Reluctance to use my Nettle Tea...

[Herbsandveg]

A couple of fellow members might remember that I made a batch of Nettle Tea about three months ago, but the fact is that I never, ever used it, and it's still just sitting in the tub and smelling (Oh, how it smells!) of concentrated diarrhea or something akin to that...

On daring to having another look at it this morning I noticed that a scary looking grey film has formed across the surface of the liquid, and the whole thing now sits menacingly in the tub with the kind of malevolent bearing that suggests a couple of teaspoonfuls of it could either fertilize the whole of the UK or wipe out three quarters of Europe if applied. The question, though, is which of these is closest to the truth? Should I simply go ahead and use it, or should I call in the MoD and hand it over to them? Any learned insights, anyone please?...

[zazen999]

Just get on with it.

[Herbsandveg]

Oh heck!

Just get on with it.

Crivens and shocking startlement! I do believe the lady really means it!..

PS...I love it when she gets all 'domineering' with me like that!...

[lottie dolly]

And here's another one,take a deep breath first,hold it,then get on with it,it sounds just fine,but don't do what i did day before yesterday,hauled up the blue barrel to empty the last few inchs into a new start,and lost grip,result was,eeeeeuk,as it hit the floor with a thud,all i had on was a strapless dress,the smelly stuff was up my arm,down the chest and front,plus splashes on me face,jazus,i was straight to the tap for a wash,then a dripping dress for a while,till it dried out,shower and frock in wash as soon i got home,and my stuff was a good year old,hope i don't grow any more as a result ,

[Two_Sheds]

Just get on with it.

She said it before I could!




You might find that the gunk gunks up the hole of the bottle and doesn't flow out all nice n easy: so stuff a few new leaves in the neck first. These act as a sieve, making the liquid come out a bit easier

[Herbsandveg]

And here's another one,take a deep breath first,hold it,then get on with it,it sounds just fine,but don't do what i did day before yesterday,hauled up the blue barrel to empty the last few inchs into a new start,and lost grip,result was,eeeeeuk,as it hit the floor with a thud,all i had on was a strapless dress,the smelly stuff was up my arm,down the chest and front,plus splashes on me face,jazus,i was straight to the tap for a wash,then a dripping dress for a while,till it dried out,shower and frock in wash as soon i got home,and my stuff was a good year old,hope i don't grow any more as a result ,

I thought for a nanosecond there you were on the point of drifting off in an Alan Titchmarsh type erotic novel, but it all (very thankfully) swung back round within the borders of decency! Phew, very near thing though!...

[mothhawk]

If you're going to water individual plants with it, you can minimize the residual pong if you have some spare small plant pots. Dig out a hole by the plant big enough for a small (3 inch or so) plant pot, so that the top of the plant pot is flush with the ground surface and a snug fit in the hole. Fill the pot with the soil you removed from the hole, tamp it down firmly, and replace the pot in the hole.

Then, when you want to water with nettle tea, lift out the plant pot, water into the hole, and when the water has soaked away, replace the plant pot. It doesn't kill the pong entirely, but it does reduce it considerably.

[Bigmallly]

Mine's not nettles, just old veg leaves that were going on the compost heap (Cabbage, Lettuce, Rhubarb, you name it). It's 12 months old & smells like a muck spreader.......lovely stuff, even when diluted it smells like the countryside on a windy day. As Zaz says, just dilute it & get it down.

[zazen999]

I had my arm up to my shoulder in the stuff yesterday - hence stop being a moany old goat and get pouring.

It's no good sat in someone's butt. It's like a fine wine, needs pouring.

[taff]

Does anyone find you still stink of the stuff even after a wash? When I get it on my hands it still smella even after I've washed them...I get faint wafts of plant poo every now and then....

[binley100]

First time I watered the gh with comfrey tea OH was convinced something had gone bad in there .....

[Herbsandveg]

Does anyone find you still stink of the stuff even after a wash? When I get it on my hands it still smella even after I've washed them...I get faint wafts of plant poo every now and then....

It's even worse if you don't notice it until you get to work - then you get the merest whiff and you're convinced that all your colleagues have detected it already and are set to be repulsed by it all day!...

[veggiechicken]

I did the comfrey v nettle comparison again tonight - comfrey is deffo the stinkiest. Not so much when using it, but the residual pong of comfrey is quite................yuk-making

[Feral007]

I don't have enough nettles to make nettle tea, but the comfrey tea is pretty ripe - just a memory at the moment until it starts growing again.

The horse manure tea was pretty saucy too

My son is of the opinion (like some people's OH's) that if it smells that bad it can't be good for the plant. He stays on the deck and tells me how he doesn't think it's a good idea.

I just get on with it, and it's working so far. The pong is bad........but especially with the horse manure tea, the dogs lose interest after they work out that it is tea and not horse scones that they can pinch from the garden and snack on.

I was worried about the manure teas, because prior to making my own, I had purchased some Aldi Organic Liquid feed. Not only did the Vegetarian dog find the bottle chew it open and scoff the contents that were left! She also dug enormous holes and turfed out every plant I'd watered it with. Homemade teas, while aromatic, don't have the same appeal as the Aldi on.

[Bren In Pots]

Does anyone find you still stink of the stuff even after a wash? When I get it on my hands it still smella even after I've washed them...I get faint wafts of plant poo every now and then....

I use mine late at night that way I hope the smell has left me by the time I leave the house the next day.