Topic: Nettles, nettles and more nettles

[Gadget]

Can anyone tell me how it is nettles and docks manage to survive?

I never water them, I swear at them constantly, step on them all the time yet there they are defiant and ready to sting in an instant..The OH is ready to go to war, can anyone recommend a weed killer that would be the arch enemy of the Nettle please.

 :-\

[mat]

I use glyphosate with success.  It takes two weeks to act, and sometimes requires a 2nd dosing.  Be warned that due to the action of glyphosate, for the first week they look even healthier than normal, and then the rapid growth takes effect, and they start to yellow and then die.  if the yellowing does not start after a week, I give a 2nd dose.

[Bugloss2009]

nettles are OK. They pull up quite easily, and bring the root up also (nearly  :) )Dock is another matter entirely

[small]

Oooh, don't zap them....Pulled up just before they flower, they are wonderful on the compost heap, a good heap kills the roots as well. And it's such a challenge to do it without getting stung all up your arms, and down into your wellies, and across the face....

[Obelixx]

They are easy to pulll up but also always leave bits behind so they're a constant battle for me.   I have two large beds where the real plants have been almost completely killed off by the last 3 severe winters and nettles, thistles and creeping buttercup are invading with gutso so I've used glyphosate.

In the other borders I pull them up and they go on the compost or I make a liquid feed with them by crushing them in a tub of water but that gets a bit pongy.   Chappy who looks after our roof likes to come here in spring and pick fresh nettle tops to make soup for his internal spring clean.

[Buster54]

Nettles spread through underground roots which store water and nutrients,that's why if you dig them up you should make sure you get all the roots,and if you leave a small bit of root that will eventually shoot over time

[Larkshall]

Those people who say they pull up easily, are obviously not on heavy clay. I have a problem with Nettles, Horseradish and docks. I am trying an experiment this year by dividing my Veg. plot into two, cropping one half and leaving the other fallow (the farmers way to get rid of weeds). The fallow land is rotavated whenever new weeds show (if they cannot get their leaves to absorb sunlight they will weaken). The land that was cropped this year will be fallow next year. This would be a good "organic" way to get rid of weeds.

[lincsyokel2]

Nettles spread through underground roots which store water and nutrients,that's why if you dig them up you should make sure you get all the roots,and if you leave a small bit of root that will eventually shoot over time

yep, loosen the soil before you pull, a piece of root 1 cm long will create a new nettle plant, meaning you wasted your time pulling it up.

[grawrc]

I agree about the heavy clay and the resprouting from little bits left behind, however the little bits left behind are pretty easy to pull when they grow as the don't yet have an extensive root system. I class nettles as one of my easy perennial weeds along with buttercups. It's the dandelions, dockens and thistles - i.e. the ones with easily broken taproots that go deep - that I find a nightmare. Mind you with regular weeding it's possible to get on top of them too.

[Dandytown]

I now leave the nettles if I dont need the ground for growing (as my plot is not in full use yet) and keep the nettles for making a liquid feed.

It smells like ****** but boy is it a good feed, like liquid gold for theplants.

With regards to the nettles pulling up well I have found that not to be the case.  My soil is really fine and yet the network of nettle roots is a nightmare to dig up (unless the roots weren't the nettle and I have got it wrong - they were fine and yellow)

[Paulines7]

I can sympathise with Gadget.  We have tried everything on ours in the past but still they come.  I won't let my OH put weedkiller on them now as I want my veggie plots to be organic.  Weed killer doesn't get rid of them completely anyway as we have found out over the years.

We have just spent the past three weeks digging them out of one of our plots (20' x 80').  It is impossible to get all the roots out as they go down several feet into a flint and stone bedrock.   I am planting my potatoes in there and when I make the trenches I still find bits of root that are impossible to dig out.  Hopefully we will keep on top of them from now on and dig them out as soon as they appear.

Good luck Gadget and I hope you get rid of them soon.   :D

[cleo]

Nettles are great-I harvest bunches and sell them at £5 a bunch to a `lady` I know.

She says her clients love it and pay £120 an hour just to be swished with them ;)

Well it`s a dream and I thought of it before GCs start selling them.

Cleo(founder of Smiling Cat Herbs-always open to new markets)

[goodlife]

Ohh..making money from the nettles..has she got big market for them..I could become subcontractor for you... ;)
I would be very happy for £2.50 and you could have another half for nothing.. ;) ;) ;) ;D
Mind boggles what that Lady do with those plants.. :o :-X

[grannyjanny]

Are nettles swished a treatment for arthritis? I keep threatening SiL with a swish of them as he has extremely painful knees.

[landimad]

Can anyone tell me how it is nettles and docks manage to survive?

I never water them, I swear at them constantly, step on them all the time yet there they are defiant and ready to sting in an instant..The OH is ready to go to war, can anyone recommend a weed killer that would be the arch enemy of the Nettle please.

 :-\

I learn to live with them, pull what I can and leave the rest.
If you cannot beat them do what you can and that is to leave them until as stated before they flower take them down.
Docks ans thistle are harder to control, there I would get a good fork and loosen the soil to get as much of the tap root out before it snaps. When they return do the same again.
Constant battle and perseverance is what comes naturally.

[Gadget]

Are nettles swished a treatment for arthritis? I keep threatening SiL with a swish of them as he has extremely painful knees.

Grannyjanny - that is just so funny haven't stopped laughing for about 5 minutes - well if anything the thought of a swish may stop the complaining  :)

Amazing that someone is prepared to pay a fiver a bunch Cleo - are they a very special type of nettle or just the common ole garden/allotment type?  Maybe we could put nettles on the Swapsite to see if there are any takers?

[artichoke]

I have loads of nettles on both sites. I make compost heaps on them here and there, and when I feel like it, I chop up the nettles around the heaps and add them to it. I don't mind them that much, but this is a slow rolling programme to beat them back into the hedge.

When I come to use the compost, the ground underneath is friable and clear, and it is easy to fork the roots out and make a little bed of something (trying to establish foxgloves and primroses, for example) with planks around it to slow down nettles creeping back. Yes, it looks strange, but I rather like it.

[galina]

We visited an organic farm on Open Day and one of their crops was nettles.  The cosmetic industry uses them in shampoo apparently.  Guess what?  These were the mankiest nettles I have ever seen. 

Looks like if someone actually wants to grow them, they just behave like other cultivated crops and need a lot of mollycoddling.  ;D

[cleo]

My post was `tongue in cheek`-I do not actually sell nettles to ladies of easy virtue,I remember it being mentioned  years ago in an episode of Crib(a victorian detective)

But I do believe nettles,or a cream based on the active ingredient can be beneficial for arthritis. 

[Gadget]

My post was `tongue in cheek`-I do not actually sell nettles to ladies of easy virtue,I remember it being mentioned years ago in an episode of Crib(a Victorian detective)

But I do believe nettles,or a cream based on the active ingredient can be beneficial for arthritis. 

I bet that got a few people thinking tho Cleo ;D

It is funny if you do a quick search on google it's amazing what stuff people come up with including a book, however, I think that I am going to take everyones advice and dig the buggers up and add them to my compost collection... :)