Teabag technology
ice
Posts: 332
I rescued a few plants today from a well known chain. Sadly they have been planted in the teabag technology things. I know from experience that these don't biodegrade so tried to pull them off. However many plants have grown roots through the mesh and these break off as it try to distangle them. What's best course of action?
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I always cut the 'tea bags' off before I plant - but on saying that, as I've been dividing and transplanting some things this last couple of weeks, I did discover some plants I had bought a few years ago, which never thrived, all still have the 'tea bag' - so I've cut them off to see if the plants might improve. They must take a long time to degrade. I was surprised at still finding so many and especially as some had initially been bought in pots as reasonable sized plants and I when I'd planted them, I couldn't even see they had been grown in the 'tea bag'.
Last edited: 30 April 2017 02:25:37
Two years -and the rest! I'm still finding them after 3 or 4 years dotted about the garden still whole with bone dry peat in the middle.
Are B&Q still doing it? I stopped buying plants there for that reason- unless they're sin bin rescues
I wonder if the tea bags come in different qualities. I've had lots of problems in the past when I didn't spot them (including a clematis sold in a large pot but with roots that hadn't extended beyond the tiny teabag) but this year I've also had some where the roots have become totally entwined making the netting impossible to remove, including from some very reputable suppliers.
I also noticed that in the article on plug plants in the May GW magazine it explicitly says not to try to remove them to avoid damaging the roots.
I would say that being restricted in a bone dry environment would be more damaging to the roots.
These bags are used to make the manufacturing/ production line process easier. The end product is a plant which looks healthy in the shop and survives until enough time elapsed until the purchaser assumes that an unhealthy or dead plant is their own fault.
What happens in the garden is of no interest.
Yeah I'm not a fan of them. All were sin bin bargains. Cut/ pulled off the bags. Fair amount of damage to roots which had gone through the bag. Feel very guilty, but they're free and watered in the garden, hopefully will survive and thrive. Teabags in the bin.