Stinging Nettle Tea?

budhastalin

Active Member
I heard from a reliable source that a sun tea made with stinging nettles (which are edible anyways once cooked) for 4 days, then dilluted 10 x 1 is a great addition for vegging plants.

So, my nettle tea has been in the bottle for about 5 days, I'm thinking of adding it to my veggers and c what happens.

Before I do though, Has anyone ever heard of this or am I crazy?

Seems like it would be a good source of Nitrogen, plus there's probably some probiotic stuff going on in there after almost a week.

Anyone know?
 

Ringsixty

Well-Known Member
Heard of the tea...never tried it.

Just some 411 on Stinging Nettles.
Natural way you can neutralize the sting. Is by rubbing the leaves from the Fiddle fern over the effected location...just a FYI.;-)
 

Growop101

Well-Known Member
i need someone to explain how to make a tea detailed. cause im guna start one tomorow or so. Does it have to be bubbling and aerobic?
 

budhastalin

Active Member
Yo @Growop101 Here is all I know on the topic. My brother in law told me, and he is canabis GEEK! He trolls so many forums it makes my head spin. He told me to stuff a ton (he emphasized quantity) of stinging nettle leaves in a 2 liter bottle ( the tall stalky ones that have the serrated leaves with right angle nodes) and make a sun tea outside for 3 days. Then he said, dillute 10x1 to make a great organic tea. I guess it's a super probiotic Nitrogen addition.

Also, I read a news paper article this week about a local organic farm that re-uses everything it can. They were saying that the stalks and leaves of the stinging nettles are an amazing source of Nitrogen. They took the stalks and made tea for 10 days. It probably doesn't even have to be in the sun since the natural fermentation would probably be even faster in the dark (like brewing beer).

So, mine is outside in a 2 liter bottle waiting for about 4 more days before I use it. I'll probably just use it on 1 and see what happens.

It would be interesting to do a large batch in a glass jug, and put a brewers style airlock on it so see what kind of volume of gasses come off of it from the fermentation.

So lets try it and post our results. I have one girl 6 wks into flower and she's a little nitro def so I'll hit her and still be able to let her go to 10wks.
 

wristychronicles

Well-Known Member
Ive been into this for a year now, its not just nettle. Other plants have nice npk values, for instance dandelion, horsetail, banana peels, grapefruit rinds, COMFREY!!!!<--look this one up if ya dont already know it. try a google search for plants that are high in npk. Although you are absolutely right you are also breeding those wonderful microbes, Im not too sure if brewing it with and airlock and creating alcohol to feed to your plants is such a good idea? I add things like alaskan fish emulsion, kelp meal, healthy soil from different sources, mychorriza, molasses, tea leaves, and I filter it out (roughly) and feed my plants and top it off with fresh water. Almost as a never ending cycle, my plants love it. I use a 5 gal bucket outside, I try to do this in the same area my plants are in to promote the type of growth most suitable for that specific spot. hope this helps
 

Growop101

Well-Known Member
so this nettle tea dosnt have to be aerated? like bubling? and you dont want a lid on this?
Should i bash the nettles up alot and break them down?
Im guna start one today, with not onnly nettles but others stuff to, a bit compost , some dandeilions n shit / jus random plants and stuff maybe some bean stocks.
WHat u think?
Also how much water do you have to dilute the tea with ? like wtf is 1:10 mean lol ?
 

budhastalin

Active Member
I don't know man. Skip all that other crap, if you've got lots of nettles just use those. I'm not saying some of those other things arent great, but keep it simple. Especially don't put compost in. I think it is similar to making saurkraut, yoghurt, vinegar, kimchee, etc. It is alive. It's got what scientists call "natural shit" going on that "does it's thing". Even when you kill an animal, if you eat it right away the meat will be tougher and less flavorful than if you let it sit around for at least a few days.

Also, 1 : 10 is a ratio. 1 part of tea to 10 parts water. You can also use your own urine in a 1 to 10 ratio to give plants a good boost of N, but I haven't been brave enough to feed my girls that way!

I'm off for the rest of the week, so I'll start a new batch of nettle tea. I'm going to do it in a 1 gallon jug with the lid on loose incase it pops!

Lets use it and post our results!
 

secro

Active Member
comfrey has more bang for the buck, imo. but if nettle is abundant, that's cool too.
comfrey is fantastic stuff - it is a great nutrient cycler, massive tap root goes deep into the earth seeks out everything and brings up to the leaves, where i cut them off,
chuck them into 1/2 a 40 gallon drum and let them stew for six months - and yes bubbles help alot since the bacteria that are good require an oxygenated environment ( aerobic ...? )
- completely off the topic of comfrey, but i talked to a south american bio-dynamic farmer who told me how they use a pig or calves head and stuff it plant material and, and leave it in a drum of water (whisking up daily to oxygenate) six months or more and then sprinkle over there fields as a concentrated bio-stimulant and booster .... its boggles my mind how many things people have come up with over all the eons of time .... bonkers.

 

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
The sun will destroy some of the vitamins and useful compounds. The best way is a worm bin IMO. It will decompose aerobically and all of the nutrients will be available to benefit soil microbes. Homemade EWC is some powerful stuff nutrient-wise and microbe-wise.
 

Growop101

Well-Known Member
so many ppl say so many different things i dont know what to do. can someone break it down for me.
Like how big of bucket, does it need lid, put in shade or sunlight, how long let it sit? does it need oxegen?? ect ect
 

Growop101

Well-Known Member
ok so i got a bunch of nettles ( not sure what strain of nettle.) i am guna attempt my brew without a bubbling stone. i will simply turn the water every day with a stick, ill stir the water. Now as far as applying to the plant goes, should i be carful since im not using a stone? have a test plant? like a bean sprout of somthing?
 
Top