Tea instead of peat tablets for seedlings

Tea leaves can be most beneficial for plants as a fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season. While the yield is high, the consumption of the raw material in this case is significantly less than that required for soil application or watering. It will be easy to accumulate the necessary supply of used tea leaves for growing seedlings during the autumn and winter seasons.

The beneficial properties of tea leaves

Tea leaves have the ability improve soil quality, improving its structure and enriching it with nutrients. It's also beneficial to mix it with the soil mixture intended for growing seedlings.

Benefits of tea leaves:

1. A high potassium concentration promotes the strengthening and viability of young plants. Seedlings that receive sufficient amounts of this element in their nutrition take root more quickly after planting.
2. Thanks to calcium, the proportion of which in tea leaves is 4.7 mg/g, seed germination improves, and sprouts grow shoots and roots faster.
3. The importance of magnesium, which ensures photosynthesis, increases if plants experience a lack of light, which is a common problem for seedlings when grown in the middle or northern zones.
4. Iron deficiency typically occurs in plants early in their development, and the element's role in their metabolism subsequently diminishes. Tea leaves contain enough iron to nourish seedlings—2 mg/g.
5. For clay soils, tea leaves act as a loosening agent, making the soil structure lighter; for sandy soils, they enrich it with humus and prevent rapid moisture loss.
6. The ability to absorb moisture is especially useful for seedlings: the tea leaves act as drainage, protecting the roots from rotting in case of overwatering.
7. Tannins contained in tea leaves also prevent putrefactive processes.

The only time tea leaves can worsen soil quality is in overly acidic soils. Tannins have an acidifying effect, while vegetable crops prefer slightly acidic or (less commonly) alkaline soils. Tea leaves are appropriate when acidification of alkaline soil is required.

Tea leaves as a substrate for sowing seedlings are useful for many vegetable crops:

• tomatoes;
• cucumbers;
• beans;
• peas;
• carrot;
• radish;
• pepper.

Preparing the substrate from the tea leaves

For sowing seedlings, you can use either regular tea leaves or tea leaves removed from tea bags. It's important that the tea leaves are free of fragrances and dyes. Avoid using fresh leaves, as boiling them removes aluminum and some tannins, which are harmful to any plant in high concentrations.

Substrate preparation:

1. Each batch of used tea leaves should be dried, as damp leaves quickly develop mold. If using a tea bag, remove it from the cup before adding sugar, or rinse the tea bag with clean water before drying. Sugar residue on the tea leaves can attract gnats and ants.
2. To prepare the base for the substrate, mix 2 parts garden soil and 2 parts compost. Add 250 grams of sifted wood ash to each bucket of the mixture.
3. The tea leaves are added to the soil mixture in a 1:3 ratio immediately before sowing. The tea leaves must be dry.
4. The resulting soil is used to fill seedling containers and seeds are planted in them.

The advantages of using a substrate with tea leaves for growing seedlings include:

• nutrition – seedlings sown in such soil do not require additional feeding;
• loosening the soil;
• preventing accumulation of excess moisture;
• protection against black leg;
• low cost and naturalness of the product.

The disadvantages include the need to collect raw materials.

Seedling tablets from tea bags

Tea bags can be used instead of peat tablets. for sowing seedlingsIn this case, used and dried rectangular bags are required.

Tea bag sowing scheme:

1. Moisten the dried bags before the procedure to prevent them from breaking.
2. Cut off the top edge and open it. Do not pour out the tea leaves.
3. Fill the bag with soil, mixing it with tea.
4. Place the containers in the container, tightly enough so that the paper bags do not tip over.
5. Water the bags generously with a growth stimulant before sowing the seeds, such as "Epin."
6. Perform sowing.
7. Close the container with bags with a transparent lid or cover with plastic and secure with a rubber band to create a greenhouse effect.

When it's time to transplant, place the seedlings in a new container without removing them from the bag or disturbing the root ball. Therefore, this method is especially recommended for crops that don't tolerate transplanting well, such as bell peppers. It's important that the bag be made of paper, not synthetic mesh, as this will allow the growing roots to easily break through it. If, during transplanting, you discover that two bags are stuck together, don't try to separate them while they're dry—they'll tear and you could accidentally damage the roots. After watering, the bags can be easily separated.

Advantages of "pills" from seedling growing bags:

• the tea leaves serve as a source of nutrients for young sprouts;
• transplantation is carried out with minimal risk of damage to the roots;
• no additional financial investment is required, such as purchasing peat tablets.

Gardeners also note several disadvantages of this method:

• labor intensity;
• Not all bags are suitable;
• high probability of mold formation.

The mineral composition and physicochemical properties of tea leaves make them particularly beneficial for young plants. Growing seedlings using tea leaves is inexpensive and completely safe – the raw material is not highly biologically active, contains moderate doses of nutrients, and is environmentally friendly.