I Watered My Plant With Tea for 2 Months, and It’s Still Thriving

If you’d asked me a decade ago how I fare with houseplants, I would have told you, without question, the answer is horrible. Every plant I brought home seemed to die, no matter what.

But in recent years, I’ve gotten the hang of things and amassed a small collection of houseplants who appear to be doing well—save for a moody parlor palm I can’t seem to keep happy. 

While I try to stick to a regular watering schedule and invested in fertilizers and sprays on the advice of my local plant store, I recently heard about a hack that had me very intrigued.

Apparently, if you water your plants with cold tea instead of water, there are hidden benefits that will help your plants thrive.

With this in mind, I popped over to my favorite local plant shop and asked them for some advice.

First Stop: Our Local Houseplant Store

I figured I’d test out this theory on two new, identical plants to see if one fared better than the other—and if so, maybe I’d start giving my finicky parlor palm the occasional pot of tea, too.

After I explained my quest, the helpful saleswoman informed me she gets lots of scientists in the shop running similar experiments.

I probably should have corrected her, but I liked the idea that I gave off “important scientist” energy, so I nodded gravely as she led me toward a display full of ferns.

She explained that ferns are both hardy and fast-growers, so in two months—the length of my very scientific experiment—I should see a difference. This proved to be excellent advice. 

I picked two small, fluffy ferns, labeled ‘Nephrolepis Vitale.’ A quick search tells me these are also called Boston ferns or, sometimes, sword ferns.

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Next, Brew the Tea—and Let It Cool

Once home, I immediately brewed a pot of tea. For this first round, I decided to go with something herbal.

Living in London means I have a lot of random tea around, even though I’m a coffee drinker. It’s one of those things everyone seems to give away, so I went with one called Beauty Tea—a welcome gift from a local health club.

Per the ingredients, it includes nettle, rose, marigold, cleavers, red clover, cinnamon, and gotu-kola. It’s a loose-leaf tea, so I followed the instructions, infusing one heaping tablespoon in boiling water for ten minutes.

The next part of the process is critical. You can’t boil up a pot and go—the tea needs to be cold. Some websites will tell you to refrigerate overnight, but I found that a few hours worked just fine.

Pour Carefully

I probably should have used a measuring cup or something with a spout—pouring straight from a mug caused some spillage!

I also continued to spray both plants with Houseplant Myst. This has been one of the best things I’ve incorporated into my plant-watering routine, so I figured I should carry on doing what I normally do, only swapping out the water for tea.

I believe scientists call this a “control,” but I’m not sure—I only play one on the internet.

I carried on my experiment for two months, and with a week left to go, when I was running low on Beauty Tea, I made a transition to chamomile.

The Final Results?

In the end, I’m not sure it made chamomile versus Beauty Tea made a difference—because in the end, I’m not sure tea really made a big difference.

Both plants still look green, lush, and seem to be thriving. If anything, the plant I watered with water is more symmetrical—but the plant that got the tea has a few longer fronds than its sibling. 

Two months later, I’m hesitant to say that tea is much better or had an impact at all. Even so, my parlor palm is giving me the side-eye as another stems goes brown.

Maybe I’ll keep the experiment going and see if this plant prefers a weekly tea date instead?