Plants Need Tea, Too!

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How to Use Fertilizer Teas

We use these teas when we are planting or transplanting, during the growing season when we water and when the plants appear to need a boost. Teas with high amounts of nitrogen should be used only during periods of active growth. Teas can be used strained or unstrained. If there is a lot of sediment or if there is a slurry left, we add this to the compost pile or dig it into the garden soil.

Another good way to administer botanical teas is by foliar feeding. Foliar sprays must be well-filtered so they do not clog the sprayer. You have to do this in manageable quantities. Pour the mixture through a strainer lined with fine cheesecloth or use a jelly bag. The idea is to get rid of all of the particles because they will stop up the valve of your sprayer. The teas are best used in the late afternoon and very early morning, and never during periods of temperature extremes. Late afternoon is the best because pores on the underside of the leaves tend to open at night. The pH of the tea should be slightly acid, about 6 to 6.5. Using a pH test kit available at any gardening store, test the tea and add either a bit of baking soda to increase alkalinity or vinegar to increase acidity. All our teas should be safe for foliar feeding as long they are well filtered.

Easy to Make

Add a small coffee can of rabbit pellets (alfalfa) to a 5-gallon plastic bucket and then fill with water and 1 tablespoon of molasses. Molasses speeds up microbial growth. Pour the mixture back and forth to a second empty 5-gallon bucket several times (a process called boxing). Let it age three days, boxing it back and forth at least once a day. What do you get? Alfalfa tea for plants. Water your new plantings with it and you’ll have the earthworms doing circus tricks in your soil.

Compost, horse and rabbit manure, bat guano, chamomile flowers, spirulina and culinary and medicinal herbs are other ingredients used to feed plants and soil. Adding humic acid to the formulas increases the growth and vitality of container and garden plants. Liquid humic acid is derived from decayed organic matter called humates.  Humates chelate (combine) plant nutrients and release them to plant roots. Soils high in humus have good composition, water retention and aeration. By using plant- and animal-based teas, we feed and increase that aerobic microherd, which makes nutrients available for happier, healthier plants.

Nourishing Herb Teas for your Garden

Many common garden herbs and weeds can provide nourishment and nutrients for growing plants, just as they would for people consuming them. As you weed, cut back or harvest these leafy garden greens, save them in a basket or bucket and combine or use them singly to make a botanical tea — recycle those nutrients — and fertilize your garden. Prepare a tea by infusing the whole or chopped leaves in water for a few hours or up to a few days, be sure to stir it every now and then. When you apply the tea, it is okay to use the leaves too, although they may be a bit slimy if you infuse them for more than a day. Below are just a few garden herbs we use:

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