Plant tea
Plant tea is a natural liquid feed made by soaking nutrient-rich plants or organic materials in water.
Farming families learn how to make these simple fertilisers using locally available ingredients to help strengthen crops and improve growth.
It’s a sustainable way to nourish plants while reducing the need for expensive inputs.
'I train farmers how to make plant tea with soft leaves to top dress the vegetables. I also place a spring onion in each garden as a repellent crop. I do pure organic farming and we use only organic manure. I use a measure of two buckets of water to one bucket of plant tea so it doesn't burn the crops. I then pour it onto my crops. You add the plant tea to the soil with a cup.'
Florah, Peer Farmer trainer, Kenya
How to make your own plant tea:
- Chop up a mixture of soft, hairy and leguminous leaves (e.g. docks or nettles)
- Fill a bucket 3/4 full with the leaves
- Soak the leaves in the water
- Add a pinch of ash and stir
- Cover and leave
- Stir regularly until the leaves have rotted down (this may take a few weeks)
- Remove the leaves and put them on your compost heap
- Cover the liquid and leave in shade for 14 days
- Dilute the tea (one part tea to two of water) and pour a cup onto plant roots
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