cold tea

Last post 08-04-2012 11:20 AM by Zetaearthling. 8 replies.

• 03/04/2012 12:03 PM
  Lynnoot Location: Notts Joined on: 12 Aug 2010 Posts: 12	Reply | Contact Does anyone know if you can use cold tea to water plants in the garden?

• 03/04/2012 03:18 PM	In reply to
  headfullofbees Location: Cheadle Hulme Joined on: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 316	Reply | Contact Roses love it, and I use it around my fruit trees. I take it you mean leftovers in the pot?

• 03/04/2012 10:17 PM	In reply to
  courierdude Location: cambs/suffolk border Joined on: 14 Feb 2012 Posts: 215	Reply | Contact only when served with a biscuit on the saucer .. ) some of my plants much prefer a cup of coffee now and then. energy follows thought

• 04/04/2012 10:02 PM	In reply to
  honeybunny Location: Dublin, Ireland Joined on: 02 Apr 2012 Posts: 19	Reply | Contact i often used to make tea for my potted plants using the old spent teabags in the watering can, they got a soaking in it quite regularly and i must admit the plants did seem nice and healthy but then i read somewhere it can make the soil acidic! so i stopped for fear of doing more harm than good, is this not the case then?

• 05/04/2012 10:41 AM	In reply to
  Zetaearthling Location: Europe Joined on: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 64	Reply | Contact Yes, but don't over do it. Tea contains nitrogen that is good for plants but too much can cause the soil to become too acidic.

• 05/04/2012 11:43 PM	In reply to
  honeybunny Location: Dublin, Ireland Joined on: 02 Apr 2012 Posts: 19	Reply | Contact thats great i'll start doing it again so, happy days. hey would this be helpful in persuading my lacecap hydrangia to stay blue?

• 07/04/2012 09:28 AM	In reply to
  Zetaearthling Location: Europe Joined on: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 64	Reply | Contact You mean blue flowers? I would not give too much tea during later stages of flowering as too much nitrogen can reduce the number of blue flowers, increasing leaf growth instead.

• 07/04/2012 02:31 PM	In reply to
  courierdude Location: cambs/suffolk border Joined on: 14 Feb 2012 Posts: 215	Reply | Contact thought it was aluminium that you added to soil to make hydrangeas blue? energy follows thought

• 08/04/2012 11:20 AM	In reply to
  Zetaearthling Location: Europe Joined on: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 64	Reply | Contact Hi courierdude. I read in my gardening/botany books that a acidic soil allows the uptake of aluminium to increase turning the flowers blue from pink. I would presume that adding tea to the soil will increase the acidity of the soil (which it always does) thus keeping the flowers blue. I have never tried this but it will make an interesting experiment.