Tea bags are not necessary. They can be used to avoid straining after brewing.

I don't use bags, and only strain afterward IF I want to foliar-feed plants with my water-can. It plugs easily.

After you are finished with brewing the tea AND you have had the VC in a bag you can easily place the contents back in your potting soil area. Straining takes a lot of time. Since the "clock is ticking" after you finish the brew cycle straining gives it time to get just that much weaker.

My neighbour uses a sprayer (the one she carried on her back) and large pieces will clog the spray nozzle.

If you don't wanna use bags (and I don't use them), all you have to do is strain the tea with an ordinary kitchen flour sifter and the tea will not clog any sprayer I've ever seen.

And don't throw away the dregs.....put em in the garden/planter/yard.

chuckiebtoo

No obviously you dont have to but since I want to foliar spray when I make tea its easier quicker. When Im done with the bagged vc I mix it in with any usable soil. When I separated the vc after use today to make tea I noticed there were small worms in the mix. I keep my harvested vc in a 5gal bucket so Im guessing these worms came from cocoons that I missed during harvest. I keep the bucket covered to try and keep the vc as moist as I can. Hopefully this will keep microbes active or ready to be active. The most noticeable thing Ive noticed so far of using the tea is many more blooms per plant. Im sure there must be other perks from it.