Why no tea bags allowed in Bokashi??

[muckdiva]

Well, our two new bokashi bins arrived the other day, and the instructions give a list of things you can put in, meat, dairy, grain, fruit and veg etc, but on the list of things it says to exclude are tea bags....

I've always composted tea bags - does anyone know why we shouldn't add tea bags to the bokashi bin?

[Alice]

Seems a bit strange MuckDiva and quite conflicting advice. I always put tea bags in the compost bin, one site I looked at says don't put them in Bokashi bins, but the site linked below says you can put them in if you cut them up. I'm sure some of our "biochemistry grapes" will be along with an explanation.
http://www.ecoutlet.co.uk/shop/produ...product_id=243

[SueA]

I usually put teabags in the compost bin too Alice & find that when I empty it some of the 'bags' are still fairly intact even if the tea has gone & I have to fish them out of the compost.
I looked up Bokashi bins as well & found one site which said you could put tea bags in & one that said you shouldn't. The reason given for not putting them in was that they contain too much water so perhaps if you give them a good squeeze out they will be O.K. You could also try emptying the tea out of them & throwing the 'bag' part away so you don't have the 'indestructable' problem!

[Alison]

I don't see why you shouldn't put them in really but I haven't done as my worms like them so much they all go in there. I'm tending to keep my bokashi bin for stuff I can't compost normally ie fish skins and all that yucky stuff as I don't want to be spending any more than I have to on bran. Think that the bag bits not disintegrating depends on the brand, ours seem to break down fine but we were given some that seemed indestructable.

[Two_Sheds]

i always tear a hole in my teabags before putting in compost,...they rot down fine like that

[JennieAtkinson]

Our bokashi bin at work is full of tea bags, perhaps that is why I've not had any success with the compost ?

[hansaplatz]

I've read that it's due to them being too moist as well, and some FAQs seem to suggest it's fine to put them in once they've dried out.

[lynda66]

i did read ages ago, something about them being acidic when broken down ........ maybe that has something to do with it ???

[maytreefrannie]

I have two bokashi bins, bought from two different sites, one saying no tea bags, the other lists tea bags among the stuff you can compost.

I've been putting them in and no bother I think - I'm new to it and haven't yet used the end result compost. I think I'll take Two Sheds idea and break them in future just to be sure to be sure.

[Snadger]

My Gran used to have what she called her 'tea' rose by the front door! It's where she used to empty the tea pot! Rose was always a mass of bloom in the summer!

[MaureenHall]

I've been using my Bokashi bins for nearly a year now and I obviously didn't read the instructions properly! I've always put my tea bags in, though I do put them all into a dish first and empty the dish once a day. I've just about filled my 4th bin and the 3rd is still waiting to be dug in.

[Alison]

As said above, the instructions on different types are contradicatory and if it works then carry on doing it. My friend had instructions which said not to add more than 20% protein however ours is mainly protein as we put most of the veg matter in the wormery / compost heap and we've never had a problem so long as you add enough bran and keep it air tight.

[topsian]

No tea bags

The problem with tea and tea bags is that they look so good they could be good quality compost already. The problem is that they contain a lot of tannin which gives the lovely flavour but is poisonous to the plant (and insects) so this is a form of excretion. I'm not sure but it's possible that it is also poisonous to the em microbes in bokashi. Before I had a bokashi bin I put all tea bags in a stainless steel bin before dumping them on the compost heap they became a slimy horrible mess before getting outside -which suggest some microbe activity but is it the right kind? After spreading the bags (PG Tips) out on the compost heap I invariably found dry untouched tea bags months later. I've decided not to put tea bags in my bokashi bin or the compost heap but burst them and dig them directly in the border or veg.

[taff]

I break them and put them in the compost but maybe it's to do with milk as well? It depends how you make your tea i suppose....

[Alison]

Before I had a bokashi bin I put all tea bags in a stainless steel bin before dumping them on the compost heap they became a slimy horrible mess before getting outside -which suggest some microbe activity but is it the right kind? After spreading the bags (PG Tips) out on the compost heap I invariably found dry untouched tea bags months later. I've decided not to put tea bags in my bokashi bin or the compost heap but burst them and dig them directly in the border or veg.

My tea bags are more likely to be very dry than anything remotely slimy but I think it does depend on the variety you get. The ones we buy disolve quite happily into the compost (although I ususally give them to the worms as they love them) without breaking them up or anything but apparently some types of plastic in them which obviously you can't compost.