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Cranbourne Lawnmowing
16-08-2009, 12:52 PM
:wave-hi: I have some bags full of grass and weeds that were left sitting in the rain for a couple of days and started fermenting. They stink but
I have them sitting in a trailer and there is a lot of dark brown liquid leaking out.

Now apparently you can use stinging nettles to make a great fertilizer.

So I'm wondering whether these bags full of grass and weeds could be used to do the same thing or would I need to be selective with which weeds are in there.

Has anyone got any thoughts or knowledge on this?

DavidS
17-08-2009, 06:46 AM
You can make fertilser from just about anything organic.
If the weeds and grass are in a bag and are giving off a juice, you can use this juice as a "tea", just add a little water in watering can and pour over plants, it acts as a folar feed. If you leave the grass and weeds in the bags, keep turning the bag over every few days, for a few months, you can actually make compost out what remains. Large black plastic bags with a few holes in to let gasses out work the best. Just check the pH of the compost before you put on the garden, it can be a slightly acidic, so don't put around plants that like alakaline soil.
If you want to get the compost working harder just add a couple handfuls of dynamic lifter to the black bags, make certain they stay in the sun as long as possible during day. This method like any composting, takes longer in winter than summer. I have had compost from bags in 5 weeks in summer.

glassngrass
17-08-2009, 06:57 AM
If you use dark plastic bag the build up of heat from being left in thesun will be greater, 'cooking' any wee seeds and greatly speeding up the decomposition.

Cranbourne Lawnmowing
19-08-2009, 04:19 PM
At the rate the liquid was running out of my trailer I should of put some buckets in the right places. Would have enough liquid fertilizer to last the next 2 years.

Garage floor is a mess :(

Glenofcarwoola
02-09-2009, 10:14 AM
You can also put the weeds into a tub/bucket of water for a few weeks and then use the liquid as a fertilizer and put any solids (more like mush) onto your compost pile. Stinging nettle makes great fertilizer because it has a great composition of minerals and trace elements. The nettles only grow in soil that is high in Nitrogen and lose their ability to sting in a couple of days of being pulled up.