There's manure to do!
To garden naturally and respect the environment, it is necessary to apply alternative solutions to the use of phytosanitary products. Some plants can replace synthetic products and be used as green manures, directly in the planting hole or as ground cover, or even in the form of manure, sprayed or watered.
Purins are fermented extracts of plants that act as stimulants or repellents and allow to fortify plants and protect them . Indeed, the plants that are used in manure, decoction or infusion – because depending on the plant used, the mixture must sometimes be boiled – are plants rich in trace elements, organic elements and mineral elements. The substances present in the plants are released into the water through maceration and fermentation.
Gardeners' favorite plants for making manure are nettle, comfrey, horsetail and ferns, but you can You can also make manure from tomato, rhubarb, mugwort, compost and even slug.
Horsetail and nettle, considered weeds, find an interesting use here for the gardener adept at natural techniques.
To make manure, the recipe generally consists of macerating 1 kg of coarsely chopped fresh plants in 10 liters of water for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the ambient temperature. Recipes vary somewhat depending on the plant used. The manure diluted to 10-20% can then be sprayed on the ground and on the plants, or used to water the base of the plants.
There are few scientific analyzes made to date on sewage and other decoctions. To determine the positive action of slurry, we can base ourselves essentially on the long experience of gardeners and on the – rare – studies of certain organizations such as FREDON, INRA, etc.
Nettle slurry, rich in nitrogen, has a regulating effect on iron and nitrogen in the soil. Depending on its maturity, nettle manure has a fertilizing action by stimulating plant growth or an insecticide or insect repellent action with a maceration of less than 3 days (with a longer maceration, the effect fades). Horsetail, rich in silica, strengthens plants that are more resistant to cryptogamic diseases, diseases caused by microscopic fungi.
In any manufacture of liquid manure, it is important to respect the following points:
– use rainwater and not tap water which contains chlorine;
– mix it in a container made of wood or plastic, but not metal;
– carry out a filtration very thin using a cloth to avoid any residue and to be able to preserve the product;
– store your manure in opaque bottles filled to the top (most practical being to use liter plastic milk bottles) and in a cool place.
The only downside may be the smell due to the fermentation process. It's about coming to terms with it.
If collecting plants from the wild, avoid roadsides or treated fields .
Tomato manure is very interesting for those who cultivate a vegetable garden:it is an excellent way to recycle the tomato leaves after having removed the suckers. Tomato manure is used as a preventive against leek moth , flea beetles and imported cabbageworms and as a cure for aphids .
Using plant macerations means committing to a “natural” management of your garden. It means using alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides, the side effects of which are sometimes dramatic. It is also to trust to Nature at the service of Nature.
co-editor:Myrtille Vanardois / Daniel Lys
