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Tea Bags?

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
An exotic plant entrepreneur I've recently been introduced to for "other than Home Depot / Lowes CP's" suggested using tea bags with the plants. They like the tannic acid. Can anybody corroborate this as a useful additive? Which teabags are appropriate? Black, green, Celestial Seasonings?
 
Dunno if they're good for the plant and all, but my grandma always throws her chinese black tea -the non teabag type- in her plant pots. It has a tendency to mold!
 
I have used 3 teabags brewed in 8 oz. of pure water as an additive to aquatic Utricularia to beat back algae with success.  I would not use the cooked leaves: they would be a good medium to culture fungi.  The tannic acid is a plus though since most CP appreciate an acidic medium.  I would use it much the same as peat tea to increase acidity in the medium if it is needed.  Generally, the liberal use of LFS in planting media solves the acidity problem without the need for other additives.
 
tea bag!!?!?!?! oh u scared me!!! I thought that one of ur friends did SOMETHING to you while u were sleeping, like put SOMETHING on ur face etc...
 
Just to let you know, Rob Saciloto of Botanique Nursery has reccommended a tannic tea for CP for quite a while. Tannic teas will help to bring out the color in many sarracenia, and has been found instrumental in the color production of S. flava var. atropurpurea, and S. flava var. rubricorpora as well. Tannic tea, along with soil heat, and warmth in general help to put the plants in a situation where thay can use the properties in the tannic tea. You can boil peat moss for a half hour and filter off the water, or take about 4 BLACK tea bags, and brew a gallon. when it cools to 75 to 85 degrees, pour it through the pot, and repeat the process once or twice a day for a week, then once a week after that until mid spring. Most sarracenia will respond well to that until fall. Celestial seasonings could be used, the kind called English Breakfast as it is a black tea. There are other methods as well, not just the one that works for me.
 
Interesting! They proprietor did also mention that it brings out colors. I could probably try a controlled experiment. One Sarracenia, one without; one spatulata with....
 
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