Is it possible to mulch the soil with nettles? Liquid Fertilizer from Nettle - Increase Yield

If you have a weed like nettle growing in your garden, then this is not a reason to be upset, but quite the opposite - it means that the soil on your plot is healthy, rich in humus and well structured.

This inconspicuous-looking weed boasts a whole range of wonderful properties that make it a real lifesaver for the amateur vegetable grower. First of all, nettle as a fertilizer has no serious competitors among its plant counterparts. As all parts of this plant decompose, they form neutral, thin humus, suitable for use for all crops. The nitrogen content per unit mass in fresh nettle exceeds that in poultry, pig and cow manure, as well as in grass clippings, straw and peat. Almost all microelements can be found in the leaves and stems of nettle, but it is especially rich in iron. It is also impossible not to note the healing effect of this stinging weed on the soil and cultivated plants, which grow by leaps and bounds after enriching the soil with nettle organic matter.

Nettle is recommended to be used as a valuable additive in the production of compost, while its effectiveness increases several times. Cucumbers will develop stocky and perfectly healthy if you put a handful of dried nettles from last year in each hole when planting their seedlings. It is well known that it is not so easy to prevent the development of fungal diseases in a greenhouse when it is used annually for growing tomatoes. will not affect your tomato plantings if you add a sufficient amount of nettle to the soil in the fall. To do this, after harvesting the tomato tops, you need to cut furrows around the entire perimeter of the greenhouse about 10 centimeters deep and fill them with the greens of this plant. Then you should thoroughly cover the grooves with earth.

Nettle is widely used as a fertilizer and as a liquid seasonal fertilizer. To do this, fill ½-2/3 of wooden (necessarily not metal) containers with finely chopped branches and nettle leaves, fill the green mass with water (leaving about 10 centimeters of the inner space of the container empty for fermentation), cover it tightly and place it in the far corner of the garden on Couple of weeks. Moreover, in hot weather, such a nettle infusion will be ready within a week. To neutralize the unpleasant odor, you can add a couple of drops of valerian to the container. When using the infusion as a foliar feeding, it is diluted in a ratio of 1:20 with water, and for root feeding - in a ratio of 1:10.

Nettle fertilizer has a beneficial effect on the growth and development of most crops, while simultaneously increasing their immunity against numerous diseases. However, it should be borne in mind that such a treat is not to the liking of a number of cultures, including garlic, onions, and legumes.

English vegetable growers have proven from their own experience that nettles make excellent mulching material. They place young nettles along the rows of vegetables, giving preference to this plant as mulch. What determines this choice of our foreign like-minded people?

There are a number of reasons for this:

• nettle provides additional plant nutrition;
• such mulch prevents overheating of the soil on hot summer days;
• a layer of this weed from 5 centimeters blocks the evaporation of moisture from the soil surface, reducing the number of waterings;
• mulch suppresses the growth of weeds, reducing labor costs for weeding;
• nettle mulch keeps the soil well structured, earthworms and other living creatures actively settle under it;
• your cultivated plants will be protected from invasions of various creeping reptiles: slugs, aphids and snails.

During the dry summer period, the population of aphids increases sharply, which nettle also copes well with. Fresh nettle (one or two kilograms per 10 liters of water) is infused for 24 hours, after which the affected plants are sprayed with a diluted solution - formic acid, which is found in abundance in stinging nettle hairs, kills aphids.

Nettle treatments will also help you cope with late blight. In this case, it is necessary to infuse a kilogram of fresh greenery of this weed in a bucket of water and after a week generously sprinkle the tomato bushes with the fermented infusion.

Nettle as a fertilizer allows you to achieve wonderful results in your garden, and it won't cost you anything. On my site, I use this plant mainly for mulching and liquid fertilizing, and vegetables always thank me with enviable yields.

I made a short video for you on how I prepare nettle fertilizer and use it to feed vegetables in the garden.

Vegetable and fruit plants need not only good care, but also feeding. And the gardeners march in formation to the store to buy chemicals. Do they know that the best remedies are under their feet? For example, the ubiquitous nettle is superior to all synthetic analogues as a fertilizer. You just need to know how to use it correctly.

Valuable properties of nettle

As a source of vitamins (C, K, A), microelements and valuable organic acids (iron, copper, potassium, nitrogen, manganese, etc.), this indestructible weed is widely used in home cosmetology, as well as in cooking, as additives to spring salads and green borscht and soups. For feeding vegetable and ornamental plants, nettle is especially valuable as a fertilizer due to its high potassium and nitrogen content. Moreover, it is equally useful for nutrition and for protecting plantings from pests and diseases. Experienced gardeners always stock up for future use. How fertilizer is prepared and applied - more on that below. First, it will be useful to learn how to use fresh nettles in your garden.

