It has become a common practice for those who drink a lot of tea to burry their tea bags in a garden or other outdoor area, but what exactly are the benefits of burying your tea bags?
Tea bags are compostable, eliminating waste by burying your tea bag instead of throwing it out. Moreover, tea bags help keep pests from chewing your flowers and vegetables. Burying your tea bags can reduce weeds, and black and caramel can fight fungus from developing on your plants.
Let’s discover other benefits you can expect from burying your tea bags, from protecting your plant’s roots from fungus to encouraging earthworms to make your garden their home.
7 Reasons to Bury Your Tea Bags
If you are a gardener and a lover of tea, burying your tea bags can benefit both of your hobbies. Here are just some of the benefits you can expect by getting into the habit of burying your tea bags.
Tea Bags are a Natural Fertilizer
The tea leaves have tannic acid and nutrients that are an excellent natural fertilizer for your garden. As the bag and leaves decompose, those nutrients and acid get into the soil, which can help retain water. You can even use any leftover tea you aren’t going to drink and pour it over your plants to give them some nutrients.
Tea bag fertilizer is excellent if you have any flowers in your garden. While it can help with vegetables and herbs, it will also help your flowers bloom nicer and more consistently.
Some plants that love tea leaves are:
- Roses
- African violets
- Hydrangeas
- Rhododendrons
Tea Bags Deter Pests & Pets
Burying your used tea bags is a great way to deter pests from eating and destroying your plans. You can also brew the used tea bag to make a weak tea and then pour that over the leaves of your plants which will get rid of pests like mice, spiders, and other insects.
Even cats don’t like the aroma coming from the tea bags, so you can use that to help keep your pets from getting into your planters or even urinating on your plants indoors and outdoors.
Tea Bags Reduce Weeds
Burying your two bags not only helps your plants to grow but also reduces weeds. The acids in tea bags will determine weeds from sprouting up all over the place.
Tea Bags Fight Fungus
Black and chamomile teas are a great way to fight off a fungus. You can either use the tea bags or make a weak brew with the used tea bags and spray the water on any indoor or outdoor plants you have.
Tea Bags are Excellent Compost
Adding compost to your garden is a great way to introduce different nutrients and bring more life into the soil. Because tea bags contain acids, this can help your compost pile compost quicker. You’ll have to ensure that you have keys that don’t have polypropylene which isn’t compostable. If unsure, you can always take the tea leaves out of the bag.
Tea Bags Feed Earthworms
Earthworms are essential in fertilizing and aerating your garden. Burying used tea bags in your garden not only helps your plant’s Roots but it’s also a good food source for earthworms and will encourage them to make your garden their home.
Tea Bags Help Hold Moisture
If you have scorching and dry weather where you live, burying tea bags around your plant’s Roots is a great way to help retain water in your garden. Tea bags are great at holding on to moisture, so they act as little packets to keep moisture by the roots of your plants.
Tea Bags Help Get Rid of Bare Spots
The benefits of burying tea bags go beyond just your garden and can also help with those grass patches that never seem to grow as well as the rest of them. If you have dry or dead patches in your grass, then you can bury some tea bags in that area to help give nutrients to the soil and allow it to hold moisture.
How to Make a Tea-Based Fertilizer
Now that you know how many benefits you can get from using tea bags to fertilize air plants, here are some tips on making a tea bag-based fertilizer, storing it correctly, and using it.
1. Store Your Tea Leaves in a Container
You’ll need more tea leaves than you’ll get from a single bag, so it’s best to start collecting them in a container so you can make a big batch of fertilizer all at once. You want to ensure that your team doesn’t grow mold in the meantime, so put it in an airtight container and put it in the fridge.
2. Rinse the Tea Leave with Water ; Dry
Next, you will want to rinse your tea leaves with water to ensure that there isn’t anything four from when you made t on it, such as milk or other by-products. Then you can sit it in the sunlight to dry it for one or two days and store it in a dry container.
3. Add 4 to 5 Spoons of Fertilizer Every 15 Days
Now that you have your fertilizer, you can add four to five spoons of tea leaves to your plants every 15 days. You want to start by thoroughly raking the soil and then sprinkling the fertilizer.
If you want to supercharge your fertilizer and you can add in some iron and calcium tablets crushed up mixed in with the tea leaves. Adding in some crushed eggshells can also add some great calcium to your soil if you don’t want to switch to something synthetic.
Conclusion
Most people bury their tea bags because they have a vegetable or herb garden, and the tea bags will not only act as fertilizer thanks to the tannic acid in them but can also deter pests and protect the roots from fungus. There are also other ways to use both used tea bags and brews that you aren’t going to drink to make your garden healthier.
Hi, I’m Jen Williams, chief editor and writer for ThirstPerk.com.
I’ve been drinking coffee and tea for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I started working at Thirstperk.com that I became an expert on the subject. I’m a total caffeine addict who has spent hours upon hours reading about and experimenting with the different types of coffees out there in my search to find the perfect cup of joe.
I’ve been a tea lover for as long as I can remember as well. I grew up in a house with a mom who loved to drink herbal tea, and I think that’s where my love for tea first began. These days, I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting teas to try, and I love experimenting with different brewing methods and flavoring combinations.