Tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis. Did you know that there is another use of a tea bag besides making a cup of tea? You can start a garden with a tea bag!
You’ll need:
- used tea bags for your seeds, with the string and tag removed
- a plastic tray
- paper towels
- Seeds (use vegetable seeds like rocket, radishes or beans)
- 1/2 cup water
- scissors
Let’s get planting!
- Place two pieces of paper towel on your plastic tray.
- Lay tea bags on their side on the paper towels. (Hint - soak tea bags in water first if they are dry)
- Snip a hole with scissors down the length of the teabag from top to bottom.
- Tuck 1-2 seeds into the tea leaves so the seed is covered
- Pour water onto the paper towel (not the tea bag) so that the water soaks into the tea bags from underneath.
- Place the tray in a warm and bright spot out of direct sunlight and wait for germination.
- The paper towel needs to be kept wet until the seeds germinate.
It’s time to let your garden grow!
- Check the seed package information to see when you can expect your first shoots!
Create your tea bag garden
Once your seedlings are 2 to 3 cm tall you can plant the entire tea bag along with the sprouting seedling directly into the soil. The tea bag will decompose in the soil, allowing the plant’s roots to expand. Keep the soil damp until the seedlings are well established