The tea manufacturing industries always end up with lots of leftovers or waste products daily. The leftover teas can be used as fertilizer for your gardens and the tea manufacturing companies normally sells these wastes to whoever wants it. Some of the waste tea nowadays has been mixed with horse stable manure and sandstone sawdust enabling it to be more fertile potting mix which can be used in garden nursery. Below are some of the tips and ideas on how to use tea leaves as fertilizer.
What you need:
- Tea waste
Method:
- In India for example, the waste tea has been turned into bio fertilizers in huge amount. It will be transformed into vermicompost in an effort to ensure a plant-soil cycle to facilitate the building of vital soil fauna and flora as well as creating organic content of the soil in order to enhance the plants nutritional effectiveness.
- Waste tea can also be turned into compost tea which is prepared by immersing compost in the water. The compost tea helps inhibit foliar diseases, plus also increases the quality and quantity of nutrients which is accessible to the plant. Apart from that, it also helps accelerate the breakdown of toxins and tea is also the source of potassium which is an essential nutrient for plant to grow.
- Tea can also be used as a medium for mushroom cultivation. Mushroom that grows on tea waste maintains double-figure growth without the need of wearing natural resources. Therefore, mushroom grows much faster in tea waste rather than when you use the normal method. You can also add some mixture of tea waste together with peat in 1:1 (v:v) ratio for improving on the yield of mushroom.
- Last but not least, tea waste is virtually rich in effective antioxidants for example catechins. As for used tea leaves, also known as Chagra is used to enhance roses.
- The Remnant brewed tea which is cooled is normally used to water houseplants and infused tea leaves may be scattered in the flower garden for a nutrient hike. Tea waste can be used as a fertilizer for plants whether it is placed indoor and also outdoor.
- Always water your plant using tea. This can be done when you soak the tea leaves for a few days, then remove the tea leaves because rotten tea leaves will attract pests. After that, you can use the tea water as fertilizer to your plants.
Additional Reading:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tea-As-Fertilizer&id=464086
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Leftover-Green-Tea-Leaves
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42547.asp
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romainguy/230439317/
