What are the benefits of coffee grounds in the garden?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “coffee grounds for plants benefits“
What are the benefits of coffee grounds in the garden?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “coffee grounds for plants benefits“
Coffee grounds are mostly a soil structure component, like peat moss. They are not a nutrient contributor, nor do they convey useful microbes like compost.
All our coffee grounds go into our compost piles.
They are organic matter which will break down so in that respect they can be very good.
There is also some evidence that the presence of coffee grounds as a mulch around plants can kill certain insect pests, like mealy bugs.
The grounds are acidic so for plants that like their soil more acidic they’d also be good.
Sprinkle the dried ground in my compost buckets.
Sprinkle the grounds on top of the soil as mulch or eventually fertilizer the soil. I read somewhere that the strong coffee smell can deter some pests (not 100% sure if this works).
I use the grounds on acid-loving plants, such as roses.
It adds a little nitrogen, and it helps to neutralize alkaline soils, owing to the organic acids in the grounds.
By taking the coffee and putting it directly into your compost pile and letting it break down for at least 6 months to a year if you have a compost pile that is!
Or you can dig a hole in your garden and take your coffee grounds and stick it in that hole then bury it it’ll break down just the same as if you put it in a compost pile!
The benefit of adding coffee grounds to your garden is the same as adding any other form of organic matter. Coffee isn’t special, and doesn’t provide any special benefits. Adding coffee grounds or leaf mulch, or straw, or grass clippings all provide the same type of benefit. You’re adding organic material which will then decay into compost over time.
Coffee grounds are convenient because they can be available for free from some coffee shops in significant quantities, and because their fine grind means they decompose quickly. They also look like dirt, so you can mulch with them without it looking like you’re spreading garbage around.
But again, there is nothing special about coffee that makes it better or worse than other organic matter. Its just one more thing you can be adding to your compost pile.
Coffee grounds contain several key minerals for plant growth- nitrogen, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and chromium. They may also help absorb heavy metals that can contaminate soil. What’s more, coffee grounds help attract worms, which are great for the garden. Also when it comes to compost, research has shown that compost made with coffee grounds and kitchen waste was richer in nutrients than compost made with waste alone. Certain compounds with coffee, such as caffeine and diterpenes, can be highly toxic to insects. Luckily, fleas don’t seem to like coffee, and one may want to consider coffee grounds as a natural treatment. Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, which helps eliminate a foul-smelling sulfur gas from the air when it’s combined with carbon. Coffee grounds can help absorb and eliminate odors. E.g, Mushrooms only thrive in specific conditions and are notoriously difficult to grow. They do not grow in ordinary garden soil, as they require a substrate, or underlying substance or layer.
Used coffee grounds make a great substrate because they are packed full of nutrients that mushrooms like to grow on.
A few years ago there was a suggestion that coffee grounds deter slugs and snails – try it but I doubt it’s as good as grit. Another suggestion was to chuck your old grounds on the compost heap I’d have thought this a better use.
We can reuse and recycle our beloved coffees grounds. If you want more ask your neighborhood barista .
1.You can grow huge carrots when using coffee grounds in the soil. 2 use it as thin mulch around plants. 3 use of the grounds deflects cats using your garden as a litter box 4.Slugs hate coffee!!! 5. They are great to add to the compost you might have. It give great nitrogen back to the earth. 6. It is easy fertilizer, 2 cups grounds into 5 gallons water and water the plants. 7. Some acid loving plants like more acid— give them grounds like its mulch. Examples are roses, holly, gardenias.
Just till it into the soil. Mix it in.
If it’s small amounts, you don’t even have to mix it. I literally eject the “puck” of grounds from my Aeropress straight out the back door onto the garden dirt path.
If you have a worm composting bin, give it to them instead. They’ll go gangbusters on coffee grounds, and you’ll get lots of babies outta those earthworms.
Victor Allen’s
Coffee grounds will decompose as will any carbon based material – this will act as a fertilizer for the plants that will eventually be in the garden.
People often swear that coffee grounds will help keep some pests away from plants, however that is hard to prove (just an added benefit?).
