I suspect your father may have been using it as a mulch over winter, rather than making a liquid tonic. Seaweed is an effective mulch and weed barrier, indeed it is probably the best all round soil additive available, the only problem really is transporting it in the volumes you need. Where I live I'm only half a mile from the coast but coastal erosion has become critical over the past several years with the result that rock barriers are being laid all over the place, so seaweed in any sort of volume is getting harder to find.