Author Topic: Home made fertilisers (Read 3979 times)

Scallywag · « **on:** July 03, 2017, 03:41:27 pm »

Managed to make my first brews of both nettle and comfrey liquid fertilisers and they seem to be working well.

Just wondering if there are any other common plants that can give me such good results ?

Ideas on a postcard etc etc .................... for the older ones who remember the early days of Blue Peter !!

Anke · « **Reply #1 on:** July 04, 2017, 10:04:19 pm »

Add in some fresh goat manure (probably sheep or horse works just as well).

Fleecewife · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2017, 01:15:07 am »

I'm wondering about really deep-rooted plants such as agricultural lupin and docks, where both the (crushed) roots and tops are nutritious. I've not tried them as a liquid feed, as I tend to stick with comfrey and nettle, plus sheep muck. We had left a barrow with a little muck left in the bottom, standing out in torrential rain. By draining the water off, we found we had an excellent sheep muck tea which worked wonders on the veg. We let it get rained on then used 3 or 4 times before it gave out

Manure though provides different nutrients to plant-based foods.

Perris · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2017, 07:14:41 am »

I have found diluted whey (created naturally whenever milk goes off sufficiently to separate into curds and) is a great plant food

Scallywag · « **Reply #4 on:** July 06, 2017, 08:50:59 am »

Since posting, I've gone on to read more and a few people have reported using dock and dandelions for liquid fertilisers. Indeed I've read a few online articles about people who use any green garden waste for fertiliser.

Also read about using grass clippings and people reporting good success even after a few days of "soaking"

Using whey is a new and interesting idea for me. this is going to have to be my next line of research.

thanks for the comments everyone !!

Penninehillbilly · « **Reply #5 on:** July 06, 2017, 11:59:57 am »

Interesting this topic was on Gardennes QT, Bob Flower dew had been experimenting and found burdock a good feed like nettle and comfrey.

Scallywag · « **Reply #6 on:** July 06, 2017, 07:10:27 pm »

Maybe we should mix the Burdock and the Dandelion ..... sounds like a great idea for a new drink !!!!!

Just kidding .... :-)

cloddopper · « **Reply #7 on:** October 21, 2017, 08:45:37 pm »

O/P next time put your materials ina hessian sack add about 2/3 of the sack with chicken muck mixed with the other ingredients as it has a fairly high percentage of phosphates , nitrogen & other useful micro nutrients then prep an open top barrel with a kilo of brown sugar dissolved in a litre of hot water . put the sugar syrup in the barrel add cold water till it's half full . Suspend the sack on a wooden batten in the sugared solution , top up the barrel so the neck of the sack is just submerged stirrr around the sack to get it evenly mixed ..
Lift the sack fully up out the liquid at least twice every fourth day to get the juices in & out the sack. By day ten it will be ready for using as a liquid feed unless it's close to freezing .

Just don't get the liquid on salad stuff that's going to be eaten fresh or just rinsed off or get it on fleshy fruits like raspberries or strawberries or you're likely to get E'coli upsets .

The sugar helps things ferment ,like a good compost heap does. This releases & also produces all manner of beneficial plant foods .