Easy DIY Weed Fertilizer

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

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[@vickyannpaintingwithoils]

Yay! Free food for our food! So glad you did this! Thanks Jeff!

[@mmpp4709]

Learned something new today. Thank you!

[@shirleyk623]

Mine is brewing, it should be ready soon. My neighbor gave me a large jug with a screw on lid. Perfect for this. Thanks for sharing.

[@lar113]

This is great information, Jeff I have stinging nettle every year. This is a great way to use it for some good before putting it in the yard waste container. Your method doesn't of making fertilizer doesn't get any easier. Thank you.

[@jimmcdowell9017]

Even your weed videos are educational! What’s next? I can’t wait!

[@Joe-Skier]

I also add lawn clippings to my "swamp water". In addition to garden I use it to feed trees, shrubs, etc and the growth is phenomenal.😊

[@sayadaramdial1700]

I make mine in one of those drink dispensers, so it's really easy to fill and top up as well as to decant as much or as little as I need at a time! I started mine last year and have only removed solids a few times to make room for adding more weeds and water. I usually dilute it quite a lot more than this when I add it to my watering can, I never thought it could be used quite so liberally! What I love about this is (everything except the powerful stench) that it's a great way to compost weeds that have gone to seed instead of having to throw it in the green waste bin!

[@zan4110]

Great...got lots of comfrey, plantain, dandelion, burdock leaves....Will make this weekend....!!!🤗

[@suzannestack7784]

It is a much better ferment to use rain water. Tap water has chlorine and chloromine that inhibit the fermentation. I successfully ferment my fertilizer in 3-4 weeks. After drawing out the liquid, I then stuff in more weeds and top off with rain water for an ongoing ferment.

[@IjeomaThePlantMama]

I dont have a rainwater capture system, so ive been using the water from my dehumidifier!

[@suzannestack7784]

@@IjeomaThePlantMama catching rain water can be as easy as putting out a few buckets and bowls when it rains. Very temporary but enough to empty into storage buckets to use for your plants. I finally set up rain barrels this year, only because I got them free. My neighbour had some old eaves, so we gerryrigged (?) some extensions from my roof. But until now, I collected during storms and saved the water for my "stink buckets".

[@namarhodge568]

I have more than enough weeds. I have been thinking about cutting the top out of a 280-gallon tote to put weeds in. My plan is to cover with water and sit without a cover. When ready, drain off and use it as a feterlizer. After using the liquid compost the weeds. I was thinking about this method before seeing your encouraging video. My reason in this thinking is to keep from reintroducing grass and weed seed, as well as to use the nutrients. I would appreciate any further comments related to the contents of this video and my idea. Have there been any other people to practice this method? This is similar to people making compost tea with mulch, except the use of green live plants. I think this method will be able to capture the Nitrogen content of the weeds. What do you think?

[@suzannestack7784]

I would not leave it open. First problem is that the stink couldn't be contained. Second is that it needs to be a closed system for the fermentation, Anaerobic. Third would be unwanted critters and bugs, lots of bugs. As to adding grass and such, absolutely yes! Any extra materials you don't have room for can be composted. I always add weeds that easily propagate themselves, weeds with seeds etc. in the stink bucket.

[@namarhodge568]

@suzannestack7784 Thanks for the sujestions.

[@borealchorusstudio]

So cool! Definitely going to try it. Thank you for sharing the process.

[@donnaangela191]

Thank you Jeff, you are an excellent teacher…

[@thatonegirl1837]

I've used comfrey for this but never thought of using others like dandelion. Thank you so much!

[@rickthelian2215]

I submerge my weeds in a semi-permeable sack and soak in a huge bucket.

[@sn232]

That's actually a great idea, I have not heard of anyone else doing this! What are you using, do you have a link for the semi-permeable sack? I'm thinking even a pillowcase might work, or a burlap bag, or feed sack?

[@ausfoodgarden]

I add invasive grasses along with comfrey dandelion and whatever other weeds I pick. After the plants have been fermenting for 6-8 weeks sieve off and all the solids go in the compost. The grasses are drowned and dead by then. Cheers!

[@mindy-made-a-mess]

I have been doing this since I watched your previous video re weed fertilizer. Question. What fertilizers does weed fert take the place of? 20-20-20? Bone meal, blood meal, granular long term fert, etc?

[@TroyBrinson]

What about when you’re completely finished can you then put the old leaves in your compost as a carbon fill? Can you put it in the compost at all?

[@dakunssd]

I would probably dry them to kill off the anaerobic bacteria, otherwise it should be fine.

