Tea on the garden

[Unicorn]

My Gran used to put used loose tea on the garden ' for the plants'. Is there any merit in this?

She also used to give the dog a saucer of tea with milk and sugar and biscuits, oh, and boiled sweets, so not everything she did was that sound.

[El Cid]

Just Google "tea leaves as a fertiliser".

You will get more opinions than you thought possible!

Sid

[ajtg1952]

If the dog suffered from cystitis, then sweet, milky tea is the best thing for them.

[Unicorn]

If I am honest I suspect that my Gran had made no such diagnosis - it was more a ritual thing!

But a handy tip never the less.

[BENIDORM]

My Grandfather always put used tea leaves around his tomato plants, but did tell me never to use them in potted plants, just on the garden.
He also used coffee grains in the same way, (he lived in America for a long time ), not many people in UK drank coffee in the 50's.

I still use left over beer as a slug repellent , just a drop on a saucer will result in many dead slugs each day..at least they died happy . ( I only have left-over beer when we've had Spanish friends at our house, Brits drain every last drop from the glass / bottle...

Regards,
Gordon the Gardener...

[swerve]

We also used to use egg shells on the garden.

Google 5 Ways to Use egg shells in your garden.

I had a link but the iphone won't copy it properly.

[Martin Page]

The use of coffee or tea leaves (or eggshells) depend very much on the plant and it primary soil requirements. For example tea and coffee are very good mulches for Acid loving plants like Camellia or Azaleas. Where as egg shells are an excellent mulch for lime loving plants.

They are not a universal tonic for plants .... tea and coffee would be good for round citrus fruit trees if you looking for somewhere useful to get rid of them. Egg shells are useful in a compost heap, but take a few years to decompose completely if you cant keep the heap damp.