Tea bag magic?

[110466]

I'm a second year allotmenteer and am always open to new tips and tricks.
I compost everything I can and have fair results, but somewhere in the back of my mind is a tip for making free liquid fertilizer using tea bags. As a result, I've got a huge amount of them soaking in a bucket of water that I'm not sure to do with . Is my memory fading me or can I dilute the resultant liquid as a feed for the veggies?

[Snadger]

Heard of using tea and tea bags for mulching but can't imagine there would be much feed in them?

I use comfrey tea!

[lynda66]

my gran used to put them on some plants, but i can't remember which, they are good for sore or infected eyes though

[zazen999]

Isn't that just...tea?

Are you thinking of nettle tea? Same idea with nettles...or comfrey tea?

[lyndap]

You put old tea leaves round rose bushes(Can't remember why!) and I water my indoor plants occasionally with cold tea as its supposed to give them a boost.Just always done this as its what my nan taught me to do.

[andrewo]

It does wonders for roses, preferably out of the bag!

[lynda66]

You put old tea leaves round rose bushes(Can't remember why!) and I water my indoor plants occasionally with cold tea as its supposed to give them a boost.Just always done this as its what my nan taught me to do.

i think we had the same nan

[Safhyre]

I watched the Big Dig last night and one of the 'allotmenteers' made nettle tea for her beans, she seemed to think it was brain food....
I think it is repeated today at 16.00

[Snadger]

My Gran used to have what she called her tee rose..........

[bazzaboy]

For those mystified by Safhyre's mention of "BIG DIG" (as was I) it's a daily one hour programme on the UKTV Gardens Channel (e.g. SKY 248). This week the repeat is on at 4 p.m. each day - as mentioned by Safhyre - and the new episode at 8.00 p.m. The schedule seems to change a bit next week. As far as I can glean it's Simon Mayo following allotments in Cardiff and London and presenting an alternative view to allotments being solely the habitat of elderly males (ha! perish the thought! ).
Apols if this is repeating stuff already discussed elsewhere, was a new one to me. b.

[110466]

Going to try the liquid obtained from the tea bags anyway. I'll strain it and dilute with water, four parts to one I think. Flying by the seat of my pants here, but I'll let you know the results!

[toastie]

Put used tea bags into the composter. Last year hung a small bag of nettles in the water butt and used this to water the plants. Be careful though as it gives off an almighty pong but it certainly brought on the plants. Took the bag out about September and over the last 6 months the water butt has refilled so there is only a weak dilution in there now. Plan to do the same this year. Add comfrey leaves to the composter to act as an accelerator.

[taff]

My mother feeds her indoor plants with the tea left over in the pot without diluting it.

[hathor]

I read somewhere that the tea left over in the pot is quite acidic, so it's great for "watering" things that like acid soil/compost, like blueberries, for example.

[Two_Sheds]

Hathor has it right. Tea leaves are acidic, so good for azaleas etc (it was mentioned on today's GQT)
There really isn't any nutrition in used tea leaves, so it's pointless to try and make a feed from it ... but have a go if you want to.

Nettles are high in nitrogen ... good for leafy crops
Comfrey is high in potash ... good for fruiting crops