JADAM Weed Fertilizer Recipes

FruitBrute

FruitBrute

Well-known member
I am trying my hand at some JADAM weed fertilizer and have primarily gathered all of the weeds from my property for use in my homemade fertilizer. I will be letting it steep over winter for use in Spring 2026.

As I was driving today, it dawned on me that there might be potential in using the abundant amounts of field thistle that is present in my area. I think I will stay away from the thistles growing adjacent to any crop fields due to overspray from herbicides. There are many other places where these thistles grow in abundance that are uncultivated. It turns out that thistle has a deep taproot and is well suited for mining minerals and nutrients up from deep within the soil. It is also an abundant source of many different minerals and nutrients.

Has anyone ever tried using field thistle as the sole/main input for a home brewed weed fertilizer? If so, what are the pros and cons? I am not a plant scientist and do not want to introduce any toxic substances into my mixture.

What are everyone's recipes for home brewed weed fertilizer that work well? Do you use specific plant material as inputs for your mixture? I'm all ears at this point.
 
FruitBrute said:
I am trying my hand at some JADAM weed fertilizer and have primarily gathered all of the weeds from my property for use in my homemade fertilizer. I will be letting it steep over winter for use in Spring 2026.

As I was driving today, it dawned on me that there might be potential in using the abundant amounts of field thistle that is present in my area. I think I will stay away from the thistles growing adjacent to any crop fields due to overspray from herbicides. There are many other places where these thistles grow in abundance that are uncultivated. It turns out that thistle has a deep taproot and is well suited for mining minerals and nutrients up from deep within the soil. It is also an abundant source of many different minerals and nutrients.

Has anyone ever tried using field thistle as the sole/main input for a home brewed weed fertilizer? If so, what are the pros and cons? I am not a plant scientist and do not want to introduce any toxic substances into my mixture.

What are everyone's recipes for home brewed weed fertilizer that work well? Do you use specific plant material as inputs for your mixture? I'm all ears at this point.
Click to expand...
This is my first season using JLF and JMS.

I started my batch in a 30-35 gallon trash can last Fall and added flower and vegetable plants and leaf mold that would otherwise have been composted. I moved the trash can into the garage for Winter and added vegetable scraps during that time. Added grass, skunk cabbage and various prunings from Spring to current.

I use ~1.5 quarts per 4-gallon bucket a few times a month. I can’t say I’ve noticed any improvements in growth or production in any of my trees. My vegetable garden production is night and day better than last year, but that could have also been due to growing and tilling in mustard and frequent JMS applications before this season.

My last JLF application for the season in vegetable garden was a few weeks ago and today for the fig trees. I’m giving an ~30-day buffer just in case any harmful bacteria persist.
 
bushdoctor82 said:
This is my first season using JLF and JMS.

I started my batch in a 30-35 gallon trash can last Fall and added flower and vegetable plants and leaf mold that would otherwise have been composted. I moved the trash can into the garage for Winter and added vegetable scraps during that time. Added grass, skunk cabbage and various prunings from Spring to current.

I use ~1.5 quarts per 4-gallon bucket a few times a month. I can’t say I’ve noticed any improvements in growth or production in any of my trees. My vegetable garden production is night and day better than last year, but that could have also been due to growing and tilling in mustard and frequent JMS applications before this season.

My last JLF application for the season in vegetable garden was a few weeks ago and today for the fig trees. I’m giving an ~30-day buffer just in case any harmful bacteria persist.
Click to expand...

My first season as well. I am currently working with two blue colored, 12 gallon, sealable containers with a clamp style metal lock ring. Plans are to use a 16:1 Hozon siphon mixer brass hose attachment for injection into my water supply. I'll just drill a hole in the container lids big enough to stick the siphon tube though. Plans are to use my fertilizer at every watering all season. I'm hoping to either get more of these containers or something bigger that I can put on wheels to move in and out of the garage. Bigger containers initially seem prohibitive to me. Do you just dump water around roots for application? If not, what is your application method?
 
