tea bag fertilizing

[dkraft81]

I got mine off amazon, and mix in regular organics from lowes. It works really well for me. Dario I left a few bagson a couple of trees over winter just to see what happened. Nothing exciting, but I doubt the fertilizer is much good. I also didn't have to water much because of the cold.

 

[berobinson82]

Is this it? http://www.lowes.com/pd_297072-15634-651510393001_0__?productId=3962417&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-FertilizerWeedControl-_-FertilizerWeedControl-_-3962417&CAWELAID=1624629733&kpid=3962417&%22cagpspn=pla%22

I think it was this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_423093-1321...urrentURL=?Ntt=10-10-10+fertilizer&facetInfo=

 

[Smoke]

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...n-Smoke-s-Backyard/page2&highlight=fertilizer

Post 77

 

[sam]

try old nylons/p hose. durable and functional

best wishes, sam

 

[Shima]

I buy my bags from an asian grocery store, they fold like a plastic sandwich bag.
easy to remove when spent. Occassionally I find where a bird has moved it to look for bugs underneath Glad to see others are doing something similar

Me too, the fold over kind. Been doing it for years. Bambu toothpicks hold it in place.

 

[hozookie]

Nail + Rust = Iron

 

[Poink88]

try old nylons/p hose. durable and functional

best wishes, sam

I've been saving some actually and my wife asked her mom...I got a pile.

How do you close the ends? I plan on just using twist ties or a piece of thin aluminum wire.

 

[mcpesq817]

I used tea bags last year, adding Gro Power tablets and Osmocote to the bags. Worked very well. They lasted two or so months for me. The upper soil layer didn't seem to get as crusty - not sure if the bags helped with this, or it was just switching to Gro Power from other organic cakes.

 

[Les Lonsdale]

I know that this is an old thread and nobody will probably see this post, but I have a question: Organic fertilizer only works after micro organisms in the soil breakdown the products into a source usable for the plant. How do the micro organisms get to the fertilizer to break it down if it is above the soil in teabags?? Also, for those who use entirely inorganic mix, are there even any 'soil bacteria' in your 'soil' to break down the fertilizer??

 

[PaulH]

How do the micro organisms get to the fertilizer to break it down if it is above the soil in teabags?

Use a fertilizer that includes microorganisms in the mix such as Dr. Earth or Gro-Power.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

My biggest issue with the teabags is they take so long to fill. When you have a lot of trees, and some of the trees require more than one teabag, it takes a while! 300 teabags every couple of months adds up...

 

[Anthony]

Compost. compost, compost

 

[Dav4]

I know that this is an old thread and nobody will probably see this post, but I have a question: Organic fertilizer only works after micro organisms in the soil breakdown the products into a source usable for the plant. How do the micro organisms get to the fertilizer to break it down if it is above the soil in teabags?? Also, for those who use entirely inorganic mix, are there even any 'soil bacteria' in your 'soil' to break down the fertilizer??

The bacteria are there already, even in inorganic soil, but in small numbers. The ferts in the teabags will quickly become heavily colonized with the bacteria, breaking it down and making it available to the plants.

 

[Gary McCarthy]

I purchased some tea bags from Walmart and found them to be too big and bulky. I tried wrapping up the fertilizer nuggets in a coffee filter. It was much smaller than using the tea bags and I liked them better. Seems like they will hold up well also.
IMG_3823 by Gary McCarthy, on Flickr
IMG_3824 by Gary McCarthy, on Flickr
IMG_3825 by Gary McCarthy, on Flickr
IMG_3826 by Gary McCarthy, on Flickr

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Why are you not just putting those biogold cakes directly on the soil? The shape is intended to keep them in place.
I used tea bags for a season and they were a PITA to fill, looked awful on the soil, and broke down anyway. Never again.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I tried wrapping up the fertilizer nuggets in a coffee filter.

Good idea! I may have to check this out. Seems like it would be a much faster method than tea bags. Even with a bucket of fert, a scoop, and a funnel, it still takes me a while to make 300 tea bags.

And yes - to Brian's point - I only think you need to use tea bags for loose fert that would instantly water down into the soil. If you have chunks / cubes there really isn't any benefit that I can tell. With my tea bags, within about a month they harden up into a nugget. At that point, I could remove the bag and the fertilizer cake would just sit up on top of the soil. The paper only lasts about four months or so (for me).

 

[Gary McCarthy]

Why are you not just putting those biogold cakes directly on the soil? The shape is intended to keep them in place.

I thought about that. But I guess I didn't want to take the chance of them getting blown off the soil during the next wind storm.

 

[TyroTinker]

I first learned about fertilizing this way when I visited the pacific bonsai musium. That is how they do it there. Until I started researching bonsai that's how I thought everyone did it with their trees. So young and naïve.
http://pacificbonsaimuseum.org/
It's a pretty cool place

 

[Anthony]

Because many of the trees here are in the stages of refinement or just refined, we can simply
take our aged compost [ 2.6 N, 1.2 P, 0.9 K similar to Rabbit Manure ] by the teaspoons and
spread it on the surface. Watering in.

We use a 12 N ..... for our Dry Season to hold the colour.

What happens is the top level becomes only inorganic and one can tip the pot, the inorganic falls out
and mix back in some aged compost. Replace in the pot.

If you are using oil seed meal cakes or mixes, I would imagine the tree is in the refinement stage.
As the Australians said Michael and Paul, this material is only fermented.
In dry weather observations showed the cake just drying up and getting hard.
In wet weather it grew white fungus and eventually melted, leaving gummed soil, which
later with more rain melted / decomposed away.

My questions would be --------- how much of the 6 N in the oil meal actually went into the soil
and was used by the microbes to roots?

Or if all you are doing is composting and because it is a refinement stage it was enough to feed
the microbes and ultimately the roots of the trees.

The K is supposed to be so reactive it binds to anything and the P is highly water soluble and
washes out mostly.

Question ----------- is this one of those myths like Compost Tea and money is again just being
wasted ?

Anyone got research to show that this works ?
Want to share ?
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Les Lonsdale]

The bacteria are there already, even in inorganic soil, but in small numbers. The ferts in the teabags will quickly become heavily colonized with the bacteria, breaking it down and making it available to the plants.

OK, Dav4. Thanks, if this is true then I'm not wasting my time after all. The contents does seem to dwindle after being on the pot for some time.