nettle plant food
Nettle Leaf Plant Food
Nettle leaves can be used to make an easy to use plant food. Best of all it’s free! To make your nettle fertiliser you will need only four things: Nettles! - A water tight container - a large bucket is fine. Water and a weight. This is not essential but makes the process easier.
First take your nettles. These are best as young stems but can be taken at any time. Quicker results are obtained if the nettle stems and leaves are bruised so crush them; This can be done by scrunching the stems in gloved hands. Place the nettles in the container, putting your weight on top of the stems; I have used a broken paving slab in the past, a brick and a piece of wire mesh cut to suit the container works equally well. Fill the container with water to cover the nettles and… Leave to brew. After around three or four weeks the liquid should be ready for use. The mixture should be diluted until it is tea coloured - usually around 1 part liquid to 10 parts water. Water liberally around or on the plants, approx, every 2 weeks. Repeat until winter. Continue to top up your container with more leaves and water through the year. As autumn sets in put the remainder of the feed and the sludge in your compost heap.
