If you use weed/clipping tea as plant food: how long does it keep?

[ladrianmarie]

I ended up with a bunch of Ivy clippings today. I was thinking of making a fertilizer tea, but my plants are not quite sprouted yet. Is there a good way to store weed/herb tea so that it lasts a few months? Or is it better to wait and make something just before I need it. I was thinking of putting it in the freezer or fridge, but I'm not sure if that would remove the nutrients.

 

[Chuck]

There are 2 types of teas. Aeroated and leachate or non-aeroated tea. When an aeroated tea no longer has an oxygen supply it goes anerobic and all of the micro-organisms die and the tea become odiferous and not much good until more oxygen and carbohydrates are added. The object of a leachate is not to increase the micro-organisms but to add a very mild fertilizer to plants. Fertilizer or NPK from a leachate is very limited. The best leachates are from thistles and from Comfrey. I don't know the NPK values of Ivy or if it is measurable. It will last a long time if tightly contained. You will probably lose nitrogen but phosphorus, potash and trace minerals will still be in the water.

 

[ladrianmarie]

Thanks! My goal was to use the tea as a mild leachate fertilizer. But the instructions I read were unclear on this point.