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Eastern Pennsylvania

I started putting these "spent" tea bags next to select herb plants like basil as I figured the rainwater or irrigation would wash some beneficial material into the root zone. Trouble is the 3 plants I selected are all stunted and don't seem to be growing much; it's to the point where I am ready to pull them. Was this a bad idea/ is there a logical explanation for this or is it just coincidence?

8/12/2010 12:54:09 PM

Putnam Ct.

Not an expert , so maybe someone else can help you ? but what i do is put it in my compost pile .

8/12/2010 1:14:30 PM

Colorado Springs, Co (wtmanc3mc3@hotmail.com)

either way is fine, its full of microbes just like your tea. i usually put mine around my tomato plants and they seem to love it. it does however dry out very quickly so it would probably be better to mix it into top couple inches of soil

8/12/2010 4:14:38 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

well i removed the tea bags and just like that the planta are growing again. how weird.

8/14/2010 5:03:12 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

A bit confused...as is normal!!! What do you use for tea bags!!! I use paint strainers (bags w/ drawstrings) and reuse them after cleaning, and bleaching. The compost tea process is an aerobic process (lots of active oxygen needed), if you dump an old tea bag in the ground, I would think it would become anaerobic very quickly...producing non-goodness into the surrounding soil!!! (b/cause of the lack of active oxygen) Hopefully, we can learn together! Peace, Wayne
PS...remember tho, that I am no expert!!!

8/15/2010 1:15:48 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Wayne, I use the teabags and brewer from Keep it Simple (Tad's company). They are mesh teabags. I think your assessment is correct, so no more putting old bags out to the garden!

8/16/2010 1:05:01 PM

Seattle, WA

I've always just dumped the material out in the garden or scratched it into the surface around the plants. In theory, like Will mentioned, it would just be full of beneficial microbes. There should be enough O2 once out of the brewer to keep the material from going anaerobic if you spread it out and don't leave it in a wet clump like a snowball. How did you plants respond to the tea? My first thought was that if the bags caused the plants to stop growing, then maybe the tea itself went anaerobic. However, if your plants are happy now it sounds like maybe the spent bags are best just thrown in the compost pile for you.

~Tad

PS: When I say putting the spent tea bags, I mean cutting or opening the bags and putting the compost (not the bag) into the soil. The bags get thrown out or re-used when I brew.

8/16/2010 1:21:47 PM

Seattle, WA

Oh and I forgot to mention, I like the idea of watering them in, as that should help disburse the microbes and keep it from drying out so quickly. You could also scratch it into the surface like a light mulch as well.

8/16/2010 1:22:42 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

tad i was just laying the bag next to the plant in a big anaerobic heap. from now on i am cutting them open and putting them in the compost pile.

8/17/2010 9:48:26 AM

Seattle, WA

Orangeneck,

That may have been your problem right there! If the compost is opened and spread out, it's going to have much better access to oxygen.

Make sure in your brewer, you're not having the same problem. Your tea bag should keep most of the particulate in it, making it easier to spray the final tea, but it should not keep the compost in a ball. The compost needs to be highly agitated during the brew, as the microbes are comfy where they are and needed to be stripped off the soil aggregates to get them out into the liquid.

8/17/2010 2:38:49 PM