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TEABAGS👺

B3B3 Posts: 21,473
in Plants
Teabag %&&££# technology!
I bought an osteospermum about six weeks ago and noticed today that it had made no growth whatsoever. The original buds are flowering, but that's it.
I had a poke around and found the dreaded teabag. The small cylindrical ones are the worst, because they're not obvious when you repot after purchase. By the time that you notice that something's wrong, it's usually too late to do anything about it. At least with the big, square ones, you could see them to remove them.
Be warned. Just because you can't see it easily, it doesn't mean it's not there.
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 46,243
    I always have a poke about if I buy anything small, especially if it's not from a nursery.
    I dont know why they keep promoting the use of these. They seem very inconsistent  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • B3B3 Posts: 21,473
    Some nurseries are factories and it makes the handling of plants and use of machinery easier.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • RubytooRubytoo On the sofa, Southerly aspect.Posts: 1,287
    Thanks for the timely reminder about these bleeping things. I know I was checking anything bought last year,  some Veronica plugs and a couple of clematis liners I liberated from them. They were the cylindrical ones.

    A friend gave me a little fuchsia that had one too, it languished in a little pot doing nothing for ages,  when I spotted it wobbled a bit in the pot.  Surgery completed it galloped away after teabag removal.

    I don't understand, they do pull apart in little tufts so you can get them off and from around the roots that have managed to penetrate them with a little care, just some roots do not seem to like penetrating them. It seems a bit hit and miss.
    But all the ones I have noticed because the plants have not done as well as expected, seem to have done better with the removal.
  • AchtungAchtung Poole, Dorset. Posts: 159
    Can someone please explain to me (and possibly others) what this thread is about? 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 9,601
    These things
    https://theanamumdiary.co.uk/2014/04/01/ana-garden-easy-grow-b-q/
  • RubytooRubytoo On the sofa, Southerly aspect.Posts: 1,287
    edited May 2019
    Plants are grown commercially or started in what feels like a teabag type material in texture. Apply it to B3's description in the opening post.

    Some plants do not seem to do very well in them, and do not manage to grow through them into surrounding compost as intended.
     
    Hope that helps.
  • AchtungAchtung Poole, Dorset. Posts: 159
    When you're young, it's wonderful, every day you learn something. When you're old it's boring, you think
    you know everything, nothing is new anymore and then..... Teabags for plants!! . How wonderful, I never knew (maybe not for plants but for me) we never stop learning. Thanks Anni and Ruby for explanation. 
  • B3B3 Posts: 21,473
    I still find the odd rectangular one in the garden with bone dry compost inside from years ago.
    It's not just that roots can't get out, moisture can't get in!
    I'm going to ask before I buy anymore. It's not just the big chains that have them now.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 9,601
    I have bought plants with them attached, and couldn't get on with them at all. Even when l took them off and freed the roots, the plants really struggled .
    The only teabags l like come in a big box with "Yorkshire " written on the front.
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    AnniD said:

    The only teabags l like come in a big box with "Yorkshire " written on the front.
    But will they compost? Last time I tried with teabags they didn't and became a nuisance in the compost.
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