Fierce Protector

Her character, of course, is fiery, which scares many people away from her. Is it possible to use this particular property for good? For example, change your attitude towards the weed and leave it in a strip along the perimeter of the site like a hedge? It will be easier for uninvited guests to overcome a barbed fence than such a barrier. Well, if such an extravagant method is not suitable, you can mow the nettles and spread them under vegetable plants - tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes. Firstly, it is mulch, which prevents weeds from germinating. Secondly, it repels pests - leaf-eating insects and slugs. As it decomposes, nettle feeds plants as fertilizer. Many gardeners successfully practice mulching with chopped nettles, enriching the soil and protecting it from erosion.

How to prepare nettle fertilizer

The process is very simple. To reduce the bite, fresh or slightly withered grass should be chopped or chopped, placed in a bucket or barrel (it is advisable to use plastic containers, not metal) and filled with settled or rainwater. All this will ferment for ten to fourteen days. The smell, I must say, is not pleasant, so you need to determine the right place to prepare the fertilizer. With the resulting infusion, you can fearlessly water all plants, with the exception of beans, onions and garlic - for some reason they do not like nettle as a fertilizer. But such feeding is gratefully accepted by all others and even flowers, both garden and indoor. The fertilizer works very well on berry bushes - currants, blackberries, raspberries. You can water strawberries with nettle infusion. After such feeding, the plants literally come to life, their leaves become shiny and rich green, and the growth and ripening of fruits accelerates.

It will be useful to learn about another method of preparing nettle fertilizer. Grass and stems can be burned to produce valuable ash, which is several times higher in nitrogen and potassium than wood ash. This is such a valuable plant - the stinging nettle weed.

And that, for example, for preparing salads or rinsing hair it is better to have it directly at home , there are several other useful uses for it in the garden. Moreover, in countries with very intensive land use, nettles are allocated special areas in gardens or even planted in a greenhouse.

Nettle fence

If your site is often visited by uninvited guests, then nettles can be “entrusted” with the protection of your garden, allowing it to grow along the perimeter of your property. A nettle hedge (up to 2 meters high) will work properly if you leave a strip of plants 80-100 cm wide.

Nettle fertilizer

Nettles make an excellent liquid fertilizer. A wooden, plastic or clay container is filled with finely crushed leaves, filled with water heated in the sun and left to ferment for one and a half to two weeks (the container cannot be filled to the very top, because the volume of liquid will increase during fermentation). It is advisable to stir this mass daily. To be honest, this mixture gives off a very unpleasant smell. From my own experience, I can say that a container with this “incense” can be placed in a greenhouse or greenhouse with cucumbers, since for some reason this smell attracts pollinating insects. After the process is completed, a concentrated fertilizer rich in nitrogen and potassium is obtained. For regular fertilizing it is diluted 10 times, and for foliar fertilizing - 20 times. Gardeners who have tried this homemade and practically free fertilizer believe that after it the plants grow by leaps and bounds, their leaves become dark green. Many earthworms always live under plants watered with nettle infusion.

Nettle mulch

With a crushed mass of nettle, you can mulch the soil under strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, in general, under those crops that slugs love. Nettle, both fresh and dried, is an insurmountable obstacle for these pests with a soft and tender abdomen. You just need to carefully cover the entire surface of the bed with nettle leaves so that there is not the slightest loophole left for these parasites.

Effect of nettle on other plants

But not only nettle infusion can be beneficial for plants. There is evidence that tomatoes that grow next to nettles have a longer shelf life, and the juice from such fruits is more tasty.

There is evidence that cabbage growing next to nettles is less damaged by leaf-eating insects.

Food preservation

The ability of nettle (due to the presence of phytoncides in it) to keep perishable food products fresh for a long time has been tested for centuries. For example, gutted fish stuffed with nettles (fishermen manage to preserve fish for 1-2 days this way) and fresh meat covered with nettles do not spoil for a long time even in hot weather. And nettle leaves placed in milk protect it from souring.

It is good in the kitchen, for treating diseases and for increasing crop yields. Perhaps nettle is one of the most beneficial plants for humans. Its young spring shoots are especially good. You can make great spring salads from nettle, which will help when you feel dizzy from anemia and hypovitaminosis. And a huge amount of iron contributes to a real rise in the amount of hemoglobin, and therefore in mood.

