Tea fertilisers

Do you fancy a cup of tea?

Of course your plants would. But it has to be a special "tea" and it won't be served in a cup!

Studying organic matters and nutrients I came across "tea fertilisers", liquid fertiliser (power boost) that can be easily homemade for free.

The first one I have tried to make is the Nettle Tea Fertiliser.

As the name can suggests, you need nettle (Urtica dioica),  and you need gloves to pick it up!

Despite the very unpleasant nature of this weed, it has three strong points on its side:

1. It's rich in Nitrogen, useful element for growth of vegetative parts and photosynthesis.
2. It can be a delicious ingredient for your meal (maybe I can write a post about it).
3. And ...it is free and very common to find!

So all you need is 1Kg of Nettle's leaves per 1L of Water.

Put your nettle into a container full of water and let it rot for two weeks, stir every few days. It will smell very bad, DO NOT keep it inside the greenhouse as the smell  is really bad (evil, seriously!), but remember: No pain, no gain!

When it is ready, dilute 1:10 (nettle mix to water) in your watering can and use to watering your vegetable bed every two week.

The second recipe is the Comfrey Tea Fertiliser.

Comfrey - Source: Wikipedia

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is generally harder to find than nettles, it grows in damp, grassy places, it can be invasive, but it can also attract pollinators bees. This plant is also rich in Potassium: excellent for stimulating flowers and fruits.

At the moment I haven't seen any comfrey at the Queen's Orchard, so I will look for some Borage: they share the same family and possibly almost the same nutrient potential.

Doses and time of usage are the same of the Nettle's tea:

1Kg of Comfrey's leaves per 1L of Water.

When the tea is "ready", it need to be diluted 1:15 with your watering water.

Both these "tea" are fast release fertilisers, that means nutrients are available for the plant right away, but they loose their efficacy in little over two weeks and cannot be stored for a long time, so the best thing to do is making just the right amount on regular basis.

I've just used my Nettle fertiliser once, I will let you know the results eventually.

Have you tried any of these teas for your plants? Have you seen any improvements? Let me know in the comments below!