Topic: composting tea bags

[plotstoeat]

I have been composting tea bags for years and now I've heard that the bags are made of nylon! Has anyone any knowledge of this? They always seem to break down okay.

 ??? ???

[Flighty]

I do the same as you but some people don't as teabags do have some plastic in them.
Here's what Which has to say on the subject -
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/07/composting-teabags-218651/

[Poolcue]

I use them for the allotment but split the teabags and also use my daily pot of coffee grounds.

[lincsyokel2]

An american invented tea bags in the early 19th century. He was a travelling salesman, and he sent samples of tea in small muslim bags by postto his cutomers. He discovered that people were putting the entire thing into the pot instead of just the tea and realised he was trying to sell the wrong thing.

[Ruth Rocket]

Can you put coffee grounds into the composter?  Cool if so...

What about the yeast left in the barrel when making wine or beer?  Would that go in?

Also can you put moss in?

Sorry for all the questions :)

[galina]

Can you put coffee grounds into the composter?  Cool if so...

What about the yeast left in the barrel when making wine or beer?  Would that go in?

Also can you put moss in?

Sorry for all the questions :)

Yes, yes and yes  ;D  anything that has lived can go in, exception meat which can attract rats etc.  Also cardboard, paper from the shredder etc.  Coffee grounds can also be used as a light surface mulch.  They somewhat deter slugs (not a perfect deterrent, but nothing is) and provide some nitrogen. 

[Robert_Brenchley]

I put meat in mine today, after finding the very smelly remains of a hen on the plot. I've put the odd dead rodent in before, and never had problems.

[Ruth Rocket]

Cool thanks for reply have been wondering what to do with the wine yeast x

[tonybloke]

An american invented tea bags in the early 19th century. He was a travelling salesman, and he sent samples of tea in small muslim bags by postto his cutomers. He discovered that people were putting the entire thing into the pot instead of just the tea and realised he was trying to sell the wrong thing.

didn't know that tea bags were a religion, LY2 ??  ;)

[plotstoeat]

Flighty>thanks for the excellent link. And thanks for the other views. So I will continue composting tea bags but split the bags first (if I remember). It's like remembering to scrunch eggshells otherwise they just stay in tact.

 I have never been that successful in composting. It usually turns out like silage : very wet and smelly. I think it is because I use the compost bin like a refuse bin and just throw any stuff in willy nilly. I know good compost depends on the right mix and plenty of aeration so I think I will resolve to be more scientific in my approach in future. The best compost that I have made was in a bed not a bin with alternate layers of organic matter and soil -- just like Dr Hessayon recommended many years ago.

[antipodes]

It sounds like you are not putting in enough "brown" to asborb excess water and provide carbon. Up the proportions of stuff like coffee grounds, eggshells, and maybe start wrapping your veg scraps in newspaper, to provide paper based waste. You can also shred up newspaper, or other non shiny paper or card. Remember to occasionally put in something branch like: cuttings that are mostly stems for instance - they form air pockets I find and help aerate it.
Everything goes in mine: scraps and peelings always wrapped in newspaper, rotting fruit and veg, egg shells, tea bags, coffee, kitchen towels, as well as the grassy weeds and finished plants from the plot (unless diseased).

[louise stella]

Basically.....anything that has lived will compost - but it's best layered green/brown/green/brown and so on or it will not break down fully! 

Ex-husbands may take a bit longer though........ ;D

[the_snail]

Tea bags have a half-life of what seems like 10 years  :o  ;D

I slung one on the garden and I was moving it about for about 3 years. I thought to myself after the third year I could still make myself a cuppa with this thing  ;D

[lincsyokel2]

Can you put coffee grounds into the composter?  Cool if so...

What about the yeast left in the barrel when making wine or beer?  Would that go in?

Also can you put moss in?

Sorry for all the questions :)

yep all of that. Anything  organic, uncooked and not from an animal, basically.

In India, waste coffee grounds are used to mop up puddles of elephant wee...................

[tonybloke]

meat, roadkill etc will greatly increase the decomposing speed of any decent compost heap. still can't think why some folk are against meat in compost. never wondered why the vegetation is so lush in a cemetery?

[lottie lou]

What tea bags do you use?  I just chuck mine in and they seem to disappear quite quickly.  The same with eggshells.  Mind you I tend to move my daleks round the garden a bit so the stuff gets turned.  Occasionally use a sprinkling of sulphate of ammonia too - along with general household fertiliser if I have somewhere private to produce it.

[cornykev]

If mine gets too wet I mix in shredded paper and it always seems to work, give it a good stir in and add more if necessary.
Certain types of teabags are hard to break down but you just have to pick out the few nylon bits that don't break down, mine have always broken down.
I also, dry my egg shells on the kitchen radiator and they crumble up nicely in my hand and I keep these in a separate bag to sprinkle around the plants.
 ;D :D ;)

[plotstoeat]

along with general household fertiliser if I have somewhere private to produce it.

Very subtle! Yes, I add my own brew of compost accelerator when there's nobody about. Maybe I produce too much. I have lots of waste paper but don't have a paper shredder. I compost leaves separately and have had great success with them. I have dried the sunflower stalks and they should shred well.

[Lottiman]

I always split the tea bags keep the contents, that goes in with the coffee grounds and the bag gets binned.also as someone else mentioned I keep dry and crush my eggshells keep them separate and use as a slug barrier around plants.