This plant is valued all over the world (and for good reason), but people in Europe are especially partial to nettles; in particular, nettle eating championships are even held in the UK. In the last championship, master nettle eaters from Great Britain, Denmark, France and Germany took part in the championship. Within an hour, each participant had to absorb as many leaves of this plant as possible. In the end, the Englishman Simon Sleigh won, admitting that the nettles collected immediately after the rain were much softer and tastier than last year.

What can be prepared from nettles?

Nettle has been used in nutrition for a long time. Young leaves and shoots that grow in the spring from overwintered rhizomes are suitable for food purposes - only they are covered with non-stinging hairs. Plants grown from seeds burn and are unsuitable for food, although they can be used in their young form, subject to mandatory scalding.

Soups, salads, purees, borscht, pickles, seasoning for meat and fish dishes, caviar for potato dishes made from nettles are not only tasty, but also healthy. These dishes are especially important for improving the function of the kidneys, liver, stomach, heart, as well as for hypovitaminosis. Although it should be noted that with all the advantages of such dishes, they are still not very filling. And you still need to get used to the spicy but specific taste. To make dishes seem tastier, you can add boiled eggs to them - they will soften the taste and give the dish a certain “noble” shade.

Salad "Spring"

Finely chop nettles, young arrows of garlic or onions, and a few dandelion leaves. Add a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and more sour cream or vegetable oil. It is better not to add salt to this salad at all - lemon juice and garlic replace the salt. And if you add salt, then just a little - it’s very easy to over-salt, and an over-salted salad loses all its charm.

Salad “Assorted greens”

Cut all the edible greens you can find: nettles, dandelion leaves, plantain, wood lice, lungwort, sorrel, parsley, onion and garlic. To taste, add a drop of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and add sour cream.

Belarusian salad

Mash the shredded cabbage and carrots thoroughly with the addition of salt, sugar, vinegar, and add chopped nettles. Season with vegetable oil.

Nut salad

Dip young nettle leaves into boiling water for 2-3 seconds and chop. Grind crushed walnuts with nettle decoction (1/4 cup per 25 g of nuts), garlic (to taste), mix with leaves, add lemon juice or vinegar, sour cream.

Salad with horseradish and eggs

Chopped nettles (about 100 g) are scalded with boiling water, mixed with grated horseradish (20 g), chopped egg and seasoned with sour cream (25 g).

Plantain and nettle salad

120 g plantain leaves, 50 g nettle leaves, 25 g green onions, 1 egg, 30 g vegetable oil.

Blanch young plantain and nettle leaves for 3 minutes, and after the water has drained, chop finely, add a hard-boiled egg, green onions, and season with oil.

Nettle salad with meat

70 g nettle, 150 g boiled meat, 100 g sauerkraut, 1 egg, 40 g vegetable oil.

Chop the blanched nettle leaves, add sauerkraut, chopped hard-boiled egg, season with vegetable oil.

Nettle omelette

2 eggs, 50 g ham, 30 g grated cheese, 2 teaspoons dried ground nettle, salt, pepper, 30 g onion, fat.

Beat eggs, add chopped ham, cheese, nettles, salt, pepper, finely chopped onion. Fry the omelette on both sides in hot fat.

Nettle cabbage soup

Saute carrots, onions, parsley in fat. Place sautéed vegetables and green onions into boiling broth or water and cook for 20-25 minutes. 10 minutes before readiness, add white sauce (fry flour, dilute with milk and pour into cabbage soup), bay leaf, pepper, cloves, salt. Remove from heat, add 30 g of nettle.

Nettle or sorrel soup

7 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 onion, a bunch of sorrel, nettles or both.

Place potatoes, carrots and onions cut into slices or strips into salted boiling water. When the vegetables are ready, add nettle leaves (pre-scalded with boiling water) or sorrel leaves cut into noodles and simmer for a few minutes.

Boiled potatoes with nettles

60 g potatoes, 20 g nettle leaves, 12 g onions, 5 g vegetable oil, 100 ml water.

Boil the potatoes, place on a plate, add chopped onion and finely chopped nettle leaves to the resulting broth, cook for 5 minutes, mix with vegetable oil, pour the resulting gravy over the potatoes.

Rice soup with nettles

Boil a tablespoon of rice in a glass of water until half cooked and place it in a saucepan with 2 liters of boiling broth. Place 2 chopped potatoes there and season with a head of chopped fried onion. 20 minutes before readiness, add 150 g of chopped young nettles.

Cookies with nettles

Wheat flour – 1 cup, bran – 1/2 cup, butter – 150 g, nettle (dried herbs) – 2 tbsp. spoons, sour cream - 2 tbsp. spoons, baking soda, salt - 1/2 teaspoon each.

