By Luke Sumpter Reviewed by: Silvia Maroto

What's your take on stinging nettles? We're pretty sure we have a good idea about your opinion of this oft-misunderstood plant. However, we're about to change the way you view stinging nettles forever—from a botanical annoyance, to an effective companion plant and source of important plant nutrients.


What Are Stinging Nettles?

If you grow cannabis in a climate that receives decent rainfall, you’ll know all about stinging nettle[2]. This herbaceous perennial has the ability to interrupt your gentle stroll through the garden with a burning sensation within a matter of seconds. While native to Europe, parts of Asia, and western North Africa, nettle weed has made its way across the world, from North America to New Zealand. This resilient plant has a tendency to follow in the footsteps of human activity, and often pops up in disturbed areas such as roadside ditches and building sites.

The Latin binomial Urtica dioica describes the key characteristics of this fear-stoking plant. “Urtica” derives from the Latin word meaning “sting”, whereas “dioica” stems from Greek and translates to “of two houses”. The latter term denotes the dioecious nature of stinging nettle. Much like cannabis, plants are either male or female, as opposed to monoecious plants that possess both male and female reproductive organs. Female nettle plants feature flowers that hang downwards, whereas male nettle plants display flowers that point up at the ends.

Most gardeners know nettles for their sting. Similar to cannabis, nettles also possess trichomes that they use to defend against predators[3]. Upon contact, these spiky hairs pierce the skin and release a cocktail of formic acid, acetylcholine, serotonin, and histamine. This barrage of chemicals quickly causes swelling, bumps, and a stinging sensation. But nettles aren’t all bad[4]. Historically, the Romans are known to have consumed nettles[1], and they’re packed with terpenoids[5], carotenoids, fatty acids, and minerals.

STINGING NETTLE IS A GREAT COMPANION PLANT

Now that you’re more familiar with nettle weed, find out how you can use it to your advantage when growing cannabis.

The Benefits of Stinging Nettle for Cannabis

If you regularly grow cannabis outdoors, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of time attempting to eliminate every nettle in sight. Don’t worry, we completely understand! Nobody wants to spend every gardening session dodging sharp trichomes. However, nettles have their place in a cannabis garden. For one, they serve an important ecological role[6] as a food source for butterflies. Nettles also serve as a home for aphids[7], meaning they can tempt these hungry critters away from your cannabis plants. You’ll also find ladybugs patrolling nettle plants, meaning those aphids won’t pose an issue for long.

We highly recommend giving nettles a chance. This doesn’t mean that you have to grow all the nettles in a given place. However, leverage nettle intelligently, and you’ll see the health of your garden and the status of your plants take a turn for the better. What follows is an overview of the benefits of stinging nettle for your cannabis garden.

📈 Increased Terpene Production

Some veteran cultivators suggest that growing nettles in close proximity to cannabis plants results in higher levels of terpenes—the aromatic molecules that underpin the flavour and aroma of each strain. This theory comes from a claim made by fruit and vegetable gardeners that pollen from nearby nettles makes their harvests taste better—and the same could apply to weed. We need to wait for high-quality studies on this topic to confirm its validity, but we think it’s worth a shot!

🤐 Camouflage

Growing cannabis outdoors comes with a set of challenges, including keeping your plants hidden from snooping neighbours and would-be thieves. While there are many ways to keep your plants camouflaged, nettles are among the most effective (if you live in the right climate). These weeds are a common site in gardens across Europe, and they rarely attract attention. Importantly, they reach over a metre in height during the mid and late season, making them the perfect height to conceal stealthy autoflowers. You can recruit nettles to hide your weed plants by creating a perimeter around them, with enough room in the centre to allow adequate light penetration. The uninviting sting of the nettle barrier acts as an added bonus to turn off curious visitors.

