Simon Tetlow, deputy head gardener at the famous Tatton Park Gardens, shows how to make liquid manure tea fertiliser, aka muck tea in this video. The beauty of this method is that you get all the benefits of a liquid chemical fertiliser, organically.
Making Muck Tea Plant Feed
It’s most commonly used with sheep muck which is great for tomatoes as it is relatively high in potash compared to cow or horse manure but muck tea works well with any rotted manure.As well as using rotted manure, this method can be used to produce a quick plant tonic from nettles. Whilst nettles are a real nuisance weed, the plant is actually wonderful for making compost or tea. All those stolen minerals from the ground.
See also Farmyard & Animal Manures to Improve Soil Fertility and NPK Nutritional Values of Animal Manures & Compost Etc
If you cut down a patch of nettles 3 times in the year, they will weaken and die. It’s slow for clearing but it is effective and provides free fertiliser.
Finally, you can make comfrey tea – there’s a lot of information on the main site about comfrey here: Growing & Using Comfrey Includes a a downloadable, printable leaflet on comfrey’s history, uses, cultivation etc.
I make “Pig Tea” for my veggies. My butternut squashes are like triffids now! Blinkin’ brill stuff.
Hi I have just watched your video on muck tea can you give me any information on using sheep muck instead of horse or cow muck
Many thanks
Mr Pickering
Just make it the same way as with horse or cow manure. Incidentally, if I remember right, sheep manure is rich in potash and very good for tomatoes and potatoes.
I have a number of differant barrels going at the same time ,
1 for comfrey
1 for nettles
1 for cow manure
i even have a bag full of dandelion,dock and nettle roots in a barrel.
when used i dilute 50/50
very informative and simple to follow.
Is it ok to use fresh sheep manure, I have plenty of sheep manure but it’s all fresh
yes – better in fact
A brilliant video, very many thanks indeed. Fantastic ideas all through the comments section, especially the sheep manure, almost on the doorstep! A huge thank you.
Very good video, very helpful, will be trying nettles
I can never seem to find information on how often to feed these liquid fertilizers ? Is it best to soak the plant or water the roots with them? Great video by the way . Thank you
Tamara – Water onto the roots, well the soil around the roots to be precise.
Can I use fresh horse manure to make muck tea?