FruitBrute said:
My first season as well. I am currently working with two blue colored, 12 gallon, sealable containers with a clamp style metal lock ring. Plans are to use a 16:1 Hozon siphon mixer brass hose attachment for injection into my water supply. I'll just drill a hole in the container lids big enough to stick the siphon tube though. Plans are to use my fertilizer at every watering all season. I'm hoping to either get more of these containers or something bigger that I can put on wheels to move in and out of the garage. Bigger containers initially seem prohibitive to me. Do you just dump water around roots for application? If not, what is your application method?
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I hear you on larger containers. I had to dump a portion of the mix into the garden before my friend and I were able to carry the trash can up to the garage for Winter storage.

I have a colander wrapped with tulle fabric that sits nicely on a 4-gallon bucket. I dip a quart container in the JLF and add to bucket, then top off with water and lug it around the yard until everything is watered. Inground trees get half a bucket and potted trees and plants get around a quarter of bucket, vegetables get less.

Yes - I water around drip line of trees and plants. Thankfully, the smell dissipates in a matter of minutes.

Have you read up on JMS? For inground trees and plants, JMS appears to be a more well rounded option to increase soil biology which can also limit the amount of fertilizer required.

I’m no mycologist or soil biologist, but am cheap and willing to try anything to improve my soil conditions - jadam fits my criteria.
 
bushdoctor82 said:
Have you read up on JMS? For inground trees and plants, JMS appears to be a more well rounded option to increase soil biology which can also limit the amount of fertilizer required.

I’m no mycologist or soil biologist, but am cheap and willing to try anything to improve my soil conditions - jadam fits my criteria.
Click to expand...
I have been starting to read and study up on JLF/JMS. I decided to try the JLF side of things first. Didn't want to get overwhelmed, burned out, or seriously confused, so I just started small. Have watched a handful of YT videos on the subject.
 
FruitBrute said:
I have been starting to read and study up on JLF/JMS. I decided to try the JLF side of things first. Didn't want to get overwhelmed, burned out, or seriously confused, so I just started small. Have watched a handful of YT videos on the subject.
Click to expand...
I have been staring at that leaf so long. You had me confused for a second.
 
Still plenty of activity in the JLF container. I had help moving the trash can next to the garage so I didn’t have to dump any material out this year. Most of the contents added last year and this Spring are unrecognizable and have mostly decomposed. I’ll be adding some to my leaf pile/bin I’m building - other than that, it’ll continue to fester over Winter in the garage.

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I started a 60 gallon barrel of JADAM last fall. At the time of setting it up, I added Grass clippings (No worries about fertilizers in my yard), Weeds from around the back fence and creek area, Comfrey that I grow just for this purpose as it has the highest Nitrogen content. I then added ashes from my fire pit, a few dozen large pears that fell off my tree. I then add about a gallon of chicken manure (Talk about adding to the smell), then over the winter, I'll add potato peels or potatoes that are going bad same with bananas...... Lots of Bananas. I will sometimes find deals at the store where I can buy over ripe Bananas for .025 cents a pound. I stir mine about every 2 weeks or so....... The stench..... But I don't see it doing very much till the temps start warming up in the spring. Once the temps reach 70 ish, the solids are gone in no time. So this year, Im not going to start my new batch till spring as I feel that over wintering without the proper know how to make it last a long time, it can "Go Bad" and do more harm than good. I have no way of knowing this, but will study on it over the winter and see if my gut is telling me the truth. And, I also don't need 60 gallons of the stuff. Feeding 400 trees, I only used a little over half the barrel.
 
JLF is recommended to be used after a year of breakdown, though can be used in a shorter timeframe - it’s just less concentrated. Collect and add material in Spring to be used the following Spring.

The only caution I have with overwintering is if left outdoors the container may crack and waste the JLF - a garage and lid (for evaporation) counters that.

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