Coffee grounds for plants???

[Katherine J]

Hi Everybody,
I have read in many (hungarian) articles about gardening that coffee grounds is good to mix in the compost, because it contains food elements and amends the drainage too. Has anybody any experience with this, or what do you think about???
Yes, I know that (almost) every kitchen waste is good for composting, but they was meaning coffee grounds mixing in ready made compost used for potting plants.

[Paddy Tobin]

Katarina,

Coffee grounds and used tea leaves are fine put onto beds around plants. This is where our coffee grounds go all the time. Actually there is a Coronilla glauce spp velentina planted in a half barrel just outside my kitchen door and this is the recipient of all coffee grounds on wet days as it saves me going outside; I can simply empty the coffee pot from the kitchen door. There is now a layer of coffee grounds almost 10cm deep on top of the compost in this barrel.

As for mixing it into compost - I don't imagine it would cause any difficulty for plants though I would not be so sure of its use with seedlings.

Paddy

[Brian Ellis]

Hello Kathrine

Coffee grounds are also reported to have an effect on the slug population.  They don't like them.  I always throw them over the crowns of Hostas in the winter and have noticed a significant drop in holes in the leaves.

best wishes

Brian

[Ezeiza]

Hi:
    Both are acid, come from acid tropical lands and contain iron and aluminum. Watering with tea leftovers is good for indoors plants of tropical origin.

[Katherine J]

Thank you all.
I was just thinking about they would affect the acidity of the compost...

[Frank Cooper]

If coffee grounds adds aluminum then would they be good to put around Hydrangeas to make blue?

[Maggi Young]

Hello, "gentian", welcome to the forum.
 I can't say that I have heard of anyone using coffee grounds to improve the blue colouring of hydrangeas... but I wouldn't be at all surprised if soemone here has tried it     

[Diane Whitehead]

Starbucks gives away bags of their grounds.  I am not a coffee drinker, but my
husband comes home with big sacks of grounds for me.

I wanted them at first because I thought the strong smell would keep deer
away.  It didn't.

However, I continue to put the grounds everywhere in the garden, just to add
organic matter.

[Maggi Young]

I wanted them at first because I thought the strong smell would keep deer
away.  It didn't.

With free bags of the stuff it had to worth a try, though!
  So you are putting it fresh on the garden, then?

[Diane Whitehead]

Yes.  I have half an acre, though, plus an allotment, so it doesn't go far.

[Ezeiza]

Hi:
    Tea is of course, grounded leaves. Coffee, grounded beans, much the equivalent of grounded bark and should have a long term effect.

Regards

[Stephenb]

Hi:
    Tea is of course, grounded leaves. Coffee, grounded beans, much the equivalent of grounded bark and should have a long term effect.

Regards

Interesting you should compare it with ground bark. I collect several plastic bags full of the stuff at work every week from our coffee machine and I've been experimenting with it this winter in our "warm compost" bin in place of ground bark which I used previously so that the mixture (kitchen wastes) doesn't get too wet and begin to smell/attract flies. We have to compost kitchen wastes in enclosed rat-proof (warm compost) bins here and even get a reduction in council tax for doing so - we were even given the wooden bin free...Garden wastes are composted separately. 

The coffee grounds are not only a soil improvement, they also improve me (I think) as I cycle home from work some 17 km with about 10kg. coffee grounds each week most of the year.....

[Katherine J]

Very interesting all your comments...
My husband says that my mother-in-law used to put coffee grounds in her garden below the plants and in house too, in the pots, but it moulded every time, so she stopped to do it.

[Ezeiza]

Shame!
           Grounded for a whole month for mispelling "ground". Red faced.

           Please remember that the size of the particles is that of fine bark and would accordingly retain quite a lot of moisