Best Organic Feed for Flowers

Hi,

Generally I go for soil improvement over fertilizers, but as my fledgling garden is small I have to do most of my growing in pots, baskets and raised beds. So, in order to get the best blooms over summer and prolong flowering as long as possible, what organic fertilizers would people recommend? And how ofter should I feed?

Amongst other things I have jasmine, honeysuckle, passiaflora, foxgloves, salvia, marigolds, lillies, gladioli, sparaxis, limanthes, coneflowers, nigella, poppies, sunflowers, oxalis and dicentra.

Thanks

 

Stinging nettle juice

Cram as many stinging nettles into a waterbutt/large container and fill with water .... Leave for two /three weeks .... Use the Liquid across the garden to feed ....... Not much chance of over feeding .... Keep topping up the container with nettles and water ....

 

does nettle tea pong at all Doug? i've always wanted to try this myself but have always been a bit reluctant incase the bucket (or whatever you use to soak them in) might pong, i'd imagine soggy rotted leaves in stagnant water would be smelly surely we too have a small garden & i know from past experience that anything even remotely whiffy in it is gonna be a problem....which usually results in me getting a good clip round the ear

 

Nettle tea I have never tried tbh ... Nettle wine I have ..... Yum
The nettle fertiliser does need a lid .... Otherwise a slight odour .... Nothing awful like cow poo tho

 

Wicked! I already have a bucket full of comfrey and nettles steeping so will just step up the size of this venture. Thanks.

Oh and yeah, it stinks when disturbed, but little odour otherwise.

 

Not like Comfrey Tea does !! Nettle should be relatively innocuous in use.

Nettle Tea will be relatively high in Nitrogen, which will help things grow. I would suggest Comfrey Tea for flowering plants to give them some Potash. (If you don't have Comfrey and would like to grow it for a more longer term solution then make sure you get the sterile Bocking 14 variety - most allotment holders grow it, so you ought to be able to beg a few roots from someone with an allotment, and it "takes" very easily from bits of root.)

Blood, Fish and Bone would be a good "organic" fertiliser (I don't grow organically but if I did I doubt I would consider B,F&B to be "organic", unless it was "certified" by Soil Association as such. Most will come from abattoirs where slaughtered animals have been treated with steroids, antibiotics, and so on. "Organic" on the packaging means nothing unless it has Soil Association accreditation as well)

 

I have one big comfrey plant and we're surrounded by fields bordered with nettles, so I'll keep steeping a 50/50 combination of the 2 in water - that should work well to get a good balance of nitrogen and potash into the flowering plants, yes?

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Forgot to ask - should I be diluting this mixture with rainwater, or just sloshing all over as it is?

 

Dilute to the colour of weak tea.

 

I make this every year in a couple of 50 gallon ex-cold water storage tanks and you can overfeed vegetables (like onions) with it, let alone flowers. For veg I dilute to the colour of tea, but don't use on flowers.

 

Oh no! I was all set to get my weak tea vibe going all over the flowers, based on previous advice from Kristen....now I'm confused!?

 

Me too!

Maybe Scrungee was suggesting not to use Nettle Tea on Flowers as it is high nitrogen (which will encourage them to grow leaf at the expense of flowers). Some Nitrogen is needed though ... and in practice I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I wouldn't use only Nettle-tea on Flowers (i.e. it needs some Potash in it too - e.g. Comfrey)

 

Darn it, I thought Nettles would have the same characteristics as Comfrey. I've got some Nettle tea on the brew for my monster Onions. Looks like I need a re-think

 

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/nettle-liquid-feed.7760/#post-77914

I've seen Comfrey tea NPK quoted as 8-2.6-20.5 - I expect its a bit variable being home-made, but the ratio between the three ingredients is probably a bit of a guide. Never seen an NPK for Nettle Tea though, just read that it is higher in Nitrogen ...

 

Yes, because it was being suggested that it be made at maximum strength and without any mention of dilution: