
How to Make Stinging Nettle Fertilizer Tea to Feed Plants
It is almost spring, and that means the nettles are on their way! Do stinging nettles grow rampantly in your area? If so, youβre in luck. Because that means you have an abundance of free and fabulous fertilizer – right at your fingertips! Uh, gloved fingertips that is. Read along to learn about the benefits of stinging nettle, how to comfortably harvest it, and how to turn it into homemade fermented nettle fertilizer tea. The other plants in your garden will thrive in return!
What is Stinging Nettle?
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica, also known as common nettle or nettle leaf) is an herbaceous perennial plant. It usually pops up each spring, and easily spreads after flowering and going to seed. Nettle is native to Europe but now grows in damp fertile soils virtually throughout the world. If you’re foraging for wild nettles, look in shady and moist locations like along creeks.
Stinging nettle is often considered a βweedβ due to its promiscuous growth habits. It also catches a bad wrap as a bully (admittedly justified) by causing a painful itching and burning sensation to those who come in contact with the sharp hairs that cover its leaves. An inflammatory nettle rash is uncomfortable, but temporary and not dangerous. Furthermore, after reading about the stellar benefits of stinging nettle, perhaps youβll realize that nettle can be even more of an asset than a nuisance!

Health benefits of stinging nettle
Herbalists, naturopaths, and many organic gardeners recognize stinging nettle as a favorable plant to have around – given its numerous and well-researched healing properties. Compounds found in nettle make it excellent at fighting bacterial infections, reducing inflammation and arthritis, relieving pain, easing allergy symptoms, stabilizing blood sugar levels, and more. In fact, this natural nettle quercetin is the only βallergy pillβ I take – and I am quite sensitive to environmental allergens!
How to prepare fresh stinging nettles
In order to reap the benefits of stinging nettle, they need to be βde-stungβ first. (That is, if you want to consume them yourself). The best and easiest way to prepare fresh stinging nettle is to blanch them in water. The brief exposure to high heat neutralizes the stinging hairs. Rinse them afterwards, which doubles as washing them as well.
Now, you can enjoy the blanched and rinsed nettles fresh, juiced, added to soup, frozen, or dehydrated into tea or powder for later use. Nettles are delicious and earthy, like a cross between spinach and arugula. I suggest sautΓ©ing them in EVOO with salt, pepper, and even a little garlic or onion – much like you would kale or other leafy greens.
Okay, that is all fine and dandyβ¦ but isn’t this article about stinging nettle fertilizer? How does nettle benefit other plants?
Why Make Stinging Nettle Fertilizer Tea
As a vegetarian and avid organic gardener, I find it extremely rewarding to be able to create our own free and natural plant-based fertilizers. Plants feeding plants, if you will. For example, by making various botanical teas or fermented plant juice – which is what we are doing today. The process is even better when the plant ingredients come from our garden, or can be foraged for locally! We also like to routinely feed our seedlings, newly-planted trees and other plants with homemade aloe vera soil drench. Of course, composting at home is the ultimate way to create free organic fertilizer.

The benefits of stinging nettle fertilizer for plants
Stinging nettle belongs to a special group of plants referred to as βdynamic accumulatorsβ, which also includes yarrow, borage, fava beans, comfrey, dandelion, minerβs lettuce, and chickweed. Those βdynamic accumulatorsβ readily take up nutrients and minerals from the soil, and then store them in highly bioavailable forms and concentrations in their leaves. This makes nettles (and all other dynamic accumulators!) an excellent nutrient-rich addition to botanical teas, homemade fertilizers, mulch, or to a compost pile.
Scientific studies show that fresh stinging nettles leaves are loaded with high concentrations of vitamins A, C, D, E, F, K, P, and vitamin B-complexes, as well as large amounts of minerals including calcium, selenium, zinc, iron, magnesium and more. As a leafy green, stinging nettle is also high in nitrogen, chlorophyll, and plant polyphenols – all of which bolster plant health and stimulate growth. Plant polyphenols in particular are potent antioxidants, fight cancer, and boost the immune system.
While plants may not get arthritis or cancer in the same way humans do, plants do have an immune system – and can get sick! Therefore, the same compounds that make nettle awesome for human health provide many of the same benefits to plants. For example, plants treated with stinging nettle fertilizer are less susceptible to certain diseases due to nettlesβ anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Plants with a strong immune system are also less negatively impacted by pests or stress, such as drought, heat, or other unfavorable conditions.

SUPPLIES NEEDED TO MAKE NETTLE FERTILIZER TEA
- Stinging Nettle
- Prick-proof gloves. Thick leather pruning gloves (or similar leather alternative) are especially protective against thorns and nettles.
- Trimming shears or scissors
- Water, preferably un-chlorinated – such as collected rain water. To dechlorinate city tap water, either allow it to sit out in the sun in a bucket for 24 hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate, or use a carbon hose filter.
- Bucket with lid
- Stir stick
- A fine mesh strainer, cheesecloth, paint strainer bag, or nut milk bag.
INSTRUCTIONS
I will go ahead and air the dirty laundry now: fermented stinging nettle tea fertilizer stinks. Big time! So much so, that it’s sometimes referred to as βnettle manureβ. Or as I like to call it: Stinking Nettle Tea. Therefore, I strongly suggest you make your stinging nettle fertilizer outside somewhere and not in your garage or house. Please donβt let the funky aroma dissuade you from making nettle tea! But donβt say I didnβt warn you.
Steps to Make Stinging Nettle Fertilizer Tea
- Collect nettle in a bucket. We typically loosely fill a 5-gallon bucket. To harvest stinging nettle, you can either pull it out by the roots (if you donβt want it to grow back this season) or use scissors/shears to trim it instead. Wear gloves to protect yourself!
- In the bucket, chop the nettle into smaller pieces. Finer pieces equals more surface area for fermentation and the release of nutrients.
- Add enough water to cover the nettle in the bucket. It should be able to stir freely and not be overly thick.
- Set the lid on top of the bucket, but donβt seal it.
- Stir the brewing nettle tea once per day if possible. Bubbles should appear as you stir it.
- After one to two weeks, the nettle tea is finished brewing. A good signal that your fertilizer is ready is when it stops visibly bubbling after stirring. That means the nettle is no longer actively fermenting.
- Strain the nettle solids from the tea liquid. We do this by pouring the solution through a funnel lined with a reusable paint strainer (which we use to brew actively aerated compost tea) into another bucket. Compost the leftover strained solids.
- Store the finished concentrated stinging nettle tea in a bucket with a lid. Nettle tea fertilizer must be diluted before it is applied to the garden! Read instructions below.
- Use brewed nettle tea fertilizer within about 6 months.


How to Use Stinging Nettle Tea as Fertilizer
Nettle tea is very potent, and therefore needs to be watered down before using it to feed other plants in your garden. To dilute it into a usable fertilizer, mix 1 part brewed nettle tea to 10 parts water. For example, one quart of nettle tea to 10 quarts of water. We find it easiest to dilute and mix a small portion of nettle fertilizer in a separate container as-needed (immediately before use), rather than diluting a huge batch and storing it all.
Nettle tea soil drench
After diluting, simply water your plants of choice with it as a βsoil drenchβ, much like you would with other liquid fertilizers. The recommended dose depends on the size of the plant or container. A smaller plant or pot will be happy with just a cup or two. To feed larger plants or an entire raised garden bed with nettle tea, try applying it with a watering can evenly across the soil. When in doubt, start with smaller feedings, see how the plants respond, and go from there.
Feel free to repeat nettle fertilizer tea applications once every month or two, but not more often than every 3 weeks. Because of the odor, I personally avoid using nettle tea to feed houseplants – though it can be done! I stick to using compost tea or dilute seaweed extract indoors.

How to use stinging nettle tea foliar spray
In addition to feeding the soil and roots, you can also spray diluted nettle tea onto a plant’s leaves. When applied as a foliar spray, stinging nettle tea works as a strong insect repellent. The active compounds in stinging nettles are reported to deter aphids, mites, and thrips. Even more, plants readily absorb nutrients through the leaves, entering their vascular systems even more quickly than those taken up by their roots.
To make nettle foliar spray, be sure that your brewed nettle tea has been strained very well with a fine mesh strainer. Otherwise, leftover plant material will easily clog your sprayer. This time, dilute 1 part nettle tea to 20 parts water and add it to your sprayer of choice. It is best practice to apply any type of foliar sprays in the evening hours once the plant is out of direct sun. This reduces the risk of sunburn to wet leaves, and is the time when beneficial insects are least active. Spray the leaves until theyβre thoroughly coated and dripping.
Due to the funky odor, we generally avoid spraying leafy greens like kale or lettuce with nettle tea. Or, directly on to fruit and veggies. However, nettle tea foliar spray is excellent for things like hemp (before flowering), ornamental plants, or tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or fruit trees – before their fruit appears.

So simple, right?
In summary, plants that receive stinging nettle fertilizer tea will experience increased growth and resilience! Making your own nettle tea with homegrown or wild nettles is free, sustainable, and easy to do. I hope you enjoyed this article, and feel excited to go hunt down some nettles of your own! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below, and spread the nettle love by sharing this article.