[@Isolden11]

I'll try this thanks!

[@Buddyelvis1-2022]

I completely agree with you and your process. 👍

[@melindah5952]

Thank you for this very interesting video! I’m going to give it a try. Can I use morning glory? Thanks!

[@derghiarrinde]

Add activated carbon bits and pieces into the mix in the beginning -- and when used on soil, you have carbonaceous fertilizer ready to turn your soil into *_terra preta_* that withstands leaching. You can learn to make activated charcoal here on youtube. Use boiling water at the end of the charcoal making process to activate the charcoal. Add animal bones to the wood when making charchoal and crush them when it's all done to increase fertilizing value of the final product by additional calcium and phosphorus from the bones. When making charcoal, you can also boil the weeds using excess heat from the slow-burn process over a few hours. This will also decompose them in a process similar to bacterial decomposition but much more quickly. The resulting *proper tea* should contain also those nutrients that would be otherwise consumed by the bacteria. Also, you can add old stale 4-day urine to the fertiliser, increasing its nitrogen content.

[@nickwood2114]

Can I use the leafs of any green plant . I’ve got hundreds of pea pods and swede leafs I could use ?

[@Moon..Shadow]

Does the weed fertilizer replace all of the other fertilizers and how much? How often?

[@dakunssd]

Weed tea is going to be a full feed N-P-K-Mg fertilizer, so it could replace most fertilizers. Depending on what your crop is, you might still want to supplement - weed tea is going to be heavy on phosphate and nitrogen but light on potassium and magnesia. You mileage may vary though, without doing an analysis on every batch there's no certainty on the exact ratios. For heavy feeders like tomatoes, brassicas, peppers etc., weekly is probably a good rule-of thumb; everything else will be fine with every 2 to 4 weeks frequency.

[@marjiclark8473]

What do you do with yucky weeds after you pour off the fertilizer - can you compost?

[@badassmother1426]

I don't see poke weed on the list and those roots go down 3 feet. It's is poisonous though so maybe that's why?

[@criss_crosslv9050]

How often you can use it?

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

Literally as much as you want. Although its not necessary.

[@johndaugherty4127]

I thought you meant something else...

[@justinsane7128]

Not mutually exclusive 😅

[@mcgritty8842]

fastest I clicked on a gardening video 😂❤😂

[@sn232]

Would it ferment faster if you chopped up the weeds, either with a knife, or food processor, or if you had an old blender and blended them with water and then fermented that??? Has anyone tried this? I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison.

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

@@sn232 yup, more surface area makes it go slightly faster

[@sn232]

@@TheRipeTomatoFarms Thank you for the reply, appreciate it :)

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

@@sn232 no problem,, let us know how it goes!

[@MorroccoM13]

The new Yuppie smoothie ?

[@trishsmith2811]

I am overrun with morning glory. Is it a good weed to use? It’s the fastest growing weed I know 😡

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

@@trishsmith2811 yes, excellent one for this application Trish!

[@dmick9168]

Even though this a great use of weeds in your garden I think that diluted urine might be a way faster solution that is also free.

[@lescurtis7244]

👍

[@tomsparks6099]

You are so handsomely knowledgeable (and handsome).

[@deecooper1567]

👍👵🏻👩‍🌾❣️

[@SirWolfCZ]

This doesn't make any sense at all. The nutrients were already in the soil and by doing this we just let the weeds grow out of them and then put them back in the soil. We didn't put any new nutrients into the soil, unlike fertilising with store-bought fertiliser. If we had let useful plants grow from the original nutrients in the soil, or ploughed the weeds into the soil, or put them in the compost and the compost into the soil, it would have come out exactly the same.

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

@@SirWolfCZ you're missing the point. The issue isn't that the soil doesn't have nutrients. The problem is that weeds can pull nutrients out to a greater degree, from deeper, and from areas where our crops aren't growing. I'm not growing my corn on my sidewalk, but I can tell you it sure enjoyed the nutrients from the dandelions that did.

[@JethroBodine369]

@@TheRipeTomatoFarms Wow, thanks for this! Next year, I don't need to buy any fertilizer for my container vegetables on the deck and will get some buckets fermenting in the early spring. Should be lots already here on Vancouver Island. Should I do the usual every two week feeding?

[@rckymtnrfc]

Just opened up my weed fertilizer. That smell is so bad! Like an elephant passing gas in your face at point blank range. Do not get it on your hands, its like the Bog of Eternal Stench...I can't seem to wash of that stink.

[@TheRipeTomatoFarms]

@@rckymtnrfc 1000%!! It's the absolute worst!