I have a client who puts all her coffee grounds on one camellia . After so many years it’s a foot thick pile of them . The camellia is happy and does not need feeding with an iron rich feed as some acid loving plants do . My client is a botanist so who am I to argue .
Coffee grinds add great organic materials to your garden. I’ve read that it helps plants resist insects. I used to believe it made soil more acidic but I found out recently that that it is neutral. It seems that all the acid goes into the coffee cup. The best reason to use coffee grinds in your garden is the cost. Most people get it free. If you’re not a coffee drinker make friends with somebody who works at Starbucks.
Dunkin’
Just sprinkle it on the surface, and when you turn the soil in the autumn, it will add vegetable fibre and whatever nutrients are in it, when it breaks down.
Sprinkled all around is okay. Concentrating them in one spot is going to lead to acid in the soil., and caffeine makes leaves screw themselves up.
Yes, you can sprinkle them or can use to make compost. Coffee grounds add fertilizer to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention and aeration in the soil. The used coffee grounds will also help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth thrive as well as attract earthworms.
Like any organic waste, used coffee grounds break down and provide nutrients for plants. Adding organic matter to the soil also makes it retain more water and make it less compacted, which is a good thing in most cases.
Adding coffee grounds in large quantities will lower the pH levels of the soil, making it more acidic. However, they need to be extremely large quantities, – my neighbour went around the coffee houses to ask for their used grounds, she would come back with vats full. She had a rose garden and they thrived on it. But then, roses like a bit of acidity. It’s best not to use it too much with alkaline soil plants.
Yeah, there’s benefit to adding coffee grounds to your garden, as well as your other kitchen scraps. Best is to compost them first, or bury them deep so critters can’t get to them.
Please dry out the grinds first. Best to first mix it with some soil before add to your vegetable or flower beds.
I usually mic my coffee grinds with fruit and vegetable peels before using in my garden.
Hope this helps.
Coffee grounds just add organic matter to the soil which attracts beneficials to the soil. such as earthworms. Unwashed coffee grounds will lower ph but once the grounds have been used and water has run over them, the ph will not change in the soil once grounds are added. Good way to use what would otherwise end up in a landfill. Banana peels, cabbage leaves, etc. can be blended with water (and coffee grounds) to make a slurry to add nutrients to the soil. Happy gardening! You are keeping your family’s legacy going.
Coffee grounds make up a huge part of our mulch pile. We put them all in the mulch bucket we keep inside, and believe me, our family goes through a LOT of coffee grounds, so when they are transferred to our outside mulch pile, they fill it up. I’ve found they mulch beautifully, and help create some very rich mulch dirt.
They are supposedly high in nitrogen and many trace elements. Deer and small rodents seem repulsed by the smell for a day or two. They are basically like very finely ground bark mulch.
Peet’s
They are good organic matter in gardens but are very acidic so should be used in moderation. If they are put on vegetable, perennial, annual or herb gardens, lime should also be added. They are best put in compost piles.
You could start worm composting and add coffee grounds to your worm bin. The compost and worm ‘tea’ from the worms is an excellent way to add nutrients to your soil and plants.
No special technique, Sprinkle them everywhere.
Unless you are going to pack them to 1/2″ or more, then they are only adding trace elements and will not affect the acidity as many will attest.
Yes but I have an even more startling use for them.
I put wet grounds on ant beds. I cover as much of the ant bed as possible and watch ants freak out.
the next day they are repairing the bed and the day after that…..they are simply gone. No where to be found.
Put coffee grounds in your compost bin. There are two types of compost material: brown and green. Your coffee grounds may be brown in color, but in compost jargon they are green material, meaning an item that is rich in nitrogen. Coffee grounds are approximately 1.45 percent nitrogen.
They also contain magnesium, calcium, potassium, and other trace minerals. Other green compost materials include food scraps and grass clippings. Adding coffee grounds and used paper coffee filters to your compost will provide green compost material.
However, it must be balanced with brown compost material, which includes dry leaves and newspapers. There should be a 4-to-1 ratio of brown compost material to green compost material. If you have too much green material your compost pile will start to smell.
