• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

How to fill a tea bag with fertilizer

June 30, 2015 by Jonas Dupuich

Two months ago, Felix Laughlin, President of the National Bonsai Foundation, requested tips for how to fill a tea bag with fertilizer quickly. The process does seem to take a while, but I’ve found I can fill about 9 bags per minute with the following approach.

The most important thing is setting up everything within easy reach – tea bags (flap side up), fertilizer and scoop. From there there’s not too much to it.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

The basic setup – the fertilizer here is E.B. Stone’s Starter Food, 4-6-2

I start by picking up a bag by the flap.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Picking up the bag

Gently folding the bag opens it.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Open bag

Next the fertilizer goes in.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Filling the bag about 2/3 – 3/4 full

Under filling the bag can work when only a little is needed; over-filling the bag makes it difficult to close the flap.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Tea bag filled with fertilizer

I close the bag by tucking my thumbs into the flap.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Starting with the thumbs

Next I pinch the top of the flap with my index fingers.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Pinching the flap

From there I can quickly close the bag.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

Bag ready for use

I usually keep a second container nearby so I don’t have to move around much between bags.

Filling a tea bag with fertilizer

One down, many to go.

Here’s the process in real-life action.

Hope this helps!

✕

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Fertilizer

Previous Post: « Matt Reel workshop
Next Post: Cut it here – my start in bonsai »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rusty says

    June 30, 2015 at 5:01 am

    Jonas, here is the apparatus I built https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDeNe1ityU8. it is not the fastest method, but it does cut down on dust.
    Rusty

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      June 30, 2015 at 6:59 am

      That’s awesome Rusty – thanks for sharing!

  2. Felix Laughlin says

    June 30, 2015 at 5:19 am

    Jonas, many thanks for your helpful post. I also like Rusty’s apparatus, and need a helper like his daughter!
    Felix

  3. Jim Hughes says

    June 30, 2015 at 7:36 am

    Why not just sprinkle the fertilizer equally throughout the pot? No ugly tea bags to look at…..equal distribution of nutrients…..less effort….less cost….

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      June 30, 2015 at 8:10 am

      Hi Jim – good question. I sometimes use tea bags and sometimes don’t. What’s nice about using them is that it’s easy to see how much fertilizer a tree is getting at any point in time, it’s easy to gauge when the fertilizer’s spent, it’s easy to remove the fertilizer (say, at decandling time or in fall), and the fertilizer doesn’t impede the drainage when it’s contained in a bag.

      On the other hand, if there is very good drainage and the soil is filled to the top of the pot, tea bags can prevent water from getting to the soil beneath the bag. This isn’t a problem when the water can pool a bit before soaking in, but I have noticed dry spots under bags in some cases. I’ve also seen fertilizer outside of bags form a crust through which water can have trouble penetrating. For these reasons I really like liquid fertilizers, though applying them can be time-consuming without an automatic system and the approach is susceptible to uneven application over time when one is busy, out of town, or forgets.

      Thanks again for the note!

  4. Andrew says

    June 30, 2015 at 8:34 am

    Hi Jonas, could you make a post about the recipe that you fill your bags with! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful information!

    Andrew

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      June 30, 2015 at 9:41 am

      Hi Andrew – this year I’m using either straight cottonseed meal or the E.B. Stone Starter Food in the bags. I’m using at least 1 bag of the starter food in each pot and the rest of the bags are cottonseed meal. I supplement the dry food by watering with fish emulsion every 1-2 weeks, and sometimes add chelated iron to the fish emulsion.

      Great job with the Bonsai Herald btw – I really appreciate it!

  5. Thomdec says

    June 30, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    I just made 100 of these. It takes a little time, but it is well worth it!

  6. Dirk says

    July 1, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    Hi Jonas, I’d like to add that we also put some spagnum moss in the teabags, so the fertilizer stays damp. I’ve been told this works even better.

  7. Patrik DeCicco says

    July 9, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    Hi Jonas,
    Patrik from Boulder Colorado here. When Matt Reel was here earlier this year, he worked on an Engelmann I have and it turned out great. I really like him and his work. He mentioned using a locally sourced rose feed as a good organic fertilizer. I did have some of the issues you mentioned (clumping, crusting, etc) in a response to an above comment, so I looked into getting some tea bags. Obviously, there are an overwhelming amount of options. Is there a particular brand that is proven to be better for this application. Any advise on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance and great blog.

    Patrik

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      July 9, 2015 at 10:48 pm

      Hi Patrick – thanks for the note! Low price is typically the top criteria for tea bags. The most important thing is for water to easily flow through the bag – beyond that, whatever is cheap and easy to fill should do the job.

  8. Rick Trumm says

    July 18, 2015 at 9:01 pm

    Jonas, I noticed this fertilizer has manure and guano. Boon said these ingredients should not be used because it could cause burning. Have you had any problems with this? Rick

  9. Jonas Dupuich says

    July 19, 2015 at 8:25 am

    Hi Rick – good question, I generally avoid these too. I started by using only a little bit and have so far found no bad effects from using it. I’m also not using it straight and am now adding a bit of it to a cottonseed meal mix as water doesn’t easily drain through pure starter fertilizer. Will keep tweaking the approach to see what works best.

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2023 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT