Comments on: Tea Bag Vermicomposting

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 16:25:27 +0000

Hi Tammy – soil worms and composting worms tend to be quite different in terms of preferences and tolerance. Your garden worms should do ok in the soil environment, and a small input of extra organic matter should be ok (the tea leaves idea seems good to me) – but I would steer well clear of typical worm composting methods. Wastes decomposing in a potted plant won’t likely be good for the plant (or the soil worm) and moving the worm to an actual typical vermicomposting bin likely won’t be as idea either. Tea leaves are a pretty mellow waste material, not super rich in nutrition and I would think they work quite well.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 15:56:00 +0000

I am not a worm composter, but I recently discovered a worm in my potted plant (I used soil from outdoors) and feel that since I have kidnapped it from its natural habitat, I would like to give it a good vacation until I can return it to the out of doors. It is currently dead of winter. I confess there is a part of me that wonders if it will like its small resort. I was thinking herbal tea grounds would be something that I can provide, but I am curious about the “caution” food for worms, specifically lemon peel (in the lemon tea) and if mint would work

By: Bentley

Bentley — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 18:32:23 +0000

ANTONIO – thanks for your input! I agree – pretty well ANY organic matter, if prepared properly, has the potential to be a good worm “food” or “bedding”. But there are definitely some nuances there! lol
I also agree that mixes work best (vs too much of any one thing).
😎

By: Antonio

Antonio — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 12:14:17 +0000

The good thing about red worms is that no matter what organic material you throw on them, they will transform it into the best compost there is.
I have been doing vermicomposting for many years and ofcourse using tea bags (good Nitrogene and microelements source) together with the rest of organic waste. This mixed of organic matter is important for better results. Just one remark: I tear apart the tea bags and therefore, the worms have an earlier and faster access to this important source of good compost.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 21:27:04 +0000

Looks like I missed a lot of comments last fall!

LAURIE – That’s great! Thanks for chiming in.
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CALEB – I agree, variety of herbal (etc) teas will only improve the overall nutritional value (and maybe even appeal) for the worms. Great question about caffeine! Definitely a lot more in coffee – and they seem to do very well with grounds. Interesting about the plastic liner – others mention this as well. I haven’t seen any evidence of this so far myself.
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LOIS – My tea bags tend to sit in the sink or in a cup briefly before being tossed in a big zip lock bag (kept open for air flow). They are quite moist and a fair bit of liquid actually accumulates in the bottom of the holding bag over time. I would describe it as pretty close to “ideal” moisture content for a worm bin, but I have started balancing it a bit by adding the paper packet certain tea bags come in (not the glossy ones though).
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DESIREE – That is an interesting question! I would be hesitant to dump in large quantities of cinammon on its own, but brewed cinammon in tea mixes is most likely totally harmless.
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RICHARD – So far they definitely seem to be very happy with this food source!
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JOE – Thanks for sharing! I am seeing some accumulation of string, but I am sure over time it will break down as well. We’ll see if the stables eventually rust and dissolve – so far the jury is still out on that one!
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JIM – I have really grown to love big holes in my plastic bins (although, keep in mind they are almost always indoor bins). The increased air flow is very very helpful!
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RENEE – Wow, a gallon per week? That is a LOT. Glad your worms are enjoying the food source!
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ANDRE – thanks for the link. I will have to check that out! Seems to be a lot of interest in this topic!
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TONTO – Sounds like you might be a fellow Canadian! I have actually put in some PC tea bags and they seemed to get completely consumed. All I found in the bin was an assortment of staples and strings. lol
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AMY – Thanks for your input! I still have not found any with synthetic liners, but as touched on already I am seeing some accumulation of string and staples (not too worried about either one over the long haul).
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ANNA – Thanks for the link. This seems to be a topic that keeps coming up, so there must be quite a few brands that have plastic liners etc.
Thanks for the kind words!
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Phew! Thanks everyone. As touched on there seems to be a ton of interest in this topic. Do stay tuned.
😎
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By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 23:16:16 +0000

I have added some teabags to my worm bin in the past but since I’ve learned that they often contain plastic I don’t like adding them anymore.I’m not too worried about the worms, but I really don’t want tiny pieces of microplastic in the castings that will eventually end up in the environment.
Now I just buy loose tea in bulk, me and my worms love it 😉
If you’re looking for information about plastic in teabags, this article is from a few years back but might still be helpful: https://treadingmyownpath.com/2014/07/11/the-scandalous-plastic-in-tea-bags-who-knew/

I’ve had a worm bin for one year and a half now and the info you provide on your blog has been super helpful and inspiring. Thank you so much for your great work!

By: Amy C Thoren

Amy C Thoren — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 04:41:24 +0000

I drink a lot of tea. I make sure to never buy tea with synthetic bags, and I’ve figured out which brands don’t have staples. Essentially, everything goes in the worm bin, and I almost never see a bag again (or the string, or the tag) after I toss it in. Apart from watermelon rinds, tea bags are my favorite thing to feed my worms.

By: Tonto

Tonto — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 21:49:56 +0000

Bit late, but as others mentioned you can get the little plastic nets left over after the paper has been eaten.

I’ve found most teabags (I get what is on special so drink all types heh) seem to have a plastic base on which the paper part of the teabag is built on. For strength I guess. I tried some PC (Pres choice)fully organic teabags… but they didn’t get composted at all. They might be organic in origin, but no idea what they are now.

What I do is during a TV show, I rip open the bag and dip it in a pot of water. That washes out all the tea leaves. Repeat while watching and end up with a pot full of loose tea :). The leaves sink so easy to pour off the extra water.

And you know how pure coffee grinds can dry out when by themselves, I find mixing them with tea leaves which are good at holding water makes a good combo. So I give my worms that combo.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 14:26:49 +0000

Renee – I didn’t realize there might be a risk of ending up with synthetic bags. I will have to look into this to make sure mine aren’t synthetic as well.
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Andre – thanks for sharing that. Very interesting. Hopefully the worms do OK but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

By: andre

andre — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 15:56:16 +0000

thanks for all your posts, research and experiments. There has been one experiment similar to this done by London worm and garden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyU61epRYpE&t=234s

however, i am very curious to your results to see if they are similar and also interested in your conclusion. as an addition to worm-compost teabags are surely great.