The kidney plant is one of the most popular indoor plants, but let’s face it: keeping it in good condition so that it really resembles a dreamy lush green plant from the tropical forest is often a superhuman task in an ordinary apartment. How about bringing him at least a little closer to his homeland?
Especially in the winter months, when the air in the home is constantly dried by the central heating, the leaves of the kidney bean begin to turn yellow quickly and soon after that also fall off. The whole plant then has a tired, even sadly dying impression. So if the kidney plant starts to visibly lose its vigor, we start thinking about artificial fertilizers. But it is often unnecessary, it is usually enough if we will offer the plant a cup of quality black tea…
The YouTube video of the author Honzík Lací also tells about the cultivation of kidney beans:
Tannins for the kidney
Why is black tea a suitable means for encouraging the kidney to continue life at such a time? It’s about the fact that this drink contains substances that bring the plant closer to its natural environment and give it exactly what it lacks most in a flower pot. These are mainly tannins, which are richly represented in black tea. In the natural environment of rainforests, ferns grow in soil that is constantly enriched with decaying leaves and wood. This naturally acidifies the soil and releases the mentioned tannins into it (and of course also other organic acids).
Important pH adjustment
The kidney is prepared for this slightly acidic environment, so it is not surprising that it lives best in such an environment. Unfortunately, common substrates are not balanced in this way, and in addition, due to watering often with hard water, they soon lose even . In this case, black tea works as a kind of gentle conditioner that lowers the pH of the soil and restores the feeling of being at home in the forest to the kidney roots.
Make kidney tea
Have you ever brewed tea for kidney disease? If not, then we can remind you that completely cooled and weaker black tea is ideal for such use. Experienced growers recommend either using a “secondary” (i.e., a bag that has been steamed for the second time). Another option is to dilute the tea with clean, settled water in a ratio of one to one. Water the plant with this liquid approximately once every two weeksso that the tea continuously supplies the soil not only with the necessary acidity, but also with a small amount of nitrogen and minerals. These very effectively support not only the deep green color of the leaves, but also the growth of new shoots.
You can also use the whole bag
Another method that we can use in connection with the kidney is location (paper, without admixture of plastics) directly into the flower pot. The leaves will gradually decompose and with each watering, a small amount of necessary substances will be released into the soil. If you are not sure if the bag is really ecological, you can tear it open and sprinkle some tea leaves on the surface of the flower pot.
For a healthy plant
In addition to nutrition, tea has one more benefit for kidney patients – tannins have the ability to limit the growth of some harmful bacteria and fungi in the substratewhich could otherwise easily cause root rot. This is a problem that occurs quite often with ferns if we do not prevent them from overflowing. Therefore, the tea treatment not only nourishes the plant, but also protects it. This is clearly a purely natural way to keep the kidney in good condition and also safe from soil pathogens without the need to use synthetic preparations.
