I read on here that you can put nettles in with your water to make a dilutable (was that a word????) liquid fertiliser.
I was expecting the smell from the finished product but mine is full of maggots. Idon't feel like using it now in case the maggots get into my fruit and veg. What should I do???
Good question cacran, we have loads of nettles on our plot :o and having composted most of them (onto the inherited compost heap we're not intending on using) i'm now remembering we could have made a liquid feed with them ::)
Will await expert opinion with interest ... :D
I swear by nettle juice, stinks but worth it! sorry dont know about the maggots though, can't do much damage though.......
We filtered it through an old teatowel into containers.
we put ours in a bucket with a hole in the bottom, but with a top on..on top of another bucket, the liquid drops into the bottom one, hope this makes sense..we've not had maggots, as far as I can remember, anyway :)
If you've got some sort of larvae in the water, don't panic. They won't be anything awful, and they almost certainly won't survive out of the water.
Well thanks everyone. Yes I know what you mean about the bucket thing. I planned to separate the nettles in some sort of device but was in a rush and just slung them in. of course, now I wish I had made the time, always the case!! The maggots are not like the usual water larvae just like ordinary maggots all over the nettle leaves which are decaying and have floated to the top. Well anyway, I guess you have convinced me they will do no harm, now just have to convince my brain not to be squeemish, ugh!!!
You are braver than me, that sounds disgusting. Wish i hadn't read it!
I'm deffo squeamish with that sort of stuff.
I did make some nettle fertiliser as we have nettles just the other side of the fence from the veg patch in the field, I left it as far down the garden as possible but we could still smell it from miles away.
I'm getting better with the compost heap though, it's full of brandlings. And I can pick up snails now to throw them over the fence.
Shudder :-[
Sand
Sand - the snails will come back. You need to send them much further away than over the fence. Like put themin a container and give them a lift to the other side of town. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: manicscousers on May 26, 2007, 16:58:09
we put ours in a bucket with a hole in the bottom, but with a top on..on top of another bucket, the liquid drops into the bottom one, hope this makes sense..we've not had maggots, as far as I can remember, anyway :)
That sounds a brilliant idea ;D
"Sand - the snails will come back. You need to send them much further away than over the fence. Like put themin a container and give them a lift to the other side of town"
Tell me about it >:(
Sand
When I was about 4 I used to go up and down the garden wall throwing all the snails over the other side. I never could work out why there were always just as many snails next morning!
Instead of using buckets: you could put the nettles in a hessian or net sack and leave it to ferment in the barrel. As you use the water from the barrel, leave the sack in there. When the barrel gets empty - replace with fresh nettles prior to filling. Ain't used nettles before myself but this is the way I am gonna try it this year.
Anyone got any designs/plans for making a liquid fertiliser barrel?
We are experimenting here, fun but very smelly :)
How long do you leave the nettles to soak before using the liquid?
with our 'bucket' one, we just keep adding nettles, docks, comfrey as they become available..the liquid drips into the bottom and is decanted into 6 pint milk containers until we want to use it :)
I've just remembered something..a drainpipe, stuffed with either nettles or comfrey, attached to a post, mesh on the bottom, I'm not sure if it was covered, a large bottle underneath, the liquid drips out and is watered down for use
I just leave mine in a bucket anything up to a week, the longer you leave it the more I dillute it, but beware when its hot if left for more than a week or so it chucks up something rotten. ::) ;D ;D ;D
Nettles comfrey all good, I have made 2 comfrey tubes and a jam jar full of lead as a weight, lid on top mesh in bottom otherwise the liquid doesn`t come out.
Just undo lid and out comes the smelly stuff to water down.