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Using Coffee Grounds As Fertilizer
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Compost Ingredients
By: Heather Rhoades
Image by ThamKC
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. Are coffee grounds as fertilizer a good idea? How do coffee grounds used for gardens help or hurt? Keep reading to learn more about coffee grounds and gardening.
Composting 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.
Coffee Grounds as Fertilizer
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 (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.
Other Uses for Used Coffee Grounds in Gardens
Coffee grounds can also be used in your garden for other things.
- 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 as worm food too if you do vermicomposting with a worm bin. Worms are very fond of coffee grounds.
Using Fresh Coffee Grounds
We get lots of questions about using fresh coffee grounds in the garden. While it’s not always recommended, it shouldn’t be a problem in some situations.
- For instance, you can sprinkle fresh coffee grounds around acid-loving plants like azaleas, hydrangeas, blueberries, and lilies.
Many vegetables like slightly acidic soil, but tomatoes typically don’t respond well to the addition of coffee grounds. Root crops, like radishes and carrots, on the other hand, respond favorably — especially when mixed with the soil at planting time. - The use of fresh coffee grounds are thought to suppress weeds too, having some allelopathic properties, of which adversely affects tomato plants. Another reason why it should be used with care. That being said, some fungal pathogens may be suppressed as well.
- Sprinkling dry, fresh grounds around plants (and on top of soil) helps deter some pests same as with used coffee grounds. While it doesn’t fully eliminate them, it does seem to help with keeping cats, rabbits, and slugs at bay, minimizing their damage in the garden. As previously mentioned, this is thought to be due to the caffeine content.
- In lieu of the caffeine found in fresh, unbrewed coffee grounds, which can have an adverse effect on plants, you may want to used decaffeinated coffee or only apply fresh grounds minimally to avoid any issues.
Coffee grounds and gardening go together naturally. Whether you are composting with coffee grounds or using used coffee grounds around the yard, you will find that coffee can give your garden as much of a pick me up as it does for you.
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How to Use Coffee Grounds in Your Garden
If you make a daily pot of coffee, you have a fabulous source of organic matter right at your fingertips. Coffee grounds can make your garden happier in several ways, and not just that coffee gives you more energy for weeding and pruning. Don't toss the grounds! You can put them to work.
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.
The Spruce / Sarah CrowleyFertilize With Coffee Grounds
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 and container plants. It also makes a great foliar feed you can spray directly on the leaves and stems of your plants.
The Spruce / Sarah CrowleyFeed Your Worms
Add coffee grounds to your worm bin every week or so. Worms love coffee grounds! Just don't add too many at once, because the acidity could bother your worms. A cup or so of grounds per week for a small worm bin is perfect. In addition to using coffee grounds in your worm bin, earthworms in your soil will also be more attracted to your garden when you use them mixed with the soil as fertilizer.
Keep the Pests Away
Create a slug and snail barrier.
Coffee grounds are abrasive, so a barrier of grounds placed near slug-prone plants may just save them from these garden pests. However, be warned that some researchers quibble with this advice and don't think it is effective. You may want to have a backup plan in mind if it doesn't work. Many cats dislike the smell of coffee grounds and may avoid using your garden as a litter box if you mix coffee grounds into the soil.
Fresh Coffee Grounds for Acid-Loving Plants
While used coffee grounds are only slightly acidic, fresh (unbrewed) coffee grounds have more acid. Your acid-loving plants like hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas, lily of the valley, blueberries, carrots, and radishes can get a boost from fresh grounds. However, tomatoes do not like fresh coffee grounds; keep them out of that area of the garden. This could be a good use for coffee that is getting old in your pantry or a type you bought for visiting friends but isn't your usual cup of joe.
Fresh coffee grounds still have most of their caffeine content as well as the acid. Don't use coffee grounds on seedlings or very young plants, as caffeine can stunt their growth. Be cautious in using fresh grounds around pets or your wire terrier may become extremely wired.
The Spruce / Sarah CrowleyDissenting Research Into Coffee Grounds in the Garden
One 2016 research study found that using spent coffee grounds in growing broccoli, leek, radish, viola, and sunflower resulted in poorer growth in all soil types, with or without additional fertilizer. The good news is that the coffee grounds improved the water holding capacity of the soil and decreased weed growth. The researchers think the poorer growth was due to the plant-toxic compounds naturally present in the coffee grounds. If you aren't getting the results you hoped for with coffee grounds, you may want to try your own experiments with and without them in your garden.
Use of coffee in the garden, vegetable garden, feeding recipes
Coffee grounds as fertilizer - methods of application
Benefits of coffee for plants
Ground coffee and boiled coffee grounds have been used for cosmetic purposes for many years.
