Grass Clipping Tea

**Baldy** · 12-05-2019, 06:15 PM

https://www.almanac.com/news/gardeni...eeds-and-grass
I haven't clicked onthe astrology tab on the site so their scientific input may be moot...
Personally grass clippings just get used as a mulch - weeds, comfrey and nettles get the tea treatment but each to their own.

**Baldy** · 12-05-2019, 06:19 PM

actually the tab is 'astronomy' so hopefully their science is good

**Jay-ell** · 12-05-2019, 07:43 PM

I use most of the grass clippings as a mulch directly on the bed with excess usually going into the compost.

I've been reading that grass clippings is about 4, 0,5, 2 in NPK values with other trace minerals.

Just like any other plant material the clippings will break down in the water and release some of that (some will stay in the sludge). I think it would give a reasonable tonic for plants once diluted, not too strong but enough to give a boost.

I was thinking about using one of the water butts to steep the grass clippings in but the tap at the bottom would probably gunk up. I could stuff pillow cases with grass to try and keep the gunk from blocking the tap, but I only have cotton which would also rot down in the water.

Next big delivery of grass cuttings I'm probably just going to stuff the water butt full of the grass and weigh it down with bricks wrapped in an odd bit of scaffold net ties to paracord then add just enough water to cover. To get it out I can tape a bottle to a cane and just dunk it in.

I'd go for an anaerobic tea (bung it in and leave it) rather than an aerobic tea (bubbling air through the mix) as it's easier and when a bag of grass is tied and left alone the anaerobic breakdown results in a (stinking) black ooze rather than too many solids so it map convert more into water soluble residue. It does smell worse though.

**Dynamite** · 12-05-2019, 08:50 PM

Originally posted by Jay-ell View Post

It does smell worse though.

Thanks Jay-ell, not too fussed about the smell.

Kind Regards.............Rob

**Dynamite** · 12-05-2019, 08:52 PM

If I do this, I want to leave the barrel, keep topping up and keep taking from it. Will that matter?

Assumption being that it shouldn’t “go off” as such and will be still useful and full of nutrients all the time?

Kind Regards.............Rob

**Dynamite** · 12-05-2019, 08:55 PM

Originally posted by Jay-ell View Post

(some will stay in the sludge). I could stuff pillow cases with grass to try and keep the gunk from blocking the tap, but I only have cotton which would also rot down in the water.

Great idea but I think I’m going to just keep stuffing it in the barrel, scoop out from the top rather than have a tap. Makes it easier I reckon as I am limited for time. I would definitely use that method if I did though.

Kind Regards.............Rob

**Jay-ell** · 12-05-2019, 09:09 PM

Originally posted by Dynamite View Post

If I do this, I want to leave the barrel, keep topping up and keep taking from it. Will that matter?

Assumption being that it shouldn’t “go off” as such and will be still useful and full of nutrients all the time?

Kind Regards.............Rob

Originally posted by Dynamite View Post

Great idea but I think I’m going to just keep stuffing it in the barrel, scoop out from the top rather than have a tap. Makes it easier I reckon as I am limited for time. I would definitely use that method if I did though.

Kind Regards.............Rob

That’s basically what I’m going to do. As the grass breaks down it should deposit a sludge at the bottom and free up space to add more grass and water. The netting around the bricks should make it easier to pull them out, pack in more grass then put the bricks back in to weight the grass down.

Once it’s broken down the bricks should push the grass under the top of the liquor and I’m going to use a large pop bottle (probably with the top cut off) fixed to a length of wood as a ladle.

At the end of the year you can extract and bottle up whatever is left of the liquor and upend the butt to get the slime and gunk out of it - this should should have some nutrients in it as well as it will be the undressed bits of the grass (silica, cellulose, etc) as well as the nitrogen containing remains of the bacteria. It can probably be dried out and abused as a soil additive, dumped on the beds or added to potted plants.

**Baldy** · 12-05-2019, 09:20 PM

^^^ "abused as a soil additive"

bloody unfeeling northerners

**Mark_Riga** · 12-05-2019, 09:46 PM

I'm about to take my first cut of comfrey. I pack it into a 200L water butt and then fill with water. In a couple of weeks will start to use on toms in greenhouse. Never had a problem with tap getting clogged with comfrey. Do this about 3 or 4 times in year and the amount of residue when i looked recently is very little, less than 12" in the bottom to be emptied out. Never tried with grass though.

**Jay-ell** · 12-05-2019, 10:48 PM

With comfrey I don't bother with water - just pack it into a bucket with a lid and tap. It breaks down easily and I just keep adding new stuff and draining the concentrate. I rarely empty out the bucket as most of the comfrey will break down to nothing given enough time.

**Dynamite** · 14-05-2019, 10:12 PM

Im going to make a Comfrey tube soon I think.

Kind Regards.............Rob

**ESBkevin** · 15-05-2019, 12:57 PM

Another comfry and also nettle tea maker here.

Just a bucket with the leaves weighed down by a stone/half brick and covered with water. I lay a sheet of hardened glass on top to keep the rain out and the stink in! After 3 weeks or so I decant into sealed plastic containers and start another batch. I then just add and dilute in the watering can as required.

Did I mention the stink? I must remember to get AND WEAR rubber gloves. When you get comfry tea on your hands it stays for hours through multiple washes! But it is marvalous stuff. Nettle tea is nitogon rich and good for plant growth. Comfry tea is a good general fertiliser with high levels of Phosphorus and Potassium as well as a high level of Calcium. It is goot for fruiting plants and helps reduce blossom end rot. But did I mention the smell?

**Jay-ell** · 17-05-2019, 03:13 PM

Well, I filled the water butt yesterday

Pounded it with a tree post then topped up with water.

**Dynamite** · 24-05-2019, 10:04 PM

Originally posted by Jay-ell View Post

Well, I filled the water butt yesterday
[ATTACH=CONFIG]86690[/ATTACH]

Pounded it with a tree post then topped up with water.

Wow that’s certainly full Jay-ell.

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