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Tea bags for fertilizer


Tea Bags As Fertilizer - Tips On Using Tea Bags In Compost

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Compost Ingredients

By: Amy Grant

Image by Christian Dahlhaus

Many of us enjoy coffee or tea on a daily basis and it is nice to know that our gardens may enjoy the “dregs” from these beverages as well. Let’s learn more about the benefits of using tea bags for plant growth.

Can I Put Tea Bags in the Garden?

So, the question is, “Can I put tea bags in the garden?” The resounding answer is “yes” but with a few caveats. Moist tea leaves added to the compost bin increase the speed with which your pile decomposes.

When using tea bags as fertilizer, either in the compost bin or directly around plants, first attempt to identify if the bag itself is compostable– 20 to 30 percent may be composed of polypropylene, which will not decompose. These types of tea bags may be slippery to the touch and have a heat-sealed edge. If this is the case, slit open the bag and discard in the trash (bummer) and reserve the damp tea leaves for composting.

If you are unsure about the makeup of the bag when composting tea bags, you can toss them into the compost and then pick the bag out later if you are feeling particularly lazy. Sounds like an extra step to me, but to each their own. It will be patently obvious if the bag is compostable, as the worms and microorganisms will not break down such a substance. Tea bags made of paper, silk, or muslin are suitable composting tea bags.

How to Use Tea Bags as Fertilizer

Not only can you compost tea bags as fertilizer in the compost bin, but loose-leaf teas and compostable tea bags may be dug in around plants. Using tea bags in compost adds that nitrogen-rich component to the compost, balancing the carbon-rich materials.

Items you will need when using tea bags in compost are:

After steeping each successive cup or pot of tea, add the cooled tea bags or leaves to the compost bucket where you keep food waste until ready to place in an outdoor composting area or bin. Then proceed to dump the bucket into the compost area, or if composting in a worm bin, dump the bucket in and cover lightly. Pretty simple.

You can also dig the tea bags or loose leaves in around plants to utilize the tea bags for plant growth directly around the root system. This use of tea bags for plant growth will not only nourish the plant as the tea bag decomposes, but aids in moisture retention and weed repression.

The beauty of using tea bags in compost is that many of us have a serious habit that requires daily doses of tea, providing ample contributions to the compost pile. The caffeine contained in tea bags used in compost (or coffee grounds) does not seem to adversely affect the plant or raise the acidity of the soil appreciably.

Composting tea bags is a “green” method of disposal and terrific for the health of all your plants, providing organic matter to increase drainage while maintaining moisture, promoting earthworms, increasing oxygen levels, and maintaining soil structure for a more beautiful garden.

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Can You Use Tea Bags In The Garden [7 Ways] #3 Brilliant!

Here’s a question for you! Have you ever asked, “what to do with used tea bags”? Do used tea bags have any uses in the garden?

What’s garbage in the kitchen can actually turn into treasure in your garden! Coffee grounds and tea bags are both famously brilliant when it comes to their unique uses.

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Table Of Contents

  1. Can Teabags and Tea Leaves Be Composted?
  2. For Hair And Skin Application
  3. Tea Bags In Gardens Helps Your Lawn
    • Lawn Repair Tip:
  4. Try Used Tea Bags For Plants And Fertilizer
  5. Reusing Tea Bags On Plants In The Garden
    • Make An Overnight “Tea Brew” For Acid Loving Plants
  6. Organic Control For Root Maggots
  7. Dry Tea Bags Out And Create Plant Enrichment

Once done with your morning or afternoon tea, just place any of the tea bags from your cup into a clean storage container for later use.

Tea bags are especially versatile. If you ever asked yourself the above questions on used tea bags, it is time get your answers.

You can use the whole teabag or just the loose tea leaf inside, both have their uses in your garden environment or even in your house, when it comes to caring for your potted plants.

Using tea bags is not a miracle method, just an efficient and green way of caring for your garden a little better. Heavy tea drinkers, pay attention here are a few uses for tea bags!.

