Can I Use Old Tea Bags in the Garden? (Solved & Explained!)

If you have a lot of old tea bags sitting around in the pantry, throwing the bags out can feel like a huge waste, especially if you drink multiple cups in a day. You’ll want to know if there’s an alternative option for all gardeners.

You can use old tea bags in the garden. Tea bags are the perfect addition to fertilizer and compost since they add nitrogen to the soil. Remove the tea leaves from bags that won’t compose first; otherwise, putting them in your garden won’t do as much good.

There’s much more to learn about adding your old tea bags to your garden. They make an excellent fertilizer, as long as you use them correctly. Everything you need to know is below.

How To Use Old Tea Bags in Your Garden

If you already have your compost bin, adding the old tea bags will be easy. All you need to do is dig a small hole in the compost and add the tea. Then, care for the compost like you normally do.

However, if you don’t make your compost, you can still use all of your old tea bags in the garden. Dig a small hole near the plants you want to fertilize and apply the tea there. The tea boosts nutrients to the plant’s roots as it breaks down.

Adding tea to your garden is very simple. If you drink a cup of tea daily, you won’t have to throw out as much waste using this method. It would be best to switch to tea bags that use compostable bags, so you don’t produce any waste from drinking tea.

You can cut the bags open and apply the tea leaves near the plant’s roots. Doing so comes with plenty of benefits for the plants and the environment. 

Why You Should Add Old Tea to Your Garden

Tea is excellent for many different types of plants! Putting your old tea bags in the garden releases tannic acid and nitrogen into the soil. These ingredients fertilize the soil and help your plants grow. 

Tea even drives away pests- mice and many bugs hate the strong scent of used tea bags. Plus, tea can prevent some weeds from growing. Lastly, tea is excellent for preventing and controlling the growth of harmful fungus. 

Many plants love tea too! You’ll want to consider adding tea bags to your garden if you grow a lot of these plants:

• Some berry bushes
• Rhododendrons 
• Hydrangeas
• Azaleas
• Camellias
• Vegetables
• Herbs

However, tea adds a lot of acidity to the soil, so not all plants will like it. Dahlias, daisies, and carnations don’t like acidic soil- so they don’t like tea as a fertilizer. You should always test your plants’ soil before adding tea leaves because they’re certain to change the pH.

Nutrients in Tea Bags

Tea bags contain many different essential nutrients that your plants require to grow. These include:

• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Tannic acid (the ingredient that changes the soil’s pH)

All of these nutrients can benefit your garden in different ways too. Nitrogen makes up amino acids, which build proteins for the plants’ survival. Plus, it is an essential part of the chlorophyll in the plant.

Phosphorus is important for the plant’s health and energy, while potassium is great for increasing plant growth and yield. Magnesium is the nutrient that powers photosynthesis and gives the leaves their green pigment.

Lastly, tannic acid alters the pH of the soil. Your plants that enjoy acidic soil will get a boost from this ingredient. Plus, it includes antibacterial properties and is the ingredient that stops fungi from growing in the soil.

The Best Tea Bags for Plants

There are so many flavors of teas out there. Tea comes in a variety of flavors and can contain other ingredients. You’ll want to make sure that you only put tea bags in your garden that will benefit the plants.

The best teas are “true” teas without any other ingredients. Plain black tea and green tea are great examples of this. If the tea bag contains sweeteners or additives, you probably won’t want to add them to your plants.

Overall, plain tea bags are the best for plants. They can offer your garden the best benefits without any ingredients that could bring harm.

How Long Tea Bags Take To Break Down

If you remove the tea leaves from the bag and put them in soil, they don’t take more than a few months to decompose. However, the bags and the string can take much longer. You can expect it to take between three and six months for them to break down.

However, you’ll need to use a compostable tea bag. Some contain plastic, which won’t decompose in your soil.

What is a Compost Tea?

Compost teas are different from simply adding tea leaves to your established compost. Compost tea is a liquid compost. It also contains many nutrients for your plants and plenty of beneficial bacteria- exactly like the solid versions of compost.

You can even add your old tea to liquid compost. However, you won’t want it to only consist of your old tea. Compost does much better when it consists of various food waste and plant materials. Plus, having a healthy mix of organic materials in the compost helps break down tea bags and their strings.

So, while compost tea can have actual tea bags mixed in, it doesn’t technically need to. You can use this liquid compost similarly to the solid one- it’s all up to your preference and what helps keep your plants the healthiest.

Final Thoughts

In short, you can use your old tea bags in the garden. You’ll help reduce some of the waste you create and provide your plants with many different benefits. If you want your garden to thrive, tea is an excellent choice for a quick fertilizer. Just ensure the plants you grow won’t dislike the pH imbalance that tea can cause in the soil first.