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How do you use coffee grounds for plants


How to Reuse Coffee Grounds to Fertilize Houseplants

1. Opt for used coffee grounds, instead of fresh.

There are two types of grounds to consider for use with your plants: fresh coffee grounds or used coffee grounds. Fresh grounds are ground-up coffee beans that haven’t been used to brew coffee yet, while used coffee grounds are what’s left over after your coffee has been made.

When considering using coffee grounds to fertilize your houseplants, we recommend sticking with used coffee grounds. This is because fresh grounds can be high in acidity and caffeine, which can have a negative impact on your houseplants. There are a select few plants that can benefit from fresh grounds—including acidity-loving Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Lily of the Valley, blueberries, carrots, and radishes—but generally, most common houseplants will prefer low to no acidity.

2. Add used coffee grounds to your compost.

There is a lot of conflicting information online on how to repurpose used coffee grounds into fertilizer. The most accepted method, which we also recommend as the best for your plants, is adding the used grounds to your compost.

To get started, add the used coffee grounds to your compost pile, which usually consists of vegetable peels, fruit skins, and other types of natural waste. When your compost is ready, mix a small amount of it with potting soil and distribute among your plants.

Depending on what was in your compost mix, be cautious of how much compost you use. Excessive amounts of compost or coffee grounds can lead to foliage burn and nutrient toxicity. Just like with store-bought fertilizer, a little goes a long way. Compost is filled with rich, organic matter and naturally retains water, so not only will you want to be mindful of how much you mix in your potting soil, but you will also want to be mindful of how often you water your plant potted in it. If you are keen on adding compost to your potting soil for the nutrients, consider also adding coarse sand or perlite to the potting mix to help decrease the risk of overwatering.

3. Or create a liquid fertilizer with used coffee grounds.

If you do not compost at home, you can create a liquid fertilizer with your used coffee grounds instead. The key to using used coffee grounds as a liquid fertilizer is dilution! Too much of a good thing is possible, particularly for plants potted in containers. We recommend using about a teaspoon of coffee grounds per gallon of water.

Let the coffee grounds and water mixture steep for a few nights, stirring occasionally, then strain the liquid through a cheesecloth. The remaining liquid can be used to water, and gently fertilize, your houseplants.

4. If you sprinkle used grounds on top of soil, do so sparingly.

Another way to recycle leftover used coffee grounds is sprinkling them on top of your potting soil. If you plan to test out this method, do so sparingly. Avoid creating a thick layer. Used (and fresh) grounds can lock together and create a barrier to water penetration and air circulation.

5. Don’t forget other nutrients your plants might need.

Reusing used coffee grounds is a fun, free way to fertilizer your houseplants, however, it most likely will not provide your plants with all the nutrients they need. You can add additional nutrients by using a premade houseplant fertilizer or repotting your plant with fresh potting mix.

6. Recycle used coffee grounds in other ways.

You may want to test fertilizing plants with and without used coffee grounds. If you aren’t getting the results you hoped for, skip the grounds. Instead, you can recycle used coffee grounds to create a natural cleaning scrub or skin exfoliator.

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 Crowley

Fertilize 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 Crowley 

Feed 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.

The Spruce / Sarah Crowley 

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 Crowley

Dissenting 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.

90,000 for which plants are suitable, how to use cake and ground coffee in the garden and garden

Content:

    1. For which plants are
    2. Methods of use
      • Watering
      • Mulching
      • Supplement
      • compost
      • for soil seedlings
      • Pest protection
    3. Where not to use
    4. Helpful tips

thick as a fertilizer for indoor plants, flowers and gardens. nine0033

The answer to the question of whether coffee grounds can be used as fertilizer is obvious: of course you can! But let's take a closer look at what benefits this brings to plants.

