Return to the Soil Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
tea has got me started
| | |
Posted by
rouge21 5b (
My Page) on
Tue, Nov 1, 11 at 15:00
| I am a very avid gardener but I am embarrassed to say that I do not have a composter. I have a small very residential yard and all space is being 'used'...by plants! But I may have to do something to change this as my 'situation' has changed. Just recently a family member has got a job at a tea shop and is able to bring home each day a large bag of used tea leaves! So far I have been mixing these leaves directly into the few bags of topsoil I have had extra and then adding this to the garden. These leaves make the soil smell incredibly good! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| Be very conservative about how much of the tea leaves you use in the garden. Camellia sinensis has allelopathic properties known to affect the germination of certain seeds as well as some species of trees. Composting them for several weeks before adding them to the garden might be a good idea, if you're talking about a LOT of tea leaves. Or add what you want this fall but don't continue the practice in the spring. |
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| You have me concerned re your caveat on the use of tea leaves in a perennial garden. I just assumed that after having been steeped in boiling water the leaves would be in the perfect form for direct use in a garden (ie not composted). |
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| You may find some of the info from this discussion applicable to your situation. Scroll down to the two Oct. 12 entries from tapla/Al. |
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| rouge, the excellent conversation included by purple is focused on containerized plants. Your situation is quite different unless you are using (as I mentioned) a LOT of the tea leaves and are using them continually. Also, I believe that the discussion was geared to the leftover liquid tea and not the spent tea leaves. Much of the caffeine and other 'stuff' is in that tea rather than the tea leaves, after steeping in boiling water as you've suggested. Still, I'd be conservative and not use bucketloads of the stuff. Allelopathic properties of plants break down over time, which can work to your benefit. If you used the tea grounds in your garden this fall, I wouldn't worry about it at all. |
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| Put them on the compost heap and don't worry. Tea leaves and bags (only the paper ones, obv.) are a national compost requirement here. |
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| I appreciate the posts. I don't have a compost pile....there is no room on my property unless I remove some garden. So the usual routine is to distribute the wet, boiled leaves around plants (tea leaves from personal use). When I have a large amount of tea as obtained from the tea shop I try to mix these wet spent leaves in some good but small amount of triple mix (say 30L) and then distribute around the base of each plant. |
RE: tea has got me started
| | |
| How big is your 'property' rouge21? Is it smaller than my 10 feet x 15 feet? If not I'm sure you can find a composter to fit. Can you see mine? (Clue - there's a red and white paper flour bag on the top.) 
It's a wooden slatted box behind a shrub and copes with all garden and household waste except large prunings which I reluctantly allow the council to take away. Bird's eye view of my entire 'property' last winter. The shed marks the end of our plot garden and fills the entire width. The creeper in the foreground is around the top bedroom window from where the photo was taken. If a compost bin will fit in here I think one will fit in just about anywhere. 
|
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
