Tea is great to drink, but that's not all it does for humanity. Gardeners have a special relationship with tea because it can serve as a natural fertilizer for many plants and provide others with the trace elements necessary to thrive. If you have some leftover tea bags, don't throw them away! Read on to learn which plants you can water with tea and how they prefer to tolerate it.
Watering plants with tea: tips and advice
In an effort to protect the environment and reduce waste, it is important to find ways to reuse and recycle in your home. A cup of coffee or tea in the morning or afternoon is common in many households. Instead of throwing away the used tea bags and loose tea grounds, consider using them for your houseplants. The tea grounds act as a fertilizer and help improve the growth, overall health and vitality of the potted plants.
Can you water plants with tea?
Tea and tea leaves are organic material that is very nutritious. The tea leaves are packed with nitrogen, far more than standard plant fertilizers, and this promotes very leafy growth. They also contain many other nutrients, here are the main ones that make it a great replacement for commercial fertilizers:
- Tannin:These polyphenols help make the soil more fertile, especially if the tea grounds are added directly to the potting soil and allowed to decompose.
- Trace elements:Tea contains vital nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium that plants need to promote their growth.
- Nitrogen:Tea contains nitrogen, a vital nutrient that plants need to produce new foliage and grow larger. A lack of nitrogen can cause yellowing and stunted growth.
No matter how you slice it, tea can pack a huge amount of nutrients into a tiny package. It can essentially act as a vitamin boost for your potted plants.
How should you use it?
The best way to water a plant with tea is to pour leftover tea into the soil with nothing else added such as sugar, milk or lemon. It is not so beneficial to brew tea just for pouring. Also make sure it has cooled down. Never pour hot tea into the soil of your plants. This can cause problems with the roots and damage your potted plant.
Using tea to water plants works the same as using water when you consider the amounts and frequency. You need to factor this into the total amount of water the plant normally receives. Do not give the tea in addition to the usual amounts of water your houseplant receives.
If you drink a cup of tea and plan to use it on your houseplants that day, remember how much water they have already received.
Another possibility is,a used tea bagto bury in the ground. Just make sure the tea bag is made of paper, which can decompose. Also, remove the staple and string from the tea bag as they have no additional value.
If you want to use tea leaves, place them on the soil near the base of the plant or add them to leftover tea andwater your plantsregularly with it.
Which type of tea should you use?
Almost all types of tea that you can brew are suitable for watering your houseplants and for fertilizing.
- Leftover tea that you no longer drink because it is watered down, lukewarm, or has lost its flavor is still very good for plants. However, if you have added sweetener to it, you should not use it as sugar can be harmful to them in general.
- Tea leaves are ideal for fertilizing houseplants. They contain lots of nitrogen and all sorts of other nutrients.
- Green tea in liquid form is equally healthy and beneficial for plants. He is usually referred to asorganic fertilizer for houseplants such as orchidsused.
- Just like herbal and green tea, black tea also contains tannic acid and a variety of nutrients for plants. It can be added to plants in liquid form or dried and crushed.
- Chamomile, comfrey, willow, and pretty much any other herbal tea is perfect for houseplants. They provide them with moisture, enrich the soil with nutrients and are more or less a quick pick-me-up for the plants. However, each herbal blend has a different list of ingredients and works better on certain types of plants than others.
Which plants benefit from tea?
If you often have leftover tea with which to make yourWater plantscan, it would be best to irrigate those that prefer a more acidic environment. However, a little tea here and there for a plant not on this list will not harm the plant as it will continue to receive regular water.
Houseplants and herbs that thrive in acidic soil:
- African violets
- Amaryllis
- Orchids
- Philodendron
- Poinsettia
- Basil
- Dill
- Do it
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- sage