  1. By adding coffee grounds to the soil, especially clay and loam soil, its structure becomes looser, drainage capacity and air exchange improve. In addition, coffee attracts earthworms, which also contribute to loosening the soil.
  2. The smell of coffee can repel harmful insects. He doesn't like cats either. If you sprinkle your garden beds with coffee grounds, you don't have to worry that uninvited visits from your pet will damage tender plantings. nine0008
  3. It is believed that fresh coffee has an increased level of acidity, and top dressing with such characteristics is not suitable for every plant. However, to avoid acidification of the soil, it is enough to shed thick water and then apply in the garden or vegetable garden.
  4. Coffee grounds as a fertilizer are rich in minerals and trace elements. Potassium and phosphorus contribute to good flowering and abundant fruiting. Nitrogen activates the rapid growth of plants. Copper helps to resist a number of diseases. And although the total amount of useful substances in coffee cake is about 2–3%, which means that it can hardly be considered a full-fledged fertilizer, the use of grounds as an organic plant food is fully justified. nine0008

What kind of plants is coffee fertilizer suitable for? Therefore, before you widely use it in your garden, you need to study for which plants it is most effective to use coffee grounds as a fertilizer.

It is most useful for flowers that prefer a low pH level - azaleas, hydrangeas, heathers and rhododendrons. Due to the large amount of potassium in the composition, coffee grounds can be used as a fertilizer when growing vegetable crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. Feeding fruit trees with sleeping coffee will also help to significantly increase their fruiting. Magnesium, which is part of coffee, is useful for berry bushes. Magnesium and potassium will help to get a high yield of root crops, while nitrogen is indispensable for green crops. nine0033

Roses, palms, ficuses and ferns, as well as violets and asparagus, respond best to coffee fertilization. When using coffee grounds as a fertilizer for houseplants, it is recommended to shed and dry it first. If you simply pour the rest of the coffee from the cup into the pot, most likely there will be no benefit, but on the contrary, the soil may become covered with a crust and begin to mold. To prevent this, you need to mix the prepared thick with soil suitable for this type of plant. nine0033

Coffee with sugar or milk should not be used for horticultural, horticultural and flower crops, as sugar attracts ants, and milk provokes the development of putrefactive processes in the soil, which can harm the root system of plants.

Methods of use

Watering

Used coffee must be diluted with a sufficient amount of liquid before it can be used as a fertilizer for watering plants. To prepare a solution for 10 liters of water, 1 cup of grounds is required. Cake is poured with a small amount of water and left to swell for about a day. After swelling, the amount of liquid is adjusted to the calculated amount and used for watering plants. nine0033

After feeding the plants with coffee grounds, it is advisable to water the soil again, but with clean water. This technique will allow the minerals to be slowly released, nourishing the plants. When planting bushes, you should spill the ground with coffee solution at the rate of 1 liter under the bush.

Mulching

Coffee grounds can also be used for mulching crops to protect soil from drying out, repel pests and improve soil structure. However, it must be remembered that when using the grounds as mulch, as in the case of using coffee cake as a fertilizer in the garden in the country, it should be thoroughly dried to prevent the development of mold. nine0033

Soil supplement

Dormant ground coffee as a fertilizer can be added to the planting hole or hole before planting to improve soil structure. This technique makes the land more drained and loose, which ultimately has a positive effect on plant health and yield. When used on light soils, the thick acts as a binder. In this case, top dressing is applied to the upper soil layer at the rate of 200 ml per 1 m².

Compost

To speed up the maturation of the compost, it is enough to spill each layer no more than 10 cm thick with coffee infusion. Coffee grounds perform the function of nitrogen components that trigger an exothermic reaction inside the compost heap, in other words, heating it up, due to which the compost matures much faster. This method is so effective that some summer residents specifically purchase inexpensive varieties of ground coffee and sprinkle layers of compost on them.

For seedlings

Recently, the method of growing vegetable seedlings on a coffee substrate has become popular. But in order to prevent depletion of the soil, it is necessary from time to time to feed the seedlings with complex fertilizers. nine0033

Protection against pests

Coffee pomace as a fertilizer in the garden is also very effective for protecting plants from sexually mature individuals of harmful insects - ants, snails, aphids, slugs. According to the experience of some gardeners, coffee can also destroy pest larvae, in particular mosquitoes and garden bugs. This remedy is not as effective as insecticides, but also much safer.