Can Teabags and Tea Leaves Be Composted?

Old tea bags and tea leaves are not only great for your seeds but they can actually serve as excellent organic fertilizers, provided that the bag itself is compostable. We already talked about their ability to hold water.

Thanks to composting tea bags, they will speed up the composting process, allowing you to use the compost much sooner.

This, however, can backfire. Tea bags made from polypropylene, unfortunately, will not decompose and you do more harm than good with this method.

How do you know of a used tea bag is compostable? If a tea bag is slippery, do not use the bags in compost.

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A slippery material with heat-sealed edges will likely be polypropylene, and therefore not compostable. If it’s not polypropylene, you can use it because worms, bacteria and other microorganisms will break it down with relative ease, making your ground healthier more organic.

While helping out in constructing a compost pile, you can use Some gardeners use coffee filters in the bottom of their pots to keep the soil from running out.

But you can also place used tea bags in the bottom of a pot, covering the drainage holes or placing the bags on top of the drainage layer if you use one. The used tea bags will help keep roots moist and retain some water.

For Hair And Skin Application

A brewed strong tea may help the used tea bag serve another purpose. But after you brewed it for the second or the nth time, you can still use it on different parts of your body. After a nice cup of your leaf tea, ready your tea basket to hold your overused tea bags.

Used pre-brewed tea bags can become a deodorizing hand scrub. After working on smelly ingredients in your kitchen while having a cup of tea, you can just rub the used pre-brewed tea bags against your hands.

This will remove the scent of garlic, onions, ginger, and even fish! Whether you want to wash your hands with water or not, it will now depend on you.

Add warm water to the used leaf tea bag and soak your feet. The warm water and the remaining components in the dried leaves can neutralize bad foot odors, soften calluses, help heal wounds faster, and nourish your dry skin. Have a cup of tea while waiting for a few minutes.

Boil water and let it cool for a bit. This time, you’ll use the pre-brewed tea bags in an antioxidant bath. Whether it’s a weak tea or strong tea, used or not, the tea bags still contain a sufficient amount of antioxidants good for your skin.

Let the hot water produce brewed tea and include a fragrant tea like jasmine for additional aromatherapy effects.

Apart from the antioxidant content, the herbal components of teas also holds anti-inflammatory properties. It reduces inflammation that can heal razor burns, sunburned skin, stings, wounds, and bruises.

You can also use it to remove dark circles, relax your tired eyes, and free your exhausted body from discomfort. You may grab a cup of tea while trying to soothe your irritated skin.

Tea Bags In Gardens Helps Your Lawn

The quality of your lawn depends on multiple factors. The weather, where you live, the watering and even your garden’s very own eco-system!

What kind of trees and plants you have, how you take care of those, which insects you lure in with your everyday garden activity, anything and everything.

As a result, sometimes you have to deal with bald spots on your lawn. Replanting those spots with grass seeds is not always easy, as you can’t just dig up the ground and scatter them.

Thankfully, that doesn’t mean you cannot corrects the spots and that is where teabags come into the picture. Teabags are great because they can hold moisture.

Lawn Repair Tip:

Use tea bags to patch or repair bare spots in your lawn. Simply take a used teabag that is moist, place in on the spot and sow with grass seed. The teabag provides moisture and gradually over time will decompose. As an FYI, some gardeners soak their grass seed in liquid composted tea before sowing.

Try Used Tea Bags For Plants And Fertilizer

You can also “dig” teabags in the close vicinity to your plants, using them as fertilizer for plants.

This works because as the bags decompose, during this process they will emit nutrients such as nitrogen, making the close environment rich in nitrogen, which is key for your plants.

If it’s close to the roots, it’s even better.

This is a great method not just because it works, but also because it’s considered to be “green”, meaning it’s a sustainable way of helping your garden.

This alone probably does not reduce your carbon footprint on the planet, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Reusing Tea Bags On Plants In The Garden

Uses for old tea bags:

Make An Overnight “Tea Brew” For Acid Loving Plants

Some teas contain adequate acid levels. Black tea, white tea, green tea, and oolong tea contain tea tannic acid.

