[forest flame]

hi all
i was wondering if the nettle fertilizer would be suitable for winter pansies cyclamen and the likes.i noticed a lot of young nettles growing well due to the recent mild weather(though it is freezing today)and thought i would make a mix for my winter flowers. any advice as always greatly appreciated.

[dinahdabble]

Don't use any of the roots in ordinary compost at all, and don't put the seeds into the compost unless you are sure you know how to get a really hot mix of compost going. Nettles are not good for ordinary compost because they grow so well, however, most perenial weeds, including nettles can be used to make a lovely gunge to put arround your flowers.

This is what I do. I dig them out, roots and all. Really stuff a bucket, or large container - eg an old plastic bin with them, leaves and stems at the bottom, roots at the top. Pour a couple of kettles of boiling water over the roots. Cover the bucket for a week, then open it to the air, somewhere were it won't fill up and overflow with rain water. Make sure no nettles are sprouting upward from the roots, and if they are, scald them with more boiling water and then shove them under - drown 'em. Add used tea bags if you drink tea. Leave it for as long as it takes for the leaves to go black and squelchy, and start vanishing into the liquor. When it is really gungy, put it in a watering can or some in a jug and top it up with water not too much, just to make it a thin but nicely brown coloured liquid - Special Stout colour. Carfully tip it in a line between rows of vegitables, or a slurp hear and there a few inches away form the plants stems. If it is going to be used for watering plants in pots use a thinner mixture - just about apple juice coloured - more regularly.