Get better hydrangeas and tomatoes with homemade fertiliser hack

Hydrangeas and tomato plants can both benefit from the addition of fertiliser. While hydrangeas may still bloom without fertiliser, they tend to produce more flowers with it.

Tomato plants, known for their high nutritional demands, often require additional fertilisation beyond what nutrient-rich potting soil can offer in order to maintain health and yield a plentiful harvest.

Garden centres are stocked with various plant-specific fertilisers, but homemade concoctions also hold sway with many gardening enthusiasts.

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Grace Alexander, a keen gardener, took to the Gardening UK Facebook group to share her homemade fertiliser recipe, reports The Express, posting a picture with the caption: "Good Morning all. This is my homemade fertiliser (used tea leaves and crushed eggshells). It works amazingly on my hydrangeas and tomato plants. I swear they have better flowers and fruit because of it. It's ready to be spread later in the garden."

Eggshells act as a slow-releasing calcium source for both hydrangeas and tomatoes, which is particularly beneficial in preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes.

Likewise, used tea bags can improve the soil surrounding these plants, similar to how coffee grounds do, serving as an excellent fertiliser and mulch.

Plant fertilisers typically contain nitrogen, which is essential for healthy leaf growth. Tea leaves are rich in nitrogen, even more so than many plant fertilisers, and they also provide potassium and phosphorus.

Ensure to remove the tea grounds from the bags, and dry them out before using them on the plants.

However, some gardeners prefer to use paper (compostable) tea bags, as a mulch or drainage layer.

Grace added that she even puts potato peels in it sometimes and that also works.