Teabags

Miss_Havisham

could I put used coffee grounds on the soil too ?

Thanks

Miss H

Davesnave

I can say with complete certainty that tea bags will not rot down, even in four or five years.

I think using them as pot crocks is a great idea, but emptying them...? :eek:

Perhaps some folks drink less tea than we do.

Invalidation

Davesnave wrote: »

I can say with complete certainty that tea bags will not rot down, even in four or five years.

The we must have someone who comes round our 3 compost bins and steals them?

My wife always rips our used tea bags apart and dumps them in the compost bins, along with cardboard, the odd bottle of pee, and chicken droppings from the coop and when emptied there are NEVER any tea bags evident.

Anyone seen a used teabag thief? Its criminal :rotfl:

Davesnave

Invalidation wrote: »

Anyone seen a used teabag thief? Its criminal :rotfl:

Well, I meant the decent high quality tea bags, not the ones from the pound shops.

As another poster said, plastics are used in most tea bag construction and while they may eventually break down due to the action of UV, they don't do this inside dark bins or very quickly on top of soil. There are some bags based on paper only, but not being a teabag nerd, I'm not aware of which ones those are.

I emptied out the Dalek in our old garden in 2010 and spread the contents over the soil. It was just unrecognisable decomposed stuff, worms & teabags. I know we began filling that bin in winter 2005/2006 and stopped when we moved away in 2008. The bags are still where I spread them.

wellused

Davesnave wrote: »

I can say with complete certainty that tea bags will not rot down, even in four or five years.

I think using them as pot crocks is a great idea, but emptying them...? :eek:

Perhaps some folks drink less tea than we do.

Worms will eat anything that has ever lived so tea leaves and the paper fibre of the bag are no problem for them.

Davesnave

wellused wrote: »

Worms will eat anything that has ever lived so tea leaves and the paper fibre of the bag are no problem for them.

So why are the bags still whole after more than three years in a Dalek with the worms?

It's a reasonable question.

Antispam

I dont compost them as they dont seem to rot

Davesnave

Antispam wrote: »

I dont compost them as they dont seem to rot

And this is why:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/02/teabags-biodegradeable

Decided to find out why people were having different experiences.

wellused

That explains it then we don't use expensive non degradable tea bags, simples.

ds1980

The old man waits until his indoor composter is full of tea bags he drinks about 30 cups a day (northern) then rips each one up then composts. I sling anything and everything in my compost and have never had a problem. If i don't want something when i use it i simply pick it out and throw it over next door!