This phenolic flavor compounds or tannins give some drinking teas an astringent and slightly bitter taste. You can set the used tea bags aside and give the brewed tea to invigorate some plants.

Tannins, used to tan leather and other products, also make a great addition if added to the soil or compost pile in the form of tea grounds. Tannins help convert the soil to become an ideal place for acid-loving plants.

Leave used teabags in water overnight. Use the “brew” to water acid-loving plants like, Azalea bushes, ferns and hydrangea plants. DO NOT use tea that has been mixed with sugar or cream!

Organic Control For Root Maggots

Some maggots and worms have positive benefits. In fact, some of them are crucial to your garden’s eco-system. There are some, however, that don’t really do any good.

In fact, they make matters worse. For them, teabags can be a discouraging factor. It doesn’t work for all types pests though. I believe it’s the tannic acid in tea that sends them packing!

Still, since it’s good for the plant anyway (we talked about the nitrogen rich ground), it doesn’t hurt to try it and bury them near the roots of your plants or as we said in your compost.

Make sure you don’t hurt the root though, it’s ideal to do this process slowly, so you can see the roots before it would be too late.

Related: Are Coffee Grounds Good For Lawns?

Dry Tea Bags Out And Create Plant Enrichment

You can also dry the teabags out and take out the leaves if they are not compostable, or crush (maybe blend) them. The next step is adding some chelated iron for plants into the mixture.

The best delivery method for this is a crushed iron pill. You can get iron pills at your local pharmacy. Crush them into powder.

The next step is to mix the iron powder with the tea leaves before adding water to them. Once you added the water (around 500 ml or 17 fl oz), let it sit a little until all the stuff dissolves.

It’s usually enough to wait around 4 or 5 minutes and you are good to go. The last step is using the mixture.

This is very easy, all you have to is simply pour the mixture onto the soil. It can be a potted plant or anything in your garden you feel would deserve a little boost.

After a few weeks and the plants have “taken up” the tea/iron mixture, then you should see increased vigor, flowering quicker, and more along with just being more healthy overall.

Brewing tea as a fertilizer: myth or reality

The use of tea as a fertilizer can be heard everywhere, although opinions on this matter are divided. Let's try to understand the current situation.

Beginner gardeners and gardeners are often advised by experienced neighbors to pay attention to fresh tea. There is an opinion that flowers, vegetables, and berries can grow several times larger if, from spring to late autumn, it is applied to the soil.

In part-time farms, used tea is used as mulch and sprinkled under various plants. However, for this, during the winter period, it is necessary to collect a sufficient amount of used tea leaves, and this is the biggest difficulty.

Recall that mulching is the surface covering of the soil with a layer of mulch to improve its properties, using organic fertilizers and a variety of materials. Mulching has become widespread in most parts of the world.

Mulch fights weeds: a 5 cm layer reduces their growth by several times. Weeds do not receive enough light under the material and die.

Mulching reduces the evaporation of moisture from the soil, and its top layer remains loose. In heat and drought, mulch protects plants from death: it does not allow the topsoil to overheat. Mulching is also used in autumn to protect the soil from weathering and freezing. Mulching is one of the most effective ways to keep plants healthy.

As organic mulch, in addition to dormant tea, hay, straw, leaves, bark, sawdust, decomposed compost, as well as paper and cardboard are used. Inorganic mulch is also used: stone, gravel, sand. We do not recommend using rubber and plastic, as it is almost impossible to check their chemical composition. Recently, non-woven materials have also been used.

However, it must be remembered that sleeping tea as a mulch attracts insects, worms and birds that use it as food.

Of course, it is necessary to add dormant tea when planting outdoor flowers, laying it on the bottom of the pot, on the drain. Rotting tea leaves give plants additional nutrition. Rose bushes also like top dressing from sleeping tea, including diluted with water. Ferns, however, it is extremely necessary. The only thing to remember is that the tea leaves used as fertilizer should NOT be sweetened . Sweet tea leaves will be a bait for ants and various insects that do not benefit plants.