If you don’t have enough, the compost pile won’t heat up. Add coffee grounds directly to the soil in your garden. You can scratch it into the top couple inches of soil, or just sprinkle the grounds on top and leave it alone. In smaller amounts, especially when mixed with dry materials, coffee grounds will give up their nitrogen.
Used coffee grounds are actually nearly neutral in pH, so they shouldn’t cause concerns about their acidity. Be careful not to use too many coffee grounds or pile them up. The small particles can lock together, creating a water resistant barrier in your garden.
You can also make coffee ground tea. Add 2 cups of used coffee grounds to a 5-gallon bucket of water. Let the tea steep for a few hours or overnight. You can use this concoction as a liquid fertilizer for garden products and container plants. It also makes a great foliar feed you can spray directly on the leaves and stems of your plants.
There are several blogs on this topic if you Google “coffee grounds compost”. I found this Oregon State University blog post to be somewhat authoritative. On the other hand, I found an article on Discovery dot com discouraging the reader from using coffee grounds for gardening.
I will tell you what I do with my coffee grounds. Some plants like acidic soil. I bury used coffee grounds around a hydrangia plant and a couple of blueberry bushes in my garden. Does it help? I think it helps the hydrangia plant grow into a healthy plant, but my blueberry bushes have been pretty sparse even though I have been feeding them coffee grounds.
Yes, coffee grounds are good for the garden and flowers and that’s where my morning coffee grounds end up. Nothing is lost at my place. Compost is taking the place of what was first put in the garbage.!
Eight O’Clock
It’s probably better to compost them. There are some stories about their helping certain plants, or with certain problems, but they are messy if walked in, poisonous to pets and some wildlife, and bad for some plants. Mix well with a variety of other compost, and these problems are solved, and you’ll have great compost.
The benefit of using coffee grounds as a fertilizer is that it adds organic material to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention, and aeration in the soil. The used coffee grounds will also help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth thrive as well as attract earthworms.
Many people feel that coffee grounds lower the pH or raise the acid level of soil, which is good for acid loving plants. This is only true for unwashed coffee grounds though. Fresh coffee grounds are acidic. Used coffee grounds are neutral.
If you rinse your used coffee grounds, they will have a near neutral pH of 6.5 and will not affect the acid levels of the soil. To use coffee grounds as fertilizer, work the coffee grounds into the soil around your plants. Leftover diluted coffee works well like this too.
Many gardeners like to use used coffee grounds as a mulch for their plants. Other uses for coffee grounds include using it to keep slugs and snails away from plants. The theory is that the caffeine in the coffee grounds negatively affects these pests and so they avoid soil where the coffee grounds are found.
Some people also claim that coffee grounds on the soil is a cat repellent and will keep cats from using your flower and veggie beds as a litter box. You can use coffee grounds garden products as worm food too if you do vermicomposting with a worm bin. Worms are very fond of coffee grounds.
Whether you make your cup of coffee daily or you have noticed your local coffee house has started to put out bags of used coffee, you may be wondering about composting with coffee grounds. Composting with coffee is a great way to make use of something that would otherwise end up taking up space in a landfill. Composting coffee grounds helps to add nitrogen to your compost pile.
Composting coffee grounds is as easy as throwing the used coffee grounds onto your compost pile. Used coffee filters can be composted as well. If you will be adding used coffee grounds to your compost pile, keep in mind that they are considered green compost material and will need to be balanced with the addition of some brown compost material.
Used coffee grounds for gardening does not end with compost. Many people choose to place coffee grounds straight onto the soil and use it as a fertilizer. The thing to keep in mind is while coffee grounds add nitrogen to your compost, they will not immediately add nitrogen to your soil.
The benefit of using coffee grounds as a fertilizer is that it adds organic material to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention, and aeration in the soil. The used coffee grounds will also help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth thrive as well as attract earthworms.
Many people feel that coffee grounds lower the pH of soil, which is good for acid loving plants. This is only true for unwashed coffee grounds though. Fresh coffee grounds garden products are acidic. Used coffee grounds are neutral.
If you rinse your used coffee grounds, they will have a near neutral pH of 6.5 and will not affect the acid levels of the soil. To use coffee grounds as fertilizer, work the coffee grounds into the soil around your plants. Leftover diluted coffee works well like this too.