43 Comments
Rema
Hi!
Good day,
I have question is it possible the neetle leaves itself can be mix on the soil as a fertilizer.
Thanks
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Rema, yes it can be used as a green manure of sorts, just be sure to keep the seeds out unless you want nettle sprouting up where you used the nettle leaves as fertilizer. Good luck!
Pam
Thanks for this article. You mention that nettles are anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. What effect will the nettle tea have on the creatures in the soil cycle? Is it best used as a foliar spray than directly in the soil? Should the strained leaves be kept out of a compost pile? I want to keep my population of beneficial bacteria and fungi high.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Pam, the tea will have no negative effect on the soil food web and will likely improve it. I think the beneficial bacteria and fungi will be unaffected as far as anything negative, most likely only positive. We mostly use the tea for watering in soil but if we are going to foliar spray we do it before the plants start to set fruit. You can compost the leaves after you make the tea but I would be wary of the seeds that are still left behind. Hope that helps and good luck!
Lucas J Salvetti
Hello,
Thank you for making this!! I have question, do I have to use stinging nettles or can I use the white vervain type of nettle to make fertilizer er for cannabis plants?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Lucas, essentially you can make this tea with any plant, some people even prefer any of the faster growing “weeds”. Depending on their availability in your area, comfrey, borage, and yarrow would be good options as well. Hope that helps and good luck!
Heather
Would prickly lettuce make a good fertilizer tea?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Although we have never used it, I would think that it would work just fine. It looks like it is in the dandelion family and is considered a “weed”, many people that use different FPJ’s (fermented plant juice) prefer fast growing weeds for fermented fertilizer. I would look into borage and comfrey as well if you have any growing around your area. Good luck!
Laura Brickell
I want to use the copious amount of nettles & comfrey I have on site but they are in full flower & seeds are forming. To date I have painstakingly chopped off the seed/flower heads of the comfrey before making tea but tbe nettles defeat me. Do I need to worry about it? Will the fermentation kill off the seeds or not? More worried about the nettle seeds.
Also I read not to feed roots veg & beans with nettle tea. Why not? Surely during the leaf growing stage it’s ok.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Laura, we have used nettle with seeds and after it is done fermenting, we strain the liquid through a paint strainer to get out all that remains of the leaf material and the seeds as well. It seemed to work as we didn’t have nettle sprouting up everywhere. You can probably still use the tea on those crops but they typically don’t need as much nitrogen to grow. Are you going to make two separate teas? As the comfrey would be great for fruiting plants and the nettle would be good for leafy green growth and plants before they start to flower. Hope that helps and good luck!
Khin Thandar Sint
Hi Deanna,
I went to forage some stinging nettle in my area and I accidentally snapped a flowering one and brought it home and put it in my tea. Now I’m freaking out that it will spread in my garden through the seeds from the flower… Am I over thinking? I have two little boys that likes to spend time with me in the garden and I wouldn’t want any stinging nettles spreading in my garden. Thanks!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Khin, use a paint strainer or milk nut bag to strain the solids from the liquid once it is done fermenting. This will likely trap and separate any of the seeds from your nettle fertilizer. Hope that helps and good luck!
Karli
Hi I am wondering what sort of plants I can feed my nettle tea monthly thankyou.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Karli, I mostly use nettle tea for flowering plants such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers etc. Thanks for reading and good luck!
Richard
Can I do a soil drench and a foiler application at the same time?
Or should I an alternate feedings?
Tia
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Richard, that should be perfectly fine as long as your foliar and soil drench are diluted to the appropriate strengths. Good luck!
Nadsa
Love your website that I stumbled upon looking for nettle tea fertilizer to use as foliar spray. How often do you recommend spraying the leaves? Thank you for the wealth of info you offer!
Nadsa
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Nadsa, we are glad that you enjoy the website and we appreciate you reading the content! It really depends on what type of plants you are intending to spray but I wouldn’t spray more than once a month and if you are intending to spray flowering plants, do so until they start producing fruit. Hope that helps and good luck!
Mel Pitre
How often would you suggest feeding your plants with the nettle tea?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hello Mel, once every month or two is sufficient, once every 3 weeks at the most. Good luck!
Renee Lim
Can I do this with Purple Dead Nettle?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hello Renee, I don’t see why you couldn’t as many plants can be used to “feed” plants. Dandelion, yarrow, borage, and comfrey could be used in the same way as well. Let us know how it works out for you and good luck!
Brian
Can you use dried stinging nettle, or does it need to be fresh?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hello Brian, give it a go as we make teas with alfalfa, kelp and or neem seed meal though it likely won’t be too fermented. Either make the tea the same way as we describe in the article (only you would be using dried nettle) or pulverize the nettle into a fine material and use 1/4 to 1 cup per 5 gallons of water and let sit for 48 hours or place the nettle in a fine mesh bag and aerate with a bubble snake for 24 hours and water or spray plants from there. Let us know how it works out for you.
S.T.
Hi. Did you try the dried nettles? How well did it work? (I don’t have fresh stinging nettle in my area and am a bit afraid to grow it for this purpose due to the dog.)