Field horsetail contains many minerals. The herb, which is often decried as a weed, can be used to produce fertilizers and sprays to protect many plants. Field horsetail manure is used for fertilization, while horsetail broth combats fungal diseases.
How do you make field horsetail manure?
Field horsetail manure is made from 1 kg of fresh or 200 g of dried field horsetail in 10 liters of water, stirred daily and is ready when no more bubbles appear. The manure is diluted and used to fertilize many plants, except beans and peas.
Apply field horsetail manure
To prepare field horsetail manure you need:
- a tub (not made of metal)
- Field horsetail herb (dried or fresh)
- close-meshed net or old curtain
- Water (preferably rainwater)
- Bunny cover
For ten liters of manure you need around a kilogram of fresh field horsetail or 200 grams of dried herb. Chop up the horsetail and put it in the net or an old curtain. Then place it in the bin and fill it up to about six centimeters below the edge.
Stir the manure once a day. After a few days, bubbles appear, a sign that the manure is fermenting. Field horsetail manure is ripe when no more bubbles form.
Make broth from field horsetail
For one liter of horsetail broth you need 100 grams of fresh or 15 grams of dried horsetail. Crush the herb and pour rainwater over it.
Let the broth stand for 24 hours. The mixture is then brought to the boil and simmered gently for about 30 minutes. This releases the ingredients from the field horsetail.
After cooling, the broth is poured through a sieve and diluted.
Field horsetail manure as fertilizer for plants
You can fertilize many plants with field horsetail manure. It is only not suitable for mint plants such as peas and beans.
Dilute the manure in a ratio of 1:5 and pour the mixture around the plants. Be careful not to wet either roots or leaves directly.
You can give fertilizer from field horsetail once a month to strengthen yourself.
Field horsetail broth as plant protection for roses
Mix the cooled broth in a ratio of 1:4. Spray roses affected by powdery mildew and other fungal diseases with the mixture several times a day.
The broth also has a preventive effect as plant protection because the horsetail strengthens the leaves. To prevent powdery mildew, spray the plants once a week.
Tip
Unfortunately, when making manure from field horsetail, unpleasant smells arise. The smell can be reduced somewhat by adding stone powder, valerian or oak leaves.