Mix nettle greens with flour, bran, butter and sour cream, knead the dough, adding salt and soda. Roll out the dough into a layer 0.5-1 cm thick, cut with molds or a knife and, placing it on a greased baking sheet, bake in the oven.

Svetlana Shlyakhtina, Ekaterinburg

I use this plant as plant organic matter and, above all, in the form of green manure, mulch, for making compost, as fertilizer - in liquid and dry form.

To appreciate nettle, it took me more than one year of experiments and observations. And it all started with the preparation of a large amount of ash.

Having read a lot of literature on vegetable growing, I already knew that the best ash comes from herbaceous plants. The most valuable is from sunflower, then buckwheat, then from burning quinoa, potato tops and nettles. Having thought that it was unrealistic for me to prepare and burn huge quantities of sunflower stems, buckwheat straw and quinoa grass, and I also have a little potato tops, I opted for nettles. You can prepare it as much as you want, if you wish. Nettle ash is light, volatile, and bluish in color. Contains more than 30 microelements, almost 40% pure potassium. For comparison, ash from firewood (depending on the type) contains only 3 to 14% potassium.

During the summer, nettles can produce as many as three cuttings. The first two are plants that have not been inseminated, and the third mowing is not always desirable, since a weakened plant will go away in a depressed state for the winter and in the spring will not be able to withstand competition with other weeds.

It is very pleasant to mow young nettles, because... it doesn't require much effort. Overripe - difficult, too much mass, but a large yield of ash. I dry the cut nettles for 3-4 days, then rake them to the burning site (but not on the peat bog!).

In the evening I light a big fire. By morning, the ash will have cooled down, and it can be transported to the place of use in compacted canisters.

Every year I harvest up to 500 liters. ash. It replaced all mineral fertilizers for me, especially in combination with green plant organic matter.

From observations: it is better to choose a site for collecting ash away from home, since it is easy to transport, but it is better to prepare nettle mass for compost, mulch or green manure closer to home, because green nettles have weight.

Excellent green manure

One day I discovered a liquid with a typical ammonia smell emerging from under a mound formed from freshly cut nettles. I became interested in this phenomenon and found out that, in addition to potassium, nettle contains a large amount of nitrogen-containing compounds, which contribute to rapid combustion, especially if the nettle is chopped (in this case, its wet mass warms up already on the second day, which contributes to the rapid decomposition of the plant). Based on this, I conducted an experiment using nettle as green manure.

A slight digression from the topic of conversation is appropriate here, since the soil on my site is peat.

I noticed: this valuable soil is helpless against repeated cultivation; both its structural layer and organic matter are quickly destroyed.

But the peat bog especially suffers from solar erosion, when the top layer, drying out and compacting, does not allow water to penetrate deeper and becomes lifeless. This is where urgent measures are required, one of which is deep reservoir turnover, although this measure solves the problem only for two years.

Growing green manure before and after harvesting is a necessary thing, but a very small amount of plant organic matter goes to the soil.

It’s another matter when a cultivated crop goes through a full vegetative development cycle, from planting to harvest, and if you grow a crop like soybeans, you can count on something.

I took a different path: not to plant or grow green manure, but to import them in the required quantity at any time. And then nettle came to the rescue. For these purposes, I harvest it from the second cutting - in the second half of August.

Immediately after harvesting, I spread the cut nettles directly on the soil surface in a dense layer of 30-35 cm and sprinkle with peat. Thus, a nettle layer was formed over an area of ​​4 acres. In the spring, the decomposed layer of nettles was dug up with a sharp shovel and potatoes were planted. With constant mulching with chopped nettles, this created fertile layer has served me for three years now.

And the potato harvest in the first year was 1.5 tons per hundred square meters. This is not a record harvest, but it is impressive. I grew mainly Belarusian varieties: Odyssey. Krinitsa. Suzorie. Vetraz and Zhuravinka.

I was surprised that earlier there were no earthworms on my peat soil, but with the advent of fresh plant organic matter, they appeared within a year.

High quality mulch
Soil formation, like its fertility, is impossible without the participation of mulch. And I give a special place to nettles in this process. Its main advantage is that it can quickly decompose, thereby creating a nutrient medium for beneficial microorganisms living in the soil, nourishing plants with its dead biomass, promoting the release of numerous nutrients from the soil, thereby creating living conditions for the rest of the plant fauna.

Nettles passed through an electric forage cutter become small and have a pleasant smell. It is convenient to mulch with it, especially for berry fields. I create a layer using the Kurdyumov method - “up to the ears.”

Especially a lot of mulch goes to potato plantings, where row spacing reaches 90-140 cm, and you can create a thicker layer, which means there is no need to hill up the bushes.