🐛 Pest Control

Stinging nettle helps to deter pests in a couple of ways. The first, more passive method involves nettle working as a sacrificial or trap plant. This humble weed can help to divert pest traffic from b-lining towards your prized crops. Aphids have a penchant for munching cannabis, and they can inflict substantial damage if left to their own devices. However, these sap-sucking insects[8] also have a liking for nettle. Allowing these plants to occupy certain parts of your garden means offering pests a larger and more diverse vegetative banquet, reducing the likelihood of them solely targeting your weed specimens. Second, nettle makes for an effective natural insecticide[9] and fungicide for common pests and diseases, including mites, powdery mildew, and aphids.

🍃 Natural Fertiliser

Nettles contain a host of key plant nutrients—they are plants, after all. All of those nutrients are locked up inside their tissues when they’re alive and kicking. However, it only takes a few simple steps to convert living nettles into a nutrient-rich fertiliser that can benefit the health and yield of your cannabis plants. Nettle weed contains high levels of nitrogen, iron, and potassium[10]. Growers can administer these critical elements as a fast-acting foliar spray to maintain adequate nutrient levels and counteract deficiencies when they occur.

Stinging Nettle

How to Use Stinging Nettles in Your Cannabis Garden

Have we changed your view of nettles? Sure, you’ll still go to great lengths to avoid getting stung, but now you realise that you have an important, free, and effective resource growing in your own garden. To further your appreciation for this stinging weed, we’ll show you two ways to harness nettles to the benefit of your cannabis crop.

1. Companion Planting

Companion planting, as the name suggests, involves growing beneficial plant species in close proximity to other crops to reap certain rewards. Stinging nettle flowers produce nectar that beneficial insects find irresistible; this weed will bring pollinators to your garden to keep other plants thriving. On top of this, nettle weed will draw aphids away from your cannabis, and ladybugs will swiftly arrive at the scene to neutralise this annoying pest.

Because nettles grow so densely, you can also use them as windbreaks and shading. If your region experiences frequent heat waves in the summer, position a wall of nettles in a manner to filter the afternoon sun. Likewise, you can plant nettles as a barrier against strong winds that gust through during the spring and autumn.

Before you get carried away, know that nettles are called weeds for a reason. These plants spread underground via their rhizomes, and can quickly take over a cultivation area[11]. If you don’t have the time to stay on top of this proliferative plant, consider growing them in pots to keep them contained.

2. Nettle Fertiliser Tea

Of the various uses of stinging nettle, fertiliser tea steals first place. Instead of viewing a patch of nettles as a problem, see them as free fertiliser that can reduce your dependency on bottled products. Before slashing them down and throwing them onto the compost pile, check out the nettle tea recipe below to nourish your plants and keep pests at bay.

What You’ll Need

• Stinging nettles (enough to loosely fill a 20l bucket)

• Thick gloves

• Trimming scissors

• Chlorine-free water (preferably rainwater)

• 20l bucket with lid

• Stir stick

• Straining bag

Directions

  1. Use your gloves and scissors to carefully harvest a bunch of nettles. Cut each nettle into roughly 10–15cm-long sections.
  2. Loosely fill the bucket with chopped nettles, and top up with water to around 5cm below the brim.
  3. Place the lid loosely on the bucket to allow air to move in and out.
  4. Stir the contents of the bucket once each day for two weeks.
  5. After two weeks, anaerobic fermentation will have broken down the nettles and released valuable nutrients into the solution.
  6. Strain the solution through a bag and into a clean bucket.
  7. Mix 1 part nettle tea to 20 parts water before applying as a foliar spray, or 1 part tea to 10 parts water for a soil drench. Store the bucket in a cool and dark place. It’ll keep for the next 6 months.

Stinging Nettle Tea

Stinging Nettles — A Great Cannabis Companion Plant

You’ve always viewed nettles as a botanical enemy. They’ve done nothing but sting your shins and forearms while you innocently tended to your garden. Gone are the days of this rivalry. You now recognise the benefits of having nettles in the garden. So long as you strive to keep them under control, they’ll serve as effective companion plants and a source of free fertiliser for years to come.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: