Using bindweed to make a fertilising 'tea' ?

[Snailfox]

Since taking on my half plot about 10 months ago, I've dug a lot of bindweed up..

I've read lots about using comfrey to make a 'tea' for tomatoes, and I was just wondering if anyone has done anything similar with bindweed roots? I have several binbags full of the stuff, and want to find a use for it if I can. I'd love to hear anyone's stories/suggestions. I must admit to thinking of a use as a tomato fertiliser down the road... so if anyone has any specific experience of this or use on any other veg crop, let me know!

[solway cropper]

I can't see why not. I put all sorts of weeds in a big drum to make liquid feed but It's generally low in nutrients. Ideally you'd want a decent potash content for tomatoes and this is available in both comfrey and seaweed teas.

Wouldn't do any harm to soak it for a few months then compost it.

[Bigmallly]

Last year I split my excess greens into the compost pile and a dustbin of water. Unfortunately I had to the bin the lot due to the pen 'n ink........my plot neighbour wasn't too happy with the smell.

[Kristen]

My thinking is that Comfrey does such a good job because its roots are really deep and it hauls up nutrients from deep in the soil. Other deep rooted plants, like Bindweed and Ground Elder, must therefore be in a similar category.

I suspect that Comfrey is selective in either pulling up Potash, or getting it into its leaves, but that apart I think steeping other pernicious deep rooted weeds to make a Tea must release some beneficial nutrients.

Nettles steeped into tea make a Nitrogen-rich fertiliser ...

Perhaps chuck the pernicious weed roots in with either Nettles or Comfrey for a bias to Nitrogen or potash respectively?

[kathyd]

I've started chucking all my nasty weeds into an old bath tub full of water, and it's now bubbling nicely and offending OH, so it must be doing something good . I'm going to use it to water indiscriminately for now, and use comfrey and other more 'targeted' feeds later on (comfrey's not up yet). I did read that you could either soak things like bindweed until well and truly dead, or lay them out in the hot sun (???) until thoroughly dead and dried out, and then put them on your compost heap. Not tried it myself yet, but I can't see it would be a problem? I assume if you left them in their black bags for long enough, sealed against the light, they'd also die and rot down enough to compost too. Let us know what you decide .

[Two_Sheds]

I usually kill bindweed on the paths (leave it there to dry out and die) before adding it to the compost heap. My comfrey tea is already full up, with comfrey, seaweed and slugs 'n' snails

[Mr Bones]

I completely rammed a blue barrel full with bindweed roots, topped it up with water then sealed it with a lid for five months. Bizarrely it smells exactly like it came from the back end of a dairy cow. Sorry, can't say if it's specifically good for toms or not but it did seem to keep rust under control on the leeks so it could have a reasonable potassium content. I dilute what I've got and use as a general feed just to get rid of it.

[Bill HH]

I have been fighting bindweed for years, I now have it down to a tiny patch 12 inches square under a clematis, this year will be its last. Guess what? I am starting to feel sorry for it!!!! It fought a good fight, seems hard to finish it off. I might just dig it up and take it for a ride onto dartmoor. I know I'm just an old softie.Once thats gone I am virtualy free of nasty weeds, I have licked the docks, nettles and coutch grass. I suppose thats the benefit of having a walled garden. I do have a couple of weeds that i must photograph and show you all, I think they are peculiar to Devon, one is like rhubarb only smaller, It spreads by long white deep roots, at one time when we took over it covered the garden. I may have done that in, the other is wierd it grows on a single stem and its height is governed by its conditions, it has a purple flower and it can be 1inch high or 3 feet, pulls up easily but is very persistent, it even grows out of the walls. What i wont be doing is risking putting any of it anywhere but on a fire or in the dustbin.

[Methe]

Anyone got any ideas what I can do with horsetail root. I've been working my way though my plot and digging it pull some of it I've been leaving to dry out, some of it I've been bagging up with view of leaving it in black plastic bags under a tarp for a couple of years. Some of it I've been putting in an old bath..not really sure what I'm planning to do with that lot yet.

Or should I just take it to the dump?

[Snailfox]

I think that i'm going to give it a try, I appreciate the advice though folks. Methe, I reckon that you should try it out as well and we can compare notes! What do you think?

[Kristen]

Anyone got any ideas what I can do with horsetail root?

Drowning it should be fine.

[Two_Sheds]

Anyone got any ideas what I can do with horsetail root.

Or should I just take it to the dump?

It's full of nutrients, so use it if you can. I bagged some up in 2012, let it rot down like leafmould, and emptied it onto the plot earlier this month. I'm monitoring it carefully to see if it shows signs of life.

[Methe]

Drowning it should be fine.

How long do things have to be drowned for?


If I leave it to rot down like leaf mould would that kill the spores or is that only something I could do with roots?

[Two_Sheds]

How long do things have to be drowned for?


If I leave it to rot down like leaf mould would that kill the spores

They're only "in spore" for a short time, but don't compost the sporing bits.



The green foliage doesn't take root, so that's safe to be just dropped on the soil as a mulch ~ it will disappear in about a week, less in hot sun.

The roots take at least 18 months to rot down, like leafmould. I mix them with a bunch of leaves so it doesn't get slimy


beautiful photo by Julie L.Brown

[Methe]

That's great, thanks Two Sheds!