Where not to use coffee grounds

Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, so if used in excess, you can burn the root system, which will lead to the death of the plant. nine0033

Poorly dried coffee waste can cause mold and fungal diseases and kill plants. In addition, coffee fertilizer is not suitable for tradescantia, asparagus, geraniums and other crops that prefer more alkaline soil. Top dressing from pomace can change the shade of rose flowers.

Helpful Hints

Dried coffee grounds are very light, so when used dry, even the slightest breeze can blow them off the garden. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to mix the cake with earth or sawdust and close it shallowly into the soil. nine0033

If the color of the leaves of the plants has changed after treatment with coffee grounds, the use of coffee grounds as a fertilizer should be discontinued. You can carefully strain the coffee infusion and use only liquid for irrigation, and use the thick, for example, to feed conifers.

It is recommended to prepare fertilizer from coffee grounds for summer cottages, using cake from the preparation of only natural coffee. Instant powder and granulated coffee is not advisable to use for this purpose, since their nutritional value is not great. nine0033

Coffee as a fertilizer and 6 more uses of coffee grounds in the garden

Coffee invigorates not only people, but also plants! If you are an avid coffee lover, do not rush to throw away the sleeping grounds. Make it "work" for your crop with our tips.

Many of us cannot imagine our morning without a cup of aromatic strong coffee. This black drink has a truly "magic" effect on the body: thoughts become clearer, efficiency and mood increase. Did you know that coffee can affect plants in much the same way? Of course, with proper application! nine0033

1. Coffee as a fertilizer

Naturally, in terms of effectiveness, coffee cannot be compared with any fast-acting fertilizer, and even more so it cannot replace complex top dressing. But it is worth recognizing that the introduction of dormant coffee grounds into the soil around the plants has a beneficial effect on them.

Decaying organic matter increases the biological activity of the soil. First, it saturates the soil with nitrogen. Secondly, it attracts earthworms, which loosen the soil. Thirdly, coffee, used as a fertilizer, allows plants to more easily absorb copper, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus from the soil. nine0033

Even though coffee contains 2% nitrogen, this does not mean that it can replace a complete nitrogen fertilizer. Since coffee grounds take a long time to decompose, the elements are released slowly.

There is an opinion that coffee significantly increases the acidity of the soil, therefore it is suitable as a fertilizer only for plants that require a lower pH level (conifers, rhododendrons, heathers, etc.). However, this is not quite true. Coffee is really "sour", but only fresh. nine0033

Sleeping coffee grounds have a neutral reaction - about pH 6.5-6.8 (with an ideal acid-base balance of pH 7). For fidelity, it is advisable to rinse the thick with clean water before using it in the garden.

2. Coffee grounds compost

Composting used coffee is as easy as throwing the grounds into the compost heap. Again, given the controversy about its acidity, for greater peace of mind, it is advisable to pre-rinse it under running water. nine0033

Paper coffee filters can also be sent along with the grounds. All this will pereprete and will benefit the plants.

The only important thing to consider when composting is the correct selection of compost components. In addition to coffee grounds and other food waste, more "solid" components should be added to the compost pit: straw, wood residues, manure, grass clippings, etc. Coffee grounds should be no more than 15-20% of the total compost, otherwise it simply will not rot. nine0033

3. Coffee grounds mulch

Many gardeners use coffee grounds as an environmentally friendly mulch. It is safe for plants, releases nutrients into the soil, enriches it with nitrogen, attracts earthworms, looks natural and is pleasing to the eye.

However, the main disadvantage of such mulch is that it can start to mold. To prevent this from happening, again, we advise you to rinse the thick with clean water and dry before spreading over the soil surface.


In addition, if you drink coffee with sugar and milk, naturally, they remain on the coffee grounds. Sweet mulch can attract ants and other insects. Therefore, it is necessary to wash the mass before drying.

4. Soil improver

If the quality of the soil in your area leaves much to be desired (it is too light, or, conversely, not enough air and moisture permeable), its structure must be improved. Good soil "breathes", easily passes air and moisture. To achieve this effect, you can add coffee grounds to the top layer of soil. nine0033

5. Growing herbs in coffee

As an interesting experiment, you can try growing herbs in a container filled with coffee substrate. Such a project called Urb was proposed by London-based industrial designer Blake Parkinson.

Learn more