"Used Tea Bag" for Seed Germination - Live Experiment

[Frogster]

Can you germinate cannabis seeds in used teabags ?

A gardening show that I saw somewhere, a few years back - gave me the idea for this experiment, and prompted for the reasons below.

Tea leaves contain all the big three nutrients, N-P-K, as well as some trace minerals, in fact - tea leaves contain about 4.4% nitrogen, 0.24% phosphorus and 0.25% potassium.

There is significantly more nitrogen in tea leaves than in most liquid pot plant fertilisers. Tea leaves contain tannins, which are acidic - cannabis likes acidic.

Tea leaves also contain other compounds that are reputed to be beneficial in breaking down the husk on a seed in germination and there are useful plant nutrients in there too.

So, in theory, that humble and discarded old Tea Bag should make a great seedling food

Tea Leaves make a nice soft rooting medium, and because they have been dunked in boiling water, they’re are almost sterile.

All in all, this sounds a perfect environment to germinate a cannabis seed.

So.... I think the question needs to be asked....
"Are used Tea bags a good place to germinate cannabis seeds ?".

But, try as I might.... I could not find any documented cannabis/teabag/germination related research.

This may be a "first of it's kind" experiment.... It could even be a previously unknown, critical and lacking area of research.
Who knows? -

I guess that's enough reason for me to test it out...... So, my "fellow growers", that is what I am going to do....

Oh... and if it works and starts to get used.... It should be called
"The Frogster Germination Method"


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Equipment used In this Experiment
2 x Used tea bags (Yorkshires finest)
A paper towel
A small plastic tray & lid (old Chinese takeaway container)
Tap Water
2 x "AK47".Autos from Femaleseeds

Method - How I did it
(Instructions below, if you want to replicate the experiment)

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1) Fold the paper towel, put it in the tray and wet it.

2) Soak the used tea bags in water, drain a little and place on the paper towel.

3) Make a hole in each bag and poke in a seed.

4) Cover the seed with some of the tea grains and close the opening over the seed.

5) Add water to keep the paper towel wet. It will keep the tea bags moist. This is VERY IMPORTANT.

6) Put the lid loosely on the tray, and put the tray in a warm place, out of the sun.

7) Keep checking the paper towel remains damp !

8) When the seeds germinate and the seedlings pop their heads, very gently plant them (still in their tea bags) into their final pots.

The roots will easily penetrate the teabag and the paper tea bag will eventually breakdown.

So, now I guess you want to know if it works ?

You need to keep watching this space.... I only planted the seeds this evening.... I will update.



@CannaZone Tier 1 @CannaZone Tier 2 @CannaZone Tier 3​

 

[fryge]

I think it will work fine, but I don't think it has much added benefit over other methods.

in that early stage nutrients aren't needed yet, the seed has it's reserves. there could be a slight benefit in nitrogen as it has a role in breaking dormancy, but I think in most weed we grow the dormancy has been bred out, maybe if you would grow seeds gathered from the wild somewhere, not in a cultivated field, it could have a bit of benefit(but the influence of other factors like light is bigger I think).

personally, I adapt my germing technique to what's convenient for me, not what's best for the seed. there are so many ways to germ, and they all work, germing is easy and a pretty wide range of conditions works.
that's why I germ in a cup of water, very easy to look at to see if they've opened already, and no hasle with paper drying out or tearing when you lift it, or roots growing into the paper etc.
and to get the germed seeds out or refresh the water, I can just throw the whole content of the glass trough a tea-sieve.

 

[hairyman]

I so want this to work well for you pal . ,,
@archie gemmill

I been composting my tea bags

 

[Frogster]

I think it will work fine, but I don't think it has much added benefit over other methods.

I also "think" it may well work, if it has any "added benefit" is the interesting bit.... and hopefully that will be the follow on from this experiment.

My understanding and research leads me towards thinking the active principle might be the plant hormones Gibberellins which can be very instrumental in stimulating germination and are found in Tea Leaves.

Gibberellins are involved in many different aspects of growth, much in the way animal hormones are. Their best known role is in stimulating elongation of the inter-nodes of plants, but they are also classically involved in seed germination as a result of the stimulation of enzymes - which break down starch into sugars as the embryo starts to grow, and the seedling develops.

Experiments are what they are, undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.... But, by probing various aspects of known knowledge, we may gain additional knowledge, and hopefully progress to make a more informed judgement in the future rather than just "think" it may, or may not work. - If we don't try new ideas we remain static in our knowledge.

