Can I use old tea same as coffee grounds?

[Ichigo]

Hey, I was wondering, can I use unused old tea bags (and loose tea) like I would coffee grounds, you know in plants/gardens? Is it even beneficial to plants, I guess would be the thing to ask.
It's just, I have all this tea that I didn't care for and it's been sitting in the cupboard for like 2 years now. And I didn't want to just throw it out, and was hoping I could reuse it in some way.:blush:

[joclyn]

two years sitting in the cupboard? that stuff is stale as can be now!! i wouldn't dare try brewing it (to drink it)!


i don't think used tea leaves can be used for gardens. i'd think there'd be too many tannins in it to be beneficial.


i could be wrong though.

you could use it as a natural dye, though. if you have something that needs to be dyed brown, that is. :rolleyes:

[Audwoman]

Yes it is good for the garden. I do not use sugar or cream in my tea so I pour the leftover on all my houseplants.

I get tea for gifts all the time because people think because I drink tea I will drink any kind of tea so I always have it for the garden or put it in the compost. It is like using coffee grounds. It is considred a green.

It does not matter how old it is.

[Pennylee]

Ichigo, like Aud I have always given my plants a drink of leftover tea
(This is mainly a tea drinking house). And I used to add tea leaves to the
soil in the good old days when I could buy them. It is said that roses,
camellias and azaleas, acid loving plants, are very fond of tea, but I cannot recall its doing any harm to anything.

Nowadays, the teabags go into the compost bin with anything else organic.
Occasionally they are used with a few other scraps in a pot where the plant
needs a head start (that is, buried but only lightly.)
I have a worm farm, and the worms also enjoy the teabags.

[Ichigo]

Great! I really didn't think it would be bad, but thought I'd better find out for sure first before I did anything. Thanks ladies, that's what I needed to know! :grin:

[Garden Bear]

you can all so brew your tea and use it to mist your house plant. use 1/3 tea to your mister it will hep get rid of white fly meal bugs and dust. take the used tea bags and put them in your compost and you used it twice and didn't cost any thing. and for those who have a few gray hairs you can rinse your hair with it and it will help hide the gray, not saying that any one here has gray hair :grin:

[Alberta Sage]

Mom used a tea rinse in her hair for years.
She never did end up using any "dye"
The first time I saw her reach over and grab the teapot when she had her head stuck over the sink I thought she was NUTS:lol::lol:

[Mainegal]

Guess I need to brew some tea and use it on my hair and see if it changes the color for me....LOL

[Audwoman]

You cannot go wrong with tea. It is good for your body, soil, plants everything. Tea is good to keep you looking young. I love tea. :grin:

[grindle]

Tea is, I agree Aud, one of the best things for you, starts wars though:(:lol::lol:

[boo]

:lol: grindle

who knew tea & oil were right up there with religion tsk tsk

[Audwoman]

Tea is, I agree Aud, one of the best things for you, starts wars though:(:lol::lol:

:lol::lol:

Yep and there is war in my house if I do not get my two cups of tea in the morning and someone tries to start a discussion with me.

[jennie]

:lol: with grindle!

;)maybe we should move the tea discussion to the "cafe" :p

I love tea too, I drink alot of hot tea in the winter. My sister gave me about 8 different kinds for my b-day :grin: hmmm, I thuink I'll go get me a cup :)

[grindle]

:lol::lol: now if we'd all put it on our gardens instead of trying fight over it, just think where we'd all be now:whistle:

[OSunshine]

I love tea.Hot or iced I just can't face a day without tea.In fact I'm sitting here drinking a cup visiting instead of going outside and finishing up with my plants.I've never had a problem using it on any plants that I can think of right now,so,I'd say go ahead and use it as you will.

[joclyn]

well, this is good news and i'm glad i was wrong!!

i drink tea constantly, so i'll have plenty of used leaves on hand to add to compost pile; around the roses and i'll bet the hydrangea will like it, too.

does it really help get rid of bugs like mealies???? i have some on one of my chinese evergreens and can't find the rubbing alcohol (and keep forgetting to buy more), so maybe i'll try that tonight.

oh, jennie, it's called a 'cuppa' not a cup of tea. ;)