There is a myth that liquid feeds are difficult to prepare and that they take a long time to be ready for use. This couldn’t be further from the truth. All you need is a container, material from which to prepare the feed and a small bit of patience. If you don’t have any suitable manure, don’t worry – there are other things that you can use. Some feeds can be ready for use in a couple of days; others may take two or three weeks.
Liquid manures
Cow manure is the lowest in nitrogen, phosphate and potassium of all the common animal manures, but it may well be the easiest to acquire. Horse and goat manure both have a good balance of nitrogen and potassium, which will boost leaf, root and fruit growth. You can also make liquid manure from rabbit droppings.
WARNING: Don’t even consider using cat or dog faeces.
1. Fill a small sack, or permeable bag, with animal manure – a generous half-bucketful is about right for using with a 180-litre/40-gallon container. If you are using poultry manure, use only a quarter of a bucketful to this size of container. Try to avoid incorporating too much straw or other bedding material – it will do no harm, but the liquid manure will be less concentrated.
2. Tie the top of the bag, using one end of a piece of strong twine. Tie the other end of the twine to a stout stick. The stick shouldn’t bend when the bag is suspended from it and it must be long enough to rest across the top of the container. A dustbin or plastic barrel is an ideal container, but you can use a bucket if you require only a small amount, scaling down the amount of manure appropriately.
3. Suspend the bag of manure in the container and then fill with water. If your container is to be kept outdoors, the top must be covered. I use a dustbin lid, with an elasticated ‘bungee’ strap to hold it in place. You can even use a large square of polythene with a stone tied to each corner. It’s essential that rain can’t get in but that you can gain easy access.
Suspend the bag of manure in the container
4. Poke the bag gently with a stick, or swirl it around occasionally, to help release nutrients into the water.
5. The liquid will be ready to start using within a couple of days, but it will get stronger if left for two or three weeks. It should be diluted with an equal quantity of plain water (until it looks like weak tea) and can then be poured directly around any vigorously growing crop.
6. As you use the liquid, you can add more water to the container. Keep poking and moving the bag of manure from time to time. This releases as much goodness as possible. Eventually, as more liquid is used and replaced, the manure in the bag will become exhausted. At this point the liquid will be quite light in colour and won’t need any dilution before use. At that point remove the bag of manure and either add the contents to the compost heap or use them as a mulch.
Comfrey and stinging nettles
These are both rich in minerals and make excellent liquid feeds. A bed of comfrey can be cut two or three times a year and nettles can be cut twice. Make sure you wear gloves to avoid skin irritation and try to cut before the plants start to flower.
1. Cut the nettle or comfrey stems about 5cm/2in above the ground.
2. Allow the leaves to wilt overnight.
3. The next day, pack the cut herb into a dustbin or barrel, pressing down firmly but not packing it solid.
4. Completely cover the plants with water and fit a lid on the container. You can draw liquid off after the first week, but it will reach full strength after three weeks. The leaves will be almost fully digested at this point, although the stems will take much longer to break down.
5. The diluted liquid can be watered around plants or used as a foliar spray. If you intend to spray, it’s worth filtering the liquid through a fine sieve, so that small bits of plant debris don’t clog the sprayer nozzle.
6. When the container is emptied, any sludge remaining in the bottom makes excellent feed for tomatoes and peppers.
Top Tip
An autumn cut of comfrey will make a brew to last through the winter. This can be used to give a boost to overwintered crops.
Urine
Urine is a ready-made liquid feed. Dilute it with twice the amount of pure water before use. Apply this around the roots of tomato plants for prolific crops. Ailing plants will often revive with this treatment. Don’t forget that urine added to your compost heap is an excellent activator!
Seaweed
Liquid seaweed concentrates are available commercially. It makes sense to buy an organic one and always dilute according to the instructions on the pack. Nothing is gained by making too strong a mix.
If you have access to fresh seaweed, you can make your own liquid feed. A bucketful of seaweed (washed up above the high-tide line and never pulled from the rocks) is all that you need.
1. Rinse fresh seaweed with clear water to remove any excess sand and salt.
2. Fill the container with water, so that the seaweed is covered, and leave the brew to stand. The seaweed will soon start to break down.
3. Stir every couple of days and start to draw off the liquid when it turns dark brown.
4. This is a high-potash feed. Dilute it with equal amounts of fresh water before using around peppers, aubergines and tomatoes.
Ailing plants of all kinds perk up when fed with liquid seaweed and it is always worth trying this remedy before giving up on any plant.
NOTE: Seaweed makes an excellent foliar feed.
Tea
Allow any unused tea to cool before adding it to pot-grown plants or growbags. You can also add used tea leaves or bags to any other bin where you are brewing a liquid feed.
A few general tips for using liquid feeds
• Most liquid feeds will be ready for use after a week, but they gain full strength after three or four weeks. If you are in a hurry, you can draw some liquid off after three days.
• A full-strength brew should be diluted with equal parts of water before application.
• Never apply liquid feeds to small seedlings.
• Don’t apply liquid feeds to dry soil.
• As you draw liquid off from the container, keep adding more water to top it up. Stop adding more water when the brew is the colour of weak tea.
• Try to keep one tub of liquid feed available at all times. Or better still, have two or three bins with different brews for use throughout the year.