Tea bag mulch

[Sue]

I've been mulching my acid soil plants with tea bags and have now run out of plants but not tea bags...
Will they be good for non-acid plants or should they go in the compost bin.
They seem to work well as a mulch, when the tops get dry the bottom is keeping the soil nice and damp and when it rains they plump up and hold the water.
Sue

[terrier]

I shouldn't think the teabags are very acidic once they have sat in boiling water for a while. My gran used to feed all her plants on cold tea whether they were acid loving or not and it didn't do them any harm.

[Jardiniere]

all my tea leaves go on the compost heap except those that get tipped into the pots just outside the house doors.....havent killed anything yet .

[Paul Wagland]

I second exactly what Jardiniere says - tipping the leaves out by the front door and all.

I don't even like tea, but Jeannine drinks enough to float the QE2.

[areia]

dont know about anyone else i found as long as the tea bags were taken out before the milk was put in it was ok i found soil went mouldy if i used ones that i had added to my tea, my nan always had loose tea bless her and always put it on her compost heap

[Snadger]

all my tea leaves go on the compost heap except those that get tipped into the pots just outside the house doors.....havent killed anything yet .

My granny used to have a rose outside the front door she used to call her 'tea rose'.

[HeyWayne]

Cheese and mice Sue - how much tea do you drink?

Just given me a thought though...

The coffee (although that could be deemed an infringment of the trade descriptions act) machine at work is serviced almost daily, and some of the drink selections include "fresh brew" coffee of various descriptions. Wonder what they do with the grinds....

[bluemoon]

My OH used to quietly 'liberate' the coffee grounds from the machine at work, - he kept it secret because another employee also had a lottie and he was too mean to share the supply, there was a lot of macho 'my onions are bigger than yours' going on - it ended when the machine was replaced with an instant one. I always rip the tea-bags in half before I put them in the caddy though as the paper (or whatever it is) seems to take forever to rot otherwise, but perhaps that's just the brand I use.

[Jardiniere]

I am now definitely confined to the 'my old gran' category....

[rustylady]

Teabags also make good "crocks" for the bottom of pots with big holes. Stop the compost falling out, but allow drainage. Mine mostly go on the compost heap.

[fizzywitch]

Teabags also make good "crocks" for the bottom of pots with big holes. Stop the compost falling out, but allow drainage. Mine mostly go on the compost heap.

Great tip - thankyou. I'd noticed they don't seem to rot, have visions of little individual bags of compost <LOL>. I need to fill some large pots and never seem to have anything to cover the holes

[rustylady]

It's the bags that don't seem to rot, not the tea. If they're destined for the compost heap I try to remember to cut them in half.