Topic: Growing Nettles!

[Jesse]

I need to know how to grow nettles in a pot. Because...I will soon be receiving an order of caterpillars that will grow into small tortoiseshell and peac*ck butterflies. It's part of a home education pack that I'm getting for my children. The caterpillars like to eat nettle leaves and the instructions so far are to grow two pots of nettles so that they've got some food for when they arrive.

Now I have a small patch of nettles growing in the garden. Will they take kindly to being dug up and put into a pot? And what type of soil do nettles like to grow in, rich, poor, unfussy? And do nettles prefer sun or shade? I need optimum growing conditions for them so that I get lots of leafy green as I'm sure the caterpillars will be hungry when they arrive!

[djbrenton]

Nettle like good soil and will grow in shade, partial shade or sun. In other words they ain't fussy.

You might be interested to know that 18th - 29th May is Be Nice to Nettlws Week ( rather a long week ) http://www.nettles.org.uk/

[Jesse]

Great site, thanks, didn't know there was so much to know about the humble nettle.  :)

[Mrs Ava]

I always understood that if you have nettles growing on your plot, your land is pretty fertile, so mine must be an oasis by the amount of nettles that are now appearing!!! >:(  I can confirm they grow lush in the shade, as they make themselves at home under my apple trees, I can also confirm they are quite happy to be YANKED from the ground with great force and continue to grow where ever they fall....I even have them rooting through the hessian like sacks that I bung them in before taking to the recyling green waste bin placey thingymajig!

[Jesse]

Great, but you do realise on this occasion because I want them to thrive they'll all die instantly  ;D

[aquilegia]

Great, but you do realise on this occasion because I want them to thrive they'll all die instantly  ;D

Too right. I had some in a pot last year, for the wildlife. They haven't come back this year. But the patch by the pond that grows among the grass has been yanked out many times and is still coming back. grrr. (it's right by where I light to sit too!)

Anyway - I didn't know you could buy catepillars. Where from?

[Debs]

Ditto here Jesseveve,

Where do you get them from??

Would like to do same with my children.

Debs

[Jesse]

I got them from this site but I warn you, they are expensive for a few caterpillars, but it is something I really want to do with the children this year. My children go to school but I also try to supplement with home education as much as possible, always keeping if fun of course so they don't realise they're actually being educated.

http://www.wwb.co.uk/

[Justy]

apparently nettles are good planted around fruit bushes (particularly currants) as they attract the right sort of predators.  Got to be pretty brave to deliberately plant them on the lottie though!!  ;D  I suppose you could put them in pots and then place them around the bushes. Nettle tea also good for rhumatism.

[Jellycakesforme]

I have some in a pot by accident.  The first few were pulled out because they are weeds.  Then I decided I wanted to grow some.  Thankfully some more came up.  I think the soil was from a sheep farm.