There are recipes for making scrubs for the face and body, tonic lotions, masks, creams. But few people know that coffee can also be used in gardening.
Coffee beans are rich in trace elements: Mg (magnesium), Ca (calcium), P (phosphorus), N (nitrogen), K (potassium). Phosphorus and potassium improve the ovary and productivity of crops, and nitrogen takes an active part in photosynthesis, which will accelerate the development of the plant. Used coffee will be useful not only for indoor and garden flowers, but also for garden crops.
Waste coffee can be used as fertilizer regardless of how it is prepared
The amount of useful substances is about 3% of the total volume. Therefore, coffee grounds cannot completely replace fertilizers, but it can be used as an additional top dressing.
I used to think that coffee pomace is only suitable for alkaline soil, as it has a fairly high level of acidity. But actually it is not. Research scientists have shown that used coffee has a neutral pH.
And the acid found in whole grains is washed out when they are cooked.
From my experience I can say that coffee grounds increase the yield of eggplants, carrots, radishes and tomatoes. Berries and fruit trees respond well to coffee top dressing. Also, I noticed an increase in the number of buds and more lush flowering of roses, lilies and begonias.
Another advantage of coffee top dressing is a fragrant smell that repels many pests, but on the contrary, it attracts earthworms, which contributes to better aeration of the soil.
Preparation of coffee grounds
For the preparation of top dressing, it is necessary to use only spent, that is, boiled coffee. Ground, but not cooked grains have too high acidity, which can change the overall pH of the soil, negatively affect the development of crops, and even lead to their death. For the same reason, I do not recommend pouring leftover liquid coffee under the plants.
The coffee grounds must first be dried.
To do this, lay it out in a thin layer on parchment paper, you can use an old sheet or towel, and leave it for a couple of days.
Only well-dried coffee can be used as fertilizer
You can also use the oven to dry, this will speed up the drying time, but you must be careful not to overcook the coffee grounds. Raw or poorly dried coffee can quickly become infected with a fungus that will cause diseases in plants.
Store coffee grounds after drying, preferably in a tightly closed container to avoid moisture ingress and to prevent the aroma from fading.
Use of coffee in the garden
Used coffee can be applied to the soil, both in dry form and in the form of a solution. For top dressing during planting, seedlings, young plantings and seedlings, I use dry coffee.
Feeding trees with dry waste coffee
Prepared cake, before transshipment of the plant, we throw it to the bottom of the dug hole, mixing it with the ground. After planting, it is necessary to water the seedling abundantly, which will release nitrogen, which will begin to actively interact with the plant and soil.
Coffee in the garden will help saturate the earth and make it looser
A small amount of coffee grounds can be poured into the stem circle of the seedling. With each watering, nutrients will penetrate the soil. Coffee will also play the role of mulch.
When fertilizing seedlings of fruit trees, it is necessary to dig the ground around the trunk, deepening no more than 5 cm. Then sprinkle the loosened soil with coffee sediment, at the rate of 2 cups per tree, cover with a thin layer of earth, tamp tightly and water abundantly.
Fertilizing with coffee solution
When fertilizing mature trees and shrubs, I recommend using a coffee solution, as useful substances get not only into the soil, but directly onto the bark and leaves, which favorably affects the growth and flowering in the future.
To prepare the solution, mix pre-dried cake with water (approximately a glass of coffee per watering can, or 3-4 glasses per bucket). Plentifully water the plants with the resulting mixture.
The next day, we water it with water for a better return of beneficial trace elements to the soil.
Benefits of coffee in seed germination
Used coffee is often used for seed germination. To do this, I mix the thick with the ground, and already in the resulting mixture I sow. Due to the useful elements, the seeds hatch faster, a more stable and uniform germination is observed. This is due not only to the composition - coffee improves soil qualities such as air permeability and moisture capacity. As a result, seedlings grow stronger and more powerful.
Use of coffee grounds in floriculture
Most often, coffee is used in floriculture. It can be used as a drain, or as a nutritional supplement.
In order to make drainage, I take expanded clay and alternately lay them thickly on the bottom of the pot, making about 3 layers of each component. From above I fall asleep with the prepared earth.
Coffee can be used as a drain for houseplants
If you do not have expanded clay on hand, you can replace it with used tea bags.
In this case, we lay the bottom of the pot with tea bags, then we make a layer of coffee grounds, and fill it with soil on top.
The second method is more efficient, because over time, tea and coffee rot into natural organic fertilizer. It is best used for plants that you will be transplanting next year. Tea will be a good top dressing, and in the future you will be able to equip a more durable drainage system.
For the manufacture of nutritional supplements, I take 500 gr. dried coffee grounds, 200 gr. dry chopped hay, and 300 gr. leaves. I put all this in a container, mix it well, cover it with earth on top and leave it for about a month. At the end of the period, the mixture overheats and can be applied to flower pots as a fertilizer.
