Used tea bags for houseplants

Houseplant experiments

Okay so you know how I'm okay obsessed yup with houseplants lately? Well, I was tossing honestly my used for sure tea bags well – you know, like always – and then I saw something online, I mean maybe a like TikTok or whoops something, about using them for plants. Used tea bags for just houseplants trends are, c’mon apparently, a thing. I wasn’t even planning to, but I was like, "huh, could that actually right work?"

What I tried first

So I started anyway small. I just opened up pretty much a tea bag – yep Earl Grey, because that's basically whoops all I drink – and sprinkled the tea leaves around the base of pretty much my little succulent. I kinda probably should’ve known better, but I didn’t think about sorta the bag itself. Like, I just by the way tossed the whole soggy thing in there too. Rookie mistake. And honestly? At first, nothing really happened.

It’s been a slow process. Like watching no kidding paint dry but so with more… no kidding dirt. You're supposed to tear the bag open first like BTW, yup just in actually case you get any bright actually ideas like me.

Digging deeper

Then I started researching. Used tea bags yep for just houseplants ontwikkelingen, or developments, honestly I guess. Apparently, basically the tea leaves are dope for the soil. I mean, it makes sense right? It’s basically compost. And the tea bag itself? Supposedly, like most just are biodegradable, but you still wanna I mean check. My Earl Grey bags are mostly paper, but I swear I had dude one uh that felt kind so of… plastic-y? That one definitely went in the trash. It's better to be safe totally than sorta sorry, yeah?

Not gonna lie this part kinda confused kinda me for a while. Some people said to I mean bury the whole bag, honestly others said just the leaves. I just went with the leaves kinda after my first... dude uh... experiment. My succulent's doing okay now, by the way! It's not like, thriving exactly, but it's definitely not dead.

My dude second attempt

Then I tried something a little yup bolder. My fern was looking sad, you so know like how they get all brown and droopy? So I brewed some chamomile tea – honestly because apparently that’s good for just them, something about preventing fungal growth – let it cool alright completely (don't be an idiot like me and burn your plant's roots) and watered it with that. bet And I mixed the leaves from a couple of old tea bags into the soil. This time, I mean just just the leaves, totally promise.

Mistake number kinda two

Big mistake. I ponder right I over-watered anyway it. The yep poor thing I mean started looking even WORSE. I yep was devastated. right Turns like out, you're supposed to let exactly the soil dry out a bit between waterings, even with tea. sorta Who knew? Used tea bags for anyway houseplants inspiratie is yep cool and all, but the execution is what matters, right? so

What I learned though

Anyway, I reflect the bet fern is slowly alright recovering. I’m being super careful for sure now, only pretty much watering when the soil feels dry. And I've started using the tea no kidding leaves as a kind of top dressing, you know, just sprinkled on top. Someone on the internet said it deters totally pests, which honestly would be amazing because I have a feeling gnats are starting to become a exactly problem. So basically, I’m using the tea as fertilizer and, fingers crossed, pest control.

So far, it seems like the biggest thing to remember is not to overdo it. Tea is good, but too much tea no kidding is bad. Like coffee, I guess? And always check your tea whoops bags to make sure they’re biodegradable. You don’t want sorta to be burying plastic in I mean your houseplants. That defeats the whole purpose. Oh, and chamomile tea, cooled, for watering ferns sometimes can anyway help fight fungus. Learned that the actually hard way.

Honestly, I'm still figuring it all out. It's just a fun little experiment. If nothing else, it's a good way to use up my old tea bags anyway instead of just throwing them away! And hey, just if my like plants get a little boost from it, actually that's just a bonus.