Is this true????????????????????

Question

someone said to put leaves in a pot and boil then then pour the leaves and water into cups and add sugar and salt then freeze it then take out the block of ice (with the leaves sugar and salt in it) then put it ontop of a potted plant and let it melt. sorry if its confusing but does this really work as a fertilizer????? thanx

Answer 1

You don't want salt anywhere near a plant.  Salt kills plants.

Ice cubes made from distilled water are a convenient way to water your houseplants.  I suppose if you added a little weak black tea to the distilled water you might get a fertilizing effect but what you have described does not sound like any fertilizing method I've heard of before.

Answer 2

Sounds like a very low grade organic fertilizer. There is a name for these soups, but I forget it at the moment.

I personally use my freezer for food, but I guess you have way too much time on your hands. lol. Go buy a bag of slow release fertilizer and save your self a lot of ineffective work. Does work, just not much that you will notice.

TopCatt

Answer 3

yeee. i don't know, that sounds weird. lol. .why not try anyway?

Answer 4

YES.

The tea will add tannic acid to the soil and work as a mild fertilizer – a small amount of sugar, molasses or honey will help feed the beneficial microorganisms in the soil and if they suggested Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) – go right ahead – it will add magnesium to the soil. All of the above ingredients will help your plants and soil in their own way.

I would add a bunch of teabags (or loose tea) to a gallon bucket, pour hot water over them and wait until the water cools – add a tablespoon of molasses and a tablespoon of Epsom salt – stir it up and use it right away or pour it into ice cube trays for future use.

I have used the above mentioned concoction and it does wonders. The Epsom salt (which is not really “salt”) will green up your plants within a day or two.

Use it as you would any other fertilizer and alternate with clear water or another – store bought – water soluble fertilizer that has trace elements in it.

Even plain tea or weak coffee would work as an organic fertilizer.

But don’t worry; your concoction will not hurt your plants.

By the way, if you make alfalfa tea (which has a growth hormone in it) it will not only help your plants grow better and greener but they will send out more basal shoots. It is a common practice used amongst rose aficionados.

As a rambling aside: One of the reasons we use so much chemical fertilizer in our gardens and potted plants is we neglect to feed the soil. Our concentration is on feeding the plants – which is a bit backwards.

Most potted plants are planted in sterile “soil-less” mixes void of any nutritional value to the plants and very few people (although it is increasing) concentrate on adding compost to their garden soil (or potting soil) on a regular basis. Compost is loaded with micro and macro organisms that keep the soil alive and prevent nutrients from getting “lock-up” in the soil.

Gardens in which compost has been added before planting and throughout the season as “topdressing” have plants that are larger, more resistant to attach by insects and disease and do not need “additives” because a particular plant is lacking in iron, for example.

Compost fortified soil attracts worms, pill-bugs, beneficial nematodes and all kinds of fauna that by “existing”, produce fertilizer via their excreta. They also prey on harmful organisms.  

The same is true for potted plants, only more so. They are planted in something that has no nutritional value. Adding plant teas and compost teas that have been left out in the air for 24 to 48 hours and stirred or aerated by being poured back and forth from one bucket to the other, become powerhouse juice, loaded with aerobic bacteria the SOIL needs to help plants thrive and prosper.

So make your tea – a cup for you and a cup for each of your plants.

Answer 5

Sounds like you are making tea not fertilizer.  Leaves work as compost or mulch little fertilizer, but the sugar would set off your bacteria in the soil and the salt would kill the plant if to much.  A very little might work as minerals, and the cold might damage the plant.  

Just get regular fertilizer, and forget this concoction.

Answer 6

I highly doubt that that is true... nothing in that sounds like it really could fertilize anything... and I don't think sugar is good for plants, and salt isn't for sure, if soil is to salty plants will die.