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The nettle that has appeared on the site is perceived by some summer residents as a malicious weed, and they try to destroy it in all possible ways. But before doing this, it is worth considering: maybe the plant will bring its benefits.
Application in the garden and vegetable garden
Young leaves of this herb are used for food in spring (for making salads, borscht). The culture belongs to medicinal plants and helps to cope with many diseases. Therefore, small islands of nettles should be left on the outskirts of the site.
If you engage in regular thinning of this weed, then several individuals can be left in the frame of vegetable beds and berry bushes - the smell of plants scares off many pests.
Nettle nutritional supplement
It turns out a rich fertilizer from nettle with an antibacterial effect, if you make an infusion of young leaves of the plant. It is better not to use coarse stems, but send them to the compost heap.
Green fertilizer is also made from grass and nettle for feeding garden crops, and plants are sprayed with infusions of leaves from insects. The ground near vegetable and berry bushes is mulched with chopped herbs. When decomposing, nettle attracts earthworms and beneficial microorganisms involved in soil aeration.
Spraying preparation
The aboveground part is buried in the beds in the fall, using it as a siderat. Some gardeners specially grow nettles for the whole season so that they can be embedded in the soil when digging. In the spring, potatoes are planted in a nitrogen-rich area.
Siderat beds can be just as well used for carrots and beets. With such agricultural technology, the garden will give large yields of root crops.
How to make green fertilizer from nettle
This plant contains many useful components, which are also included in mineral fertilizers, therefore, very nutritious top dressing from nettle for the garden and vegetable garden is obtained.
They are easy to prepare, following these recommendations:
- only the young leaves of the plant are cut off, before seeds are formed;
Preparation of raw materials
- at the same time, you need to watch that the nettle is healthy, not damaged by pests;
- while the greens filled with water are infused, they are periodically stirred so that the solution does not sour;
- fermentation will go faster if you keep the nettle infusion in the sun;
- for the same purpose, add a catalyst - industrial "Baikal", yeast or food starter;
- valerian root is added to the green fertilizer to clog the unpleasant odor.
It is necessary to prepare the solution in advance, having kept it for 5-10 days, and only then feed the infusion of nettle of garden and garden plants with a frequency of 2 times a month, during watering.
Recipe
After collecting the nettle, it is filled into ¾ any container: a barrel, a bucket, etc. Pour cold water so that it completely covers the grass (but not to the top of the container). It is recommended to lay the oppression, otherwise the nettle floats.
During fermentation
For better fermentation, 1 tsp should be added to the water first. humate (10 liters) or put pieces of bread, crackers in a container. After 5 days, ash is introduced into the solution, after which it is insisted a little more.
The finished fertilizer infusion is filtered and, adding 1 liter of solution to 10 liters of water, the plants are fed. Fertilizer "Cinderella" (10 g per bucket) will help to enhance the nutritional effect. If you cover the container with a stray compound with plastic wrap, the solution will be saturated with nitrogen and methane.
Nettle and dandelion feeding
Experienced summer residents do not stop at one weed, preparing top dressing for grown plants. Shepherd's purse, wormwood, chamomile, wheatgrass, etc. are also used. But most often fertilizer is prepared from dandelions and nettles. These weeds perfectly complement each other's properties in saturating the soil with useful elements.
Nettle Dandelion Composition
An herbal composition is being prepared as described above. But only when filling the container should it be taken into account that in this case the fermentation will be more violent. Top dressing with nettles and dandelions is carried out before flowering (once every 3 weeks) and after the appearance of fruits (every 15 days).
The grass remaining after the used vermicompost can be poured over and applied after half a month, but without further dilution with water. Dandelion and nettle based fertilizer attracts earthworms to the soil. They perfectly loosen the soil, providing oxygen access to the roots.
How to compost nettle
Composting is a convenient opportunity to have a sufficient amount of vermicompost at hand. Nettle infusion, in fact, is the same compost, only liquid, instant preparation. But more useful will be the nettle composition, fermented for months.
Any nettle goes into the compost heap, even with seeds. Overheating, they lose their germination properties.
Composting is necessary not only for weeds, otherwise the desired effect will not work. Each soft layer should be interspersed with hard ones (branches, bark, roots, straw). This will ensure good drainage of the fermenting material. Food waste, manure, shredded paper, wood ash are also added here.
Compost bin
A small area is allocated for compost, slightly away from the garden. Some summer residents make a hole in the ground and store raw materials there. Someone sets up a wooden barrel or crate for nettle compost, making holes in it for aeration, but a regular open pile is fine.
Forming it, take into account 3 components of efficiency: temperature, humidity and oxygen. The compost must be constantly warmed up, so the heap is arranged in a sunny place, not under a canopy. To maintain a suitable temperature in winter, the mountain of waste is covered with polyethylene, tarpaulin, etc.
The bacteria involved in the processing of raw materials need nitrogen, which they obtain from the air. Therefore, you should periodically "shovel" a pile of nettle compost, changing layers in places, allowing microorganisms to breathe.
By regularly cleaning the site from weeds, nettles and other herbs can accumulate in the compost for years. The longer the processes take place, the more harmful bacteria are destroyed and useful ones develop. At the same time, the nutritional value of fertilizers only increases.
If nettles with seeds were piled up, do not rush to use compost, letting it brew for 5-6 months. The fact that the composition is ready for use will be prompted by a changed smell, from an unpleasant amber turned into an earthy aroma.
Plant feeding with nettle infusion
Novice summer residents are concerned about the question: for which plants is nettle used as a fertilizer. This grass is not universal - for some crops it will be a good top dressing, others can be harmful.
Who benefits from nettle tincture:
- gratefully react to feeding the seedlings with nettles, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes;
- but for adult bushes of tomatoes and other nightshades, it is necessary;
Fertilizer tomato
- prefers nettle and cucumber in fertilizer; the culture should be fed with tincture every 2 weeks throughout the season;
- green fertilizer is useful for cabbage, but early mash cannot be used for it - the infusion should be at least 10 days;
- nettle is good for berry crops (strawberries especially love it), but here it is better to use a combined solution - with the addition of bread;
- feeding the flower plot, it is recommended to add ash to the nettle tincture; but the presence of yeast is harmful to plants from a flower bed.
You always need to know what to fertilize with nettle fertilizer for the garden, so as not to harm vegetable crops. The described vermicompost should not be used on beds with legumes, garlic and onions - nettle suppresses their biological processes.
Organics have always been a good fertilizer for the garden and vegetable garden. Top dressing from nettle for plants is a free way to strengthen the immunity of summer cottages and increase yields. But infusion or compost alone will not be enough, so you do not need to give up the use of mineral fertilizers, which alternate with organic matter.
