Why You Shouldn’t Add Tea Leaves to Your Garden
The gardening world is full of old wives’ tales about supposed methods for growing the biggest tomatoes or the tallest sunflowers. One such story is that tea is good for your garden because it creates nitrogen and tannic acid improves soil pH. In truth, although tea composts in your garden just like any other organic matter and probably does not cause any harm, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that tea itself provides any specific benefit to your garden. yard Absolutely anything you compost will produce nitrogen, and anything acidic will affect the pH of your soil (which is not always desirable). I consulted with many garden centers as well as Concentrates , a reputable agricultural company known for its stock of mineral supplements and fertilizers, as well as its extensive knowledge of organic farming. No one who worked there had ever practiced it or understood what specific benefits the tea would bring to your yard.
Tea is simply dried and processed plant matter.
Growing herbs in your garden is probably one of the healthiest crops you can have , especially perennial herbs. While many herbs, such as chamomile and mint, can be used to make your own herbal tea, true tea leaves come from the Camellia Sinensis tea plant. While it’s unlikely that your local nursery will carry it, you can start by ordering this flower online and planting it in your garden. Once the plant blooms, you can collect and dry the buds and make your own tea. No matter what you brew your tea with, be it herbs or camellia, when you’re done drinking, what’s left will go in the trash unless you compost it. If you’re brewing tea from what you’ve grown yourself, you’re likely not using tea bags, so you can simply compost your used tea and get back to your life. It composts well and counts as the green part of your compost (which consists of wet, nitrogen-rich matter balanced with carbon-based dry matter).
If you are buying tea, you need to consider what the bag is made of. Although most tea bags are compostable, some contain polypropylene and should not be composted. Remove any staples or rope unless you are sure it is 100% cotton rope, and remove the paper tag if it has any coating on it. If you are concerned about the tea bag, you can simply empty it into the compost and throw it away.
Think about where you put your compost tea.
Your soil has a thin pH. Most plants have a neutral pH level, and gardeners try to measure the soil’s pH level to determine if it is in the correct range. Some plants benefit from a slightly more acidic pH level, but the key word here is “slightly.” Blueberries, azaleas and strawberries are examples of plants that benefit from increased acidity. Any acid will make your soil more acidic, and real tea (not herbal tea) contains tannins, which produce tannic acid. Just as tea is a plant, tannic acid is produced by trees and other plants as they decompose. The point is not that tannic acid is particularly harmful, but that it is not particularly beneficial. If you’re intentionally adding it to your environment, you’ll want to make sure the soil pH doesn’t become too acidic for what you’re trying to grow.
Compost made from tea should not be confused with “compost tea.”
If you garden enough, you’ll hear the phrase “compost tea” and how good it is for your garden, but that phrase doesn’t apply to real tea. Rather, it’s your worm castings or compost that can make a very nutritious aquatic fertilizer for your garden. Many worm towers actually have taps to collect this drink for use, but you will never drink it.