Sprouted tubers quickly take root, as they have enough moisture and warmth. And during repeated spring frosts, such mulch reliably protects plant shoots.

When planting early, especially on peat bogs, where the soil takes longer to warm up and is very moist, the tubers can be planted without burying them, but simply laid out on the surface of the soil and covered with a 20 cm layer of mulch. This is exactly what they do in the north - they don’t wait until the ground has completely warmed up. . Virtuoso gardener N. Kurdyumov does the same, using straw as mulch in his Krasnodar region.

I use a lot of nettle mulch for the greenhouse and two greenhouse pyramids, where I increase the layer to 10 cm. I also mulch flowers, especially lilies.

In the fall, I have an excess of fermented compost, which I use as mulch, creating a whole layer in the same greenhouses, on the beds and under the bushes.

In the spring I make liquid fertilizers from nettles and ash. To do this, in each greenhouse I have containers that I “fill” with nettles, ash and rainwater. The greenhouses are warm enough for the solution to mature quickly. And in order to avoid the unpleasant odor that pathogenic bacteria create during anaerobic composting, I add a solution of the Baikal-EM preparation to the barrels.

For compost I use nettles from the first cut, previously passed through a silage cutter. The volume of compost is approximately a ton, where 10 parts are nettles, and one part is fertile soil taken from places where nettles grow. The soil helps retain moisture and nitrogen compounds, which nettle is rich in, and serves for better development of a number of microorganisms.

I moisten the resulting mixture and close it... After a month, I ferment the compost with the Baikal EM-1 solution. I ferment the mixture layer by layer using a watering can. By covering the compost, aerobic conditions are created. By September, the compost is ready, all plant organic matter decomposes to a homogeneous mass and turns black.

When I did a chemical analysis, I was pleasantly surprised: the presence of phosphorus in the compost is 45 mg, potassium - 150 mg, acidity - 7.5, humus - 9.8%. What does it mean? For Belarus, soil containing 2% humus is considered fertile. And leached chernozems are fertile at 1-3%.

By the way, lately traditional methods of composting (in heaps, boxes, pits, barrels located in secluded places) have not suited me. The idea arose to compost nettles directly in the garden. Moreover, lay compost directly on the surface of the soil, creating a new layer of it from plant organic matter. I am experimenting on a 40 sq.m. plot. m.

Plants with such care go wild, delighting with a healthy appearance and a decent harvest.

