Soaking Orchids in Tea?

[Cymbaline]

On a FB group it's frequently recommended or talked about to soak an orchid in tea . Like the black tea you buy to drink.
I did a search here on the forum for "tea" and nothing pulled up.

I'm just wondering if there is any benefits to giving orchid's tea soaks? I asked on the group and supposedly the tannins are beneficial and supposedly people see benefits but not finding any posts here about it seems to indicate that this maybe a myth.

[Veksa]

There is some old discussion. Watering with Lipton's?

[WaterWitchin]

Some folks choose to do the tea water or a used tea bag as a "natural" fertilizer, using it to add nitrogen. Unfortunately, depending on the tea one has no idea how much nitrogen the plant is receiving, and of course the amount would be different depending on the particular tea.

Personally, I'd rather use a proven orchid fertilizer. That way one KNOWS what strength the fertilizer is giving the plant. Plus you're fertilizing with the correct dose of phosphorus and potassium, plus calcium and magnesium if the fertilizer also provides it.

Otherwise it's an experiment to find the right tea, the right weakness of the tea, etc, etc.

[Veksa]

I do not know if i can post youtube videos here, this guy says that tannins are more like a signal for a plant to start growing roots, not mentioning any nutrient value.

[Cymbaline]

Originally Posted by Veksa

There is some old discussion. Watering with Lipton's?

Thanks for this!

---------- Post added at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Veksa

I do not know if i can post youtube videos here, this guy says that tannins are more like a signal for a plant to start growing roots, not mentioning any nutrient value.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Cymbaline

I'm just wondering if there is any benefits to giving orchid's tea soaks?

Hard to say how many people out there actually experiment with this. I thought tannins can be acidic ..... slightly .... but haven't checked up on this.

We just know in advance that orchids already grow superbly and flower excellently without needing to experiment with tea soaks.

And if one has more than just a few orchids (eg. many orchids), then tea soaking could not just be impractical, but also wasting money too.

On the other hand, doing some controlled testing could lead to some useful results --- such as have several orchids of the same kind without tea soaks, an then the other group (several orchids of the same kind) with tea soaks. Then later compare the two groups - after a relatively long time.

As long as the tea doesn't harm the orchids, then no harm to try.

[Roberta]

Southpark, you may have hit on something... For many of us, tap water is pretty alkaline. So perhaps the tannins in the tea helped the person who said it works. Without knowing the rest of the conditions, the anecdotal observation isn't worth much as far as applying more generally. There are easier ways to correct the alkalinity... a bit of vinegar in one's fertilizer water for instance.

[thefish1337]

the literature is scant but from what I can infer from this one page: JSTOR: Access Check (maybe i can get it on sci hub later)

this paper suggests that orchids grow better on certain oaks because they are inhibited by certain types of tannins and bark compounds; it makes sense that certain tannins and bark leachate would stimulate as well if they signal an "ideal" bark. does tea stimulate the orchid? i dont know but I have seen it recommended. I've also seen cholla bark tannins suggested as well.

[WaterWitchin]

I'm with SouthPark on this one. If one has a few orchids and wants to experiment, go for it. If one wants to experiment and have results... test groups.

If it's just anecdotal, why bother when there are so many easier proven ways to do so?

---------- Post added at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 PM ----------

Originally Posted by thefish1337

the literature is scant but from what I can infer from this one page: JSTOR: Access Check (maybe i can get it on sci hub later)

this paper suggests that orchids grow better on certain oaks because they are inhibited by certain types of tannins and bark compounds; it makes sense that certain tannins and bark leachate would stimulate as well if they signal an "ideal" bark. does tea stimulate the orchid? i dont know but I have seen it recommended. I've also seen cholla bark tannins suggested as well.

Interesting. But how many orchids do we grow that normally live on oak trees or cholla bark?

[Ray]

Tea is not much of a fertilizer, if at all.

I have read conflicting articles about its effectiveness as a root-growth stimulant.

What I have read and trust is that tannins are part of plants' defense mechanisms, intended to fend off pathogens and other plants intruding on them. Since becoming associated with Inocucor and its benefits, as you might guess, I have become wary of anything that kills microbes, as they just aren't selective, killing the good ones with the bad.

<soapbox> I used to be a big proponent of such "home remedies" and was recently asked to put together an AOS webinar on the subject, but declined as I have learned that, depending upon how they are used, can be helpful (but not as effective as proven commercial products), and can sometimes do more harm than good.

There appears to be two primary schools of thought leading to their use - "money" and "natural/organic".

Financial arguments usually fail because, while the product might be less expensive than commercial ones (often not if you take the time to crunch the numbers), they are also typically far less effective, or in the case of fertilizers far less complete.

The "natural" argument is often based upon "not wanting to put synthetic chemicals" into the environment. The problem there is that using an excess (for effectiveness) of a "natural" product may be more harmful than the correct amount of a "store-bought" one. Sometimes the active ingredients are the same! </soapbox>