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Corinna

how long will soaked nettle liquid keep?

I have 5 litres of nettle 'concentrate' in a plastic water bottle which i made last spring. is it still ok to use as conditioner or should i put it on compost heap?

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I would carry on using it, I doubt if it goes off. Maybe keep it out of direct sunlight just in case there is a slight chance of any breaking down of the nutrients caused by UltraViolet light. I have a a bottle of Comfrey Mulch liquid sitting next door t me and it's now over a year old and still smells the same.

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Thanks i have started using it to give cabbages a boost and will give it to fruit trres and roses too. Then I can start again with the fresh nettles coming up.

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-----------Hi Corinna,
I agree with Paul, it should be fine. The main problem occurs when it is stored in an unsealed container. It can then lose the Nitrogen as over time bacteria reduce it to Ammonia which escapes into the atmosphere. But being in a sealed bottle this will not have happened.

Give it a bit of a shake first to remix anything that may have dropped to the bottom during the storage time.

Neil.

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Thanks.

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What ratio do you dilute your nettle juice,Peter

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I'd do the same and just carry on using it. I have a similar system going where you drown any old weeds in a barrel in my case.. leave them to rot down and then use the resulting juice in a 50/50 ratio to feed pretty much anything. this has been brewing now for the best part of 5 years with no ill effect to the fruit and veg on my plot.

Incidentally I'm going to trial a nettle insecticide this year where you do pretty much the same thing as the feed by leaving an amount of young leaves in some water for a few weeks and then strain off the liquid ready for spraying on the pesky aphids/white fly. I'll keep you all posted on the progress.

Gaz.

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