Beneficial nettle

Liquid compost from nettles is a very effective fertilizer for garden crops. The effect is especially noticeable if these plants were poorly developed - after just a few
days, their leaves become dark green in color, and the stems noticeably thicken.
In the literature, this method is called German and they even write that German gardeners have this favorite liquid fertilizer. This may be true, but our summer residents have been using nettle liquid for a long time. Below we will describe the English method of producing liquid fertilizer, which is widely used by English gardeners, gardeners and flower growers. Nettle compost is prepared using the technology for preparing regular liquid compost. In a wooden or plastic, but not metal, container filled one third with finely chopped fresh, flowering nettles, collected until
To form seeds (you can use dried water), pour in settled (preferably rain) water heated in the sun. Once a day, this mass is stirred vigorously to release carbon dioxide. To get rid of an unpleasant odor, you can throw a handful of simple dust on top or add valerian leaf extract (one or two plants are fine). After two weeks, the slurry will ferment and be ready for use. Visually this is determined as follows: the infusion acquires a dark color and stops foaming. Fermentation is over.
For watering at the roots, use an unstrained solution, diluted ten times, and to spray the leaves, it must be filtered and diluted twenty times before treatment: for one part of the solution - 19 parts of water. It is advisable to do this feeding every 10-14 days.
When preparing such a liquid fertilizer, it is useful to mix nettle with comfrey and various weeds: snapdragon, shepherd's purse, tansy, horsetail, which was mentioned above.
You can add onion, garlic, wood ash, bone meal, and bird droppings to the herb mixture. Infusions of such herbs not only nourish, but also heal plants. Tomatoes are especially responsive to feeding with such a solution - they become tastier and sweeter, and cucumbers increase their
produce a harvest and bear fruit longer. This type of feeding is also useful for cabbage and celery, but it is not suitable for peas, onions, beans and garlic.
Nettle is not only our eternal companion, it is also our helper and selfless friend. We have already written that stinging nettle is a biodynamic plant.
Stinging nettle has at least three properties that illustrate its dynamic nature: it increases the resistance of plants growing near it to disease, changes their taste, and stimulates the formation of humus in the soil.
Nettle growing next to mint doubles the aromatic oil content in it, and growing next to tomatoes improves the taste of the latter, while planted along the edges of a cabbage bed saves cabbage from worms.
You can verify that nettle affects the formation of humus by digging out the soil from under its roots. We will see dark brown soil with a specific smell of ripe humus. Obviously, nettle roots secrete some substances that stimulate the formation of humus. Nettle leaves and stems, when decomposed, form ideal neutral humus.
Nettle is an amazing plant. “Urtica” was the name of this plant among the Romans. It is derived from the Latin verb “to burn.” Everyone knows that the stems and leaves of nettle are covered with hairs, which, like vessels, are filled with acid. When the hairs break, the sharp end injures the skin, acid gets into the wound and causes a burning sensation.
Nettle is extremely viable and uses the most unpretentious places for settlement and vigorous growth. Above we talked about “urtica dionica” - stinging nettle, or stinging nettle. But there is also a “lamium album” - clear
white. This is also a nettle, but... deaf. It's not hot. Perhaps the burning effect of nettle prompted people in ancient times to think about its medicinal properties? Even the ancient Roman physician Dioscorides Pedanius recommended it for many diseases - pneumonia, gastrointestinal disorders, abscesses, bleeding, rashes on
skin, etc. In the Middle Ages, nettle was attributed to epilepsy, hepatic and renal colic. It gained great popularity among Slovenian herbal doctors. It was prescribed for diarrhea, scrofula and even cholera.
Nettle leaves are rich in vitamins C, K, B2, carotene, contain protein and tannins, phytoncides, mineral salts, iron, calcium, formic and silicic acids, sulfur.
In modern medicine, infusions and liquid extracts are used as a hemostatic agent for various bleedings (hemorrhoidal, intestinal, pulmonary, uterine, renal), for hypovitaminosis, as a diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent.
Nettle increases the percentage of hemoglobin in the blood. Its extract is part of the drug allohol, which is used for diseases of the liver and biliary tract.
Infusions are prepared as follows: 15-20 g of dry leaves are poured with a glass of hot water, left for 30-40 minutes and taken a tablespoon 3-4 times a day.
In folk medicine, preparations from nettle are used for pulmonary tuberculosis, whooping cough, gout, anemia, polyarthritis, as well as for diseases of the kidneys and bladder.
Nettle is also used externally to stop bleeding, as well as to treat wounds (sprinkled with powder or applied leaves).
Nettle is widely used in homeopathy. Preparations from it are used to treat rashes caused by medications, cold, sunlight, anxiety and other factors. A positive result is achieved if the nature of the rashes is similar to those that appear on the human body from contact with nettles. The dose of nettle poison in medicinal
in this preparation is many times less than in the plant. Nettle contains silicon, which is extremely necessary for the body, especially for older people. When collecting the plant, you need to work with gloves or tear off the leaves from the wilted plant. Having withered, the nettle no longer stings.
Nettle is bactericidal. In Ukraine, a bunch of nettles are used to wash dishes. This confirms not only its disinfecting properties, but also the fact that it washes away fat even in cold water!
The bast fibers of nettle stems are long and strong. They are used to make coarse fabrics and burlap. In Ukraine, even in ancient times, potatoes were stored in nettle bags.
Many villagers know that nettle is valued as a fodder plant, in particular for pigs and poultry (especially young animals). In summer they feed fresh, in winter - dried mixed with straw. It is very useful for dairy cows. Additions of green nettle mixed with other herbs increase the egg production of chickens and also promote
rapid growth of piglets, calves and chicks.
A harmless food coloring is prepared from nettle leaves. To dye fabrics and wool yellow, rhizomes are used, and leaves are used green. The above-ground parts of the plant are good raw materials for the production of paper and cardboard.
Nettle is also used in cosmetics. Cosmetologists advise using it to strengthen hair. Various anti-dandruff products are now being heavily advertised. But there is a folk remedy for this scourge. For increased sebum secretion, dandruff and hair loss, it is recommended to rub an infusion of nettle leaves into the scalp. Brew 1 tablespoon of raw material with 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 1.5 hours and strain. Use this remedy once a week for a long time. Do not wipe your head. Hair will stop falling out and its growth will increase. Shampoos with nettle are also popular.
It is appropriate to note here that such a dynamic plant as dandelion also forms neutral humus in the soil, so earthworms like to make their burrows in the soil near it. When it dies, the voids that form in place of its long, more than 1.5 m, roots serve to improve soil ventilation.
It was noted above that dynamic plants influence the environment. Here is an example with nettles. Pour two kilograms of fresh nettle leaves into 10 liters of water and boil. Then strain (so that the spray nozzle does not become clogged), dilute with water in a ratio of 1:20 and spray the plants
in the evening two or three times. Nettle decoction, although it does not destroy the fungal infection, has a strengthening and stimulating effect on plants. It’s better to do this before the disease appears. To get rid of aphids, you need to infuse 1 kg of nettle in 10 liters of water for 24 hours, and then immediately spray the plants and the ground around them. Roses feel especially good after such a shower.
In England, they prefer to use liquid comfrey fertilizer, which is very effective for crops that require a lot of potassium and very little nitrogen: cucumbers, tomatoes, beans. Comfrey is superior to manure in potassium content and slightly behind it in phosphorus content. To prepare the infusion, take 0.8-1.0 kg of freshly cut crushed plants, add 10 liters of water and infuse for four weeks. Use it
just like nettle infusion. Liquid comfrey fertilizer (the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the infusion is 3:1:7) is useful for all crops. Spraying plants with comfrey infusion quickly relieves potassium starvation of plants.
However, the use of liquid green composts is only a short-term benefit. They do not improve the soil structure or create additional humus.
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Liquid fertilizer from nettles