That's my take on it.... and why I do things like this.

 

[Dichoti]

I also "think" it may well work, if it has any "added benefit" is the interesting bit.... and hopefully that will be the follow on from this experiment.

My understanding and research leads me towards thinking the active principle might be the plant hormones Gibberellins which can be very instrumental in stimulating germination and are found in Tea Leaves.

Gibberellins are involved in many different aspects of growth, much in the way animal hormones are. Their best known role is in stimulating elongation of the inter-nodes of plants, but they are also classically involved in seed germination as a result of the stimulation of enzymes - which break down starch into sugars as the embryo starts to grow, and the seedling develops.

Experiments are what they are, undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.... But, by probing various aspects of known knowledge, we may gain additional knowledge, and hopefully progress to make a more informed judgement in the future rather than just "think" it may, or may not work. - If we don't try new ideas we remain static in our knowledge.

That's my take on it.... and why I do things like this.

Watch, you'll wind up just getting a 3ft long "spear" bud, and that's it because the gibberlins made everything grow super close together...or something.

 

[Dichoti]

In all seriousness, though, I'm watching this thread for the results. I'm already at a 100% germ rate on autos with my "method", But if the early growth is impressive enough, I may start using a modified version...ie: put a shot glass size hole in my coco, fill it with the content of used tea bags, drop a seed in and cover it until the bean pops.

 

[Frogster]

In all seriousness, though, I'm watching this thread for the results. I'm already at a 100% germ rate on autos with my "method", But if the early growth is impressive enough, I may start using a modified version...ie: put a shot glass size hole in my coco, fill it with the content of used tea bags, drop a seed in and cover it until the bean pops.

I am already thinking of a modification along those lines.... and a variation - filling a toilet roll middle with the contents of used tea bags, to give the roots more depth and room to develop, and subsequently plant on to the final pot intact, the cardboard will decompose during the grow.

 

[Dichoti]

I am already thinking of a modification along those lines.... and a variation - filling a toilet roll middle with the contents of used tea bags, to give the roots more depth and room to develop, and subsequently plant on to the final pot intact, the cardboard will decompose during the grow.

Hell, that Idea is better than mine. You'd have more control over moisture in the tea, your way.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

if i had a seed for every tea bag i use,i could put mephisto out of business
no special treatment for the teabag other than letting it cool down first ?
i wonder if i put some loose tea in a.....thinking ....loading....updating....

a pic will have to do the names not coming to me,one of these would it be like an expanding plug ?

 

[fryge]

I also "think" it may well work, if it has any "added benefit" is the interesting bit.... and hopefully that will be the follow on from this experiment.

My understanding and research leads me towards thinking the active principle might be the plant hormones Gibberellins which can be very instrumental in stimulating germination and are found in Tea Leaves.

Gibberellins are involved in many different aspects of growth, much in the way animal hormones are. Their best known role is in stimulating elongation of the inter-nodes of plants, but they are also classically involved in seed germination as a result of the stimulation of enzymes - which break down starch into sugars as the embryo starts to grow, and the seedling develops.

Experiments are what they are, undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.... But, by probing various aspects of known knowledge, we may gain additional knowledge, and hopefully progress to make a more informed judgement in the future rather than just "think" it may, or may not work. - If we don't try new ideas we remain static in our knowledge.

That's my take on it.... and why I do things like this.

ofcourse trying out stuff is great, I like it too(also when I think there aren't any benefits, experimenting is fun) and I'm curious what your results with the teabags will be, definitely don't let my thinking stop you from doing anything.
but just theorizing about what your results could be, my guess is they're just going to germ, but it's not really going to be better, or worse, just another method for germing. but maybe a bit more hassle, and maybe more risk with fungus(the tealeaves could be a nice medium for fungus to grow, although that may not matter if it's a fungus that doesn't do anything to living tissue).

the gibberilins I think won't matter much. if the seeds germ normally without adding it, they produce plenty of gibberilins themselves, and there's no benefit to adding more.
you'll definitely notce it if giberilins are lacking, and in that case adding it definitely has an effect(unless it's a receptor-mutant instead of a synthesis-mutant), but it's more a tresshold-situation then a gradient. seeds that don't produce enough giberilin just will not germ at all(without adding it).
and later on more giberilin is sooner negative then positive, due to the effect of stretching you mention. a lot of modern crops are bred towards lower production of giberilin, so they'll stretch less, and have higher harvest index(although at the time they were first bred they didn't know it was due to giberilin, they just selected for dwarfs).