Drinking tea has many health benefits. So, for example, in the tea leaf there are tannins that are necessary for the full development of plants. These substances are acidic in nature and have a remarkable property of reducing the ability to rot. Using it for its intended purpose, you will undoubtedly be satisfied with the results.

The use of sleeping tea as a fertilizer is also evidenced by the fact that it makes the earth, especially clay, lighter. Added to the sand, it, like plant residue, enriches the soil. In addition, plant waste holds moisture well in the sand. The advantage of sleeping tea is the neutralization of alkaline soil. The downside is the creation of favorable conditions for the catastrophic reproduction of soil flies, although this applies mainly to potted crops.

However, many gardeners and horticulturists consider drunk tea to be a neutral substance that does not bring any benefit or harm. And they believe that sleeping tea cannot be called a fertilizer in the full sense. This is just an additive, a soil filler, its baking powder.

Use tea leaves as a fertilizer as an infusion (1 cup dry used tea leaves per 3 liters of boiling water). Gladiolus, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers respond well to dry sleeping tea - add to the wells immediately before planting. Before sowing seeds with tea, fertilize the soil at the rate of 500 g per 1 sq.m.

So, drunk tea causes controversy among gardeners. We have given all the pros and cons and encourage you to experiment, observe and share with us the results of your own experiences.

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7 Ways to Use Sleeping Tea in the Garden

If you are a gardener and drink tea regularly, you must have wondered at least once whether the spilled tea leftovers can be used in the garden. And we are talking not only about the classic leaf tea leaves, but also the remnants in used tea bags. In fact, the answer is simple: you need to use sleeping tea!

Tea bag on a saucer

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? Of course, before storing tea leftovers, you need to dry them properly so that mold and fungus do not start on them. If you prefer sweet tea with sugar, then the tea residues will also need to be thoroughly rinsed before drying.

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Use of used tea leaves in compost

This is probably the easiest option. If you live in a house with a yard, then you can immediately take out the tea you have drunk into the compost heap. The old brew contains a large amount of nitrogen, as well as tannins, which accelerate the fermentation process.

Do not forget to remove all synthetic and metal elements beforehand (metal clip on paper, some bags are made of artificial nets).

Infusion of tea as a fertilizer

Drop old tea residues mixed with wood ash in the stem circles of cultivated plants. Nitrogen from such top dressing will be given slowly, and therefore the effect of the use of sleeping tea will be long-lasting.

Dried old tea leaves can also be added to planting holes. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and gladioli respond well to such tea dressing.

Sprinkled seedling tea

Used tea bags are a good alternative to costly peat seedling pellets. To do this, carefully open the top of the bag, pour a little universal soil there and plant the seeds.

At the time of picking, the seedlings are transplanted to a new place directly in bags, without injuring their fragile root system (for bell peppers that are afraid of transplants, this method is especially relevant!).

Soil Improvement

If you have a lot of dormant tea, use it to improve soil structure and fertility. It is advisable to add 500 g of used tea per 1 m2 (or infusion - 1 cup of dry tea per 3 liters of boiling water).

You can experiment and enrich 1 bed with used tea leaves, and then compare the results and draw final conclusions. Old tea neutralizes alkaline soil.

Rubbing houseplant leaves

Houseplant care. Use used tea bags to wipe houseplants. So you will not only wipe off the dust from them, but also perform a kind of foliar top dressing.

A tricky way to sow small seeds

Mix 1 tsp. parsley, carrot, basil or nigella seeds with 1 cup dry tea leaves before sowing. As a result, seedlings will be more uniform, which means that you will have much less trouble with their subsequent thinning.

Welding as a mulch

This method is only suitable for open ground, which is ventilated and heated by the sun. Evenly distribute the dried old tea leaves over the surface of the bed.

This method is contraindicated for indoor flowers, mold and midges may appear (especially from sweet tea leaves).

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