How harmful is coffee for plants
Do not forget that coffee top dressing contains not only useful trace elements, but also caffeine. Excess of this substance can cause burns to the bark and leaves, or damage the root system.
As with any fertilizer, whether natural or chemical, precautions must be taken to ration the amount of coffee applied. It is not necessary to increase the dosage excessively in the pursuit of rapid growth or increased fertility.
An excess of coffee can harm the plant
Improper preparation of used coffee can harm plants. Damp thicket will become a breeding ground for infections and fungal diseases.
It is important for flower growers to know that the use of waste coffee when infecting the soil of indoor plants with flies is excluded! This will not help to cope with them, but, on the contrary, will provoke an active growth of the insect population.
Having conducted a small experiment on the use of coffee in the garden, I noted an increase in the germination and yield of most crops, and especially the splendor and abundance of my favorite flowers. In any case, the decision to use this product as a fertilizer is up to you.
Evgenia Filippovna Arkhipova, gardener
How coffee can be used in everyday life - 19 useful ways
After drinking a cup of an invigorating coffee drink in the morning, do not rush to get rid of coffee grounds: it can be useful in everyday life in many cases.
Today we will talk about how you can use coffee in creativity, for beauty and health, in the kitchen or in the garden.
Health and beauty
Coffee beans contain several hundred useful substances that do not disappear after brewing. Therefore, coffee grounds are actively used in cosmetology for skin and hair care:
- Coffee moisturizes and tones the skin, removes dark circles under the eyes, penetrating under the skin, and effectively fights cellulite. To make a face or body mask, mix a few tablespoons of coffee grounds with coconut oil and apply to problem areas. If you add sugar or sea salt to the mixture, you get a natural scrub suitable for face and body care. To get rid of circles under the eyes, put cotton pads with thick on them and hold for 10-15 minutes.
- With the help of a scrub, you can take care of your scalp. It exfoliates dead cells, stimulates blood flow to the bulbs and accelerates hair growth. To make your hair shine, you can rinse it with coffee solution.
Also, coffee gives the hair a pleasant natural shade. But tea leaves can be used as a tinting agent only for dark hair. - If you like a drink made from dark roasted beans, then pomace can be used as a natural self-tanner. Treat your skin with coffee several times a week, leaving it on for 5-10 minutes while showering.
- Few people know that with the help of coffee grounds, you can stop bleeding from small skin wounds.
Creativity
Coffee beans and grounds are often used to make crafts and scented candles. And artists manage to paint pictures using pure thick or adding it to paints.
To make a scented candle, you will need wax, coffee grounds, a glass cup or jar, and a wick. Melt the wax and pour it into the container, alternating with portions of coffee pomace. Insert a wick into the center.
Designers use pomace to artificially age fabrics, paper, wood, and other decorative elements.
In the garden
The strong smell of coffee is pleasant to people, but neither animals nor insects can stand it.
This can be used in cases where someone else's cat or dog has gotten into your garden. It is enough to sprinkle the place with the remnants of coffee (or even better, mix them with orange zest), and the animals will no longer stick their heads here. The same technique can be applied if a domestic cat has chosen a flower pot.
Insects are also very sensitive to strong coffee aromas. If you need to get rid of ants, it is enough to sprinkle dried pomace in the area where insects accumulate or near the anthill. In the same way, slugs and snails can be driven out.
But earthworms, which loosen the soil, are attracted by the smell. It's good for the garden. And if you are fond of fishing, it is doubly useful: it will help you save money on buying fish bait.
Coffee grounds are added to compost to saturate it with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and copper. The presence of coffee makes the soil more acidic, which "likes" some types of vegetables and flowers: carrots, radishes, roses, hydrangeas, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreens.
At home
Here the range of application of coffee is especially wide. It is used:
- As an abrasive when washing burnt or heavily soiled metal dishes, stoves.
- To neutralize unpleasant odors in the refrigerator, kitchen or wardrobes, car interiors.
- As a fragrance for rooms and cabinets. To do this, bags are made of dense fabric and dried coffee residues are poured into it.
- For removing shallow scratches or masking more serious damage on hard surfaces of furniture: armrests, doors, countertops. If the scratch is small, it is enough to apply a few ground grains on a damp cloth and rub the damaged area. If the damage is deep and it cannot be sanded down, then, having penetrated into the layer of wood, the coloring matter will make it invisible. This method is only suitable for dark woods.
- To care for things made of genuine leather. Coffee grounds should be mixed with glycerin in equal proportions and wiped over dark leather things: this refreshes the color and gives a beautiful shine.
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