Tea leaves for fertilising

[TeaLeaf]

Hey guys, I am making a project to deal with tea leaf waste. Was thinking of making some sort of compost pellets from it, could anymore let me know more about how plant compost pellets work, or what you thunk would be the most convenient form for it to be in.
Any information on the compost cycle and use of pellets and other things would be great!!!

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome @TeaLeaf !

I can offer that Texas A&M research has established that the primary means of transferring Nitrogen to soils is through the process of decaying green plant matter. We gardeners can speed and enhance that process through composting.

I make my own cow manure/Sunn Hemp compost that tests out at near perfect Nitrogen levels as well as other vital nutrients...to have that available in pellet form would be very convenient.

I would be interested in your process for turning my compost into a pelleted form.

 

[oneeye]

That's a good idea Tealeaf. Sounds like a fun project and interesting. What kind of plants do you have and what kind of soil will you be fertilizing? I think the term is fertilizer prills. Prills are used in agriculture to fertilize soil and turf. How are you going to do it, friend?

 

[Anniekay]

The way pellets work is that they slowly, as they're affected by watering, release nutrients into the soil.

 

[Meadowlark]

... How are you going to do it, friend?

Exactly... our question is what is your process for making them @TeaLeaf ?

...I would be interested in your process for turning my compost into a pelleted form.

 

[TeaLeaf]

I plan to have a process to separate the tea leaf grounds from the tea bags with some sort of shearing process (because of the microplastics), and then remove some of the moisture, and under a high pressure compress them into a processable pellet form, or prill as it has been named.

Do you think that used tea ground waste will have the same impact with correct nitrogen levels as tea leafs which I realise you may have thought I meant.

 

[Meadowlark]

Do you think that used tea ground waste will have the same impact with correct nitrogen levels as tea leafs which I realise you may have thought I meant.

My guess would have been that some nitrogen is lost as it is used in making tea, but reading on the 'net seems like maybe not. This may be one you just have to try yourself to answer your question...all credit to you for your project.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Is there much of any value fertiliser wise in used tea? I know that leaf mould is a great soil additive in some ways, but I didn't think it had much fertiliser value, I can't think leaves that had been extracted with boiling water would be better

 

[Meadowlark]

Is there much of any value fertiliser wise in used tea?

Yes, that's what I thought also...but I found several sources online that put it at 4% nitrogen.

I hope we get a follow-up post on these pellets...sounds interesting to me.

 

[Chuck]

Yes, that's what I thought also...but I found several sources online that put it at 4% nitrogen.

I hope we get a follow-up post on these pellets...sounds interesting to me.

Leaf pellet mill: make bulky leaves into compact pellet fuel

A leaf pellet mill is used to make leaves into biomass fuel used in heating stove. Leaves are cheap, abundant and easy to get. Leaf pellets has high calorific value. It can save your cost for fuel.

www.pellet-making.com

I can see a big opportunity here.

 

[Meadowlark]

x2...really interested in this...my thought was to use alfalfa leaves which are super high in nitrogen in the pellet process. They are getting $18 for 40-pound bag of alfalfa pellets.... or maybe even Sunn Hemp which is prolific leaf producer.

 

[Meadowlark]

I can't find a price on this unit @Chuck...did you see one?

 

[Chuck]

I can't find a price on this unit @Chuck...did you see one?

View attachment 106856

Not yet

 

[Chuck]

I can't find a price on this unit @Chuck...did you see one?

View attachment 106856

On this website you must contact them but on Amazon I searched pellet mill and there are a bunch of them at about $1100.

 

[oneeye]

I remember an organic fertilizer you used to get called Sustain, it was turkey manure that ran through a machine and was made into prills. The idea was to be able to broadcast the fertilizer with a common fertilizer spreader. Everybody stopped carrying it because it was too expensive and didn't have a long enough time sequence between spreads.

Nature's Guide is another organic fertilizer company that compresses prills. They have poultry mixes in 2 different nutrient contents and an alfalfa prill too. I think they went out of business too. Good luck and keep us posted.