Garden tips
Nettle: Fertilize your garden and banish pests—it really is that easy!
Is your garden teeming with nettles? They’re well worth gathering for practical use! Fermented nettle feed works like a fertilizer by lowering soil acidity and enhancing the nutrient uptake of your plants. Meanwhile, the slightly milder nettle water is an ideal weapon against pests.
Here’s how to prepare fermented nettle feed:
- Fill a bucket with mature nettles and pour in enough water to cover them. Let the mixture sit for about two weeks, stirring occasionally. The smell is very strong, but it’s loaded with nitrogen, vitamins, and minerals.
- Before using, dilute the mixture: mix 1 liter of the feed with 10 liters of water. Use a watering can to apply it to the soil around the plants’ roots; avoid getting it on their leaves. Because the feed is high in nitrogen, it isn’t suitable for lettuce, spinach, beets, arugula, or chard.
Here’s how to prepare nettle water:
- Nettle water is prepared similarly to fermented nettle feed, except the nettles are only soaked for one or two days. This plant-boosting water works as an organic pesticide. It’s effective against aphids, strawberry gray mold, cyclamen mites, and gooseberry mildew.
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