If it smells bad then it's bad.
You have to learn of how to make fermented plant extract (FPE). First make KVAS and then put weeds there. Add some molasses and weeds. Ferment it a week or so. It has good smell so that you can drink it! Excellent stuff for sprinkling against pests and for watering.

Lots of things in the garden don't smell good but they are still good for the garden. And lots of us use various teas without getting into all the fermenting hassles.

Weed tea has always been a popular amendment with organic gardeners (check out the discussions about it on the Organic Gardening forum) - the theory being it returns to the soil the nutrients (minerals and micro-nutrients included) robbed from it by the weeds. Some further claim it repel pests.

It certainly can't harm anything and as long as the left overs get added to the compost pile and the compost gets added to the garden, good things will come from it. ;)

Dave

If simply put the weeds into the pail it will stink after few days. The reason of it is that it is caused by harmful microbes which produce toxins. Also nitrogenous compounds lost to the atmosphere. Harmful microbes multiply also. So, in the end you have a mixture of toxins and harmful microbes.

Fermenting works contrary. It is made by useful microbes. They consume toxins and produce useful substancies such as antioxidants which works for plants as magic wand. It has pleasant smell also. It is also very simple and cheap to make a process of fermentation.