To make a nitrogen-rich fertilizer from nettles, cut or crush the nettles into small pieces and place in a large container. Place a weight on top (bricks are fine), fill it with water and leave it outside the house for 3-4 weeks to avoid a strong smell. To use, dilute with water 1:10.

Nettle as a trap for aphids

Although aphids suck the juices out of plants and stunt growth, they are also a vital source of food for a variety of beneficial insects and birds. Aphids love nettles, so they can be grown specifically to distract aphids from valuable ornamental plants.

Nettle for ladybugs

Nettles are a favorite place for ladybugs to lay eggs. These eggs will turn into ladybug larvae that hunt garden pests, incl. for aphids, whiteflies and red spider mites. Thus, having nettles in the garden will help reduce the number of pests.

Nettle as a soil indicator

Nettle is actually quite picky about the soil in which it grows. It needs soil rich in phosphorus and nitrogen to grow better. If nettle grows in your garden, you can safely plant plants in this place that require similar conditions to it. At the end of each season, it is better to dig up the nettles to prevent its fleshy roots from growing too widely.

Nettles on a compost heap

Chopped nettle in a compost heap acts as a natural activator and speeds up the decomposition process. For best results, make sure that the nettles are thoroughly mixed with other materials - moist, soft, fresh green plant parts and older, dry, woody plant parts, otherwise the compost heap components will rot rather than rot. Nettle roots should not be used.

"Mulching - what is it?" - many novice summer residents ask. This concept can be deciphered as covering the top layer of soil with mulch. This substance is capable of performing protective functions and also increasing the fertility of the soil. There are many organic materials that can be used for mulch. This event is carried out by all people who are interested in ensuring that the plants on their site grow healthy.

How is mulching used?

What is this, not only inexperienced lovers of growing plants ask, but also many gardeners, since in the warm season, mulch performs not only a protective and nutritional function, but also exhibits other properties. If you lay a layer of mulch more than 5 cm wide, the number of unnecessary plants will be reduced by 5 times.

Layers of mulch are laid between the rows of elite plantings, as it creates shade, which prevents the growth of dangerous weeds. When using mulch, water is saved, since organic elements laid on top of the soil artificially create shade. The need for loosening appears much less frequently, since the top layer of soil is saturated with substances that are constantly in a soft state.

Mulching is especially important in very hot weather, since it is thanks to it that the healthy appearance of plants is maintained, and sometimes their death is prevented. The top layer of this fertilizer allows you to maintain optimal humidity and temperature for the fertile soil layer, which helps plants to be healthy, grow and develop in ideal conditions.

Before the onset of autumn, mulching is also carried out. What it is can tell its purpose. In cold weather, it protects the soil from freezing, so seeds planted in the fall are preserved. Also, in strong winds or constant rains, mulching is used to protect the fertile soil layer from weathering or excessive moisture. This helps the plants to be well preserved for growth next year.

Various organic materials are most often used for mulching, but in some cases inorganic raw materials are also suitable. These are gravel, sand, plastic and plastic. Recently, materials made from polypropylene fibers have become popular, geotextiles are especially recognizable, as they are distinguished not only by their excellent quality, but also by their reasonable price. Carbon black is beneficial because it is able to absorb sunlight, which allows it to kill all the weeds that are located under it.

Benefits of Mulching

The beneficial effects that mulch has on plants:

1. Allows water to remain in the soil for a long time and be used only for its intended purpose, practically without evaporating under the influence of sunlight.
2. Reduces the number of weeds.
3. Prevents the soil from overheating too much in summer and freezing in the cold season.
4. Helps eliminate splashes that may contain harmful bacteria so they don't reach plants.
5. Prevents soil erosion.
6. It prevents the formation of a hard crust on the soil, which helps any incoming liquid to be effectively absorbed.
7. Leaves the soil loosened for a long time.
8. Plants that are surrounded by mulch form a large number of adventitious roots.

Mulching with peat

This substance allows you to maintain soil moisture for a long time, as it provides reliable protection from the effects of sunlight. The granulometric composition of the soil is practically unimportant, since almost any type of soil is suitable for mulching with peat.

Peat helps turn heavy soil into a fairly soft and loose one. It makes soil with a large amount of sand more cohesive and increases its ability to absorb and retain moisture. With its help you can carry out continuous mulching. What this is becomes clear when creating a homogeneous layer of soil, but in most cases peat is not ideal for this. Peat is great when you need to cover rows of garlic or vegetable crops with mulch when planting. It can be used both in autumn and winter.

A crust always appears under the peat, protecting the plantings from negative environmental factors. The material itself has dark outlines, so the plants are not subject to too strong temperature fluctuations, which is especially important in the spring.

Chips and bark

These materials are usually used as decorative finishing in beds, which allows you to avoid leaving the ground bare at any time of the year. It is recommended to use pieces of bark that are within 1-5 cm in size. Bark mulching is especially effective for fruit plants, including not only trees, but also shrubs. It has the most beneficial effect on raspberries of any variety.

Pine or spruce needles

Used for mulching strawberries. If it is placed tightly between all rows, it will help protect most bushes from gray rot. This dangerous disease cannot be transmitted from row to row, so even if infected with such a disease, a minimum number of plants will die. Also, when berries appear, this mulch helps keep them clean and fresh in appearance, even after heavy rain.

Manure

This material must first rot well. It is advisable to mulch the soil by mixing it with the soil layer, and not by laying it directly on it. If this is not done, many nutrients beneficial to plants may disappear. The most noticeable and significant are nitrogen losses.

Garden compost

This fertilizer is less effective than manure. It contains nutrients with which the soil structure is restored and renewed. With the help of this substance, its composition becomes more complete, and the material itself helps prevent both severe overheating and hypothermia.

Cut grass

This material is not always used for mulching, but is often used for gardens if a distance is laid between the rows, similar to the lawn method of maintaining paths. Mulching with grass is great for vegetable beds, but to do this, it must first dry completely in direct sunlight. If you do not wait for this, the grass will rot very quickly, which will make it useless, and the owners will have to remove substances with an unpleasant odor.

Mulching with grass can be done even with the help of ordinary weeds that have been dug out of the beds. You need to make sure that all these plants are small in size and young, since previously well-rooted weeds can take root again in the soil, which will worsen its positive qualities.

It is prohibited to mulch beds with weeds that have already passed the flowering period. It is advisable to use all grass for mulching where it will be most appropriate. There are many examples of wise use of waste from harvesting or weeding beds. When pinching tomatoes, unnecessary elements along with potato tops should be placed under gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes. These elements are necessary for all plants that are at risk of infection with fungal diseases.

Sawdust

They are excellent for garden plants, as well as for those crops that bear fruit for several years. Mulching with sawdust is not recommended for those plants that live only one year. This caution is due to the fact that sawdust can mix strongly with the soil when cultivating in the fall, which leads to significant oxidation and a decrease in the amount of nitrogen. It is advisable to use mulching with sawdust that has been tested for freshness, additionally using large quantities of ash and a variety of fertilizers that can saturate the soil with nitrogen.

Straw cutting

An excellent and common material used for mulching. Some of it is used in rural areas, since almost everyone has it, and if necessary, it is inexpensive to purchase. The disadvantage of this fertilizer is the increased likelihood of containing weed seeds, including in large quantities. Mulching with straw must be done using substances that contain a lot of nitrogen.

Nettle

This fertilizer contains a large amount of nitrogen and potassium, which effectively affects the growth and appearance of plants. Nettle as mulch helps rid them not only of diseases, but also of pests. The cut nettles are laid over the plants. It is usually used for small bushes, such as cucumbers, tomatoes or even potatoes.

By mulching with nettles, you can completely get rid of weeds or significantly reduce their germination and development. This plant is able to repel slugs and other insects, leaving the stems and roots of useful plantings unharmed. Mulching with nettles significantly softens the soil. It prevents erosion.

Properly carried out mulching of beds helps enrich the soil with useful substances and protect plants from many harmful influences. Depending on the crop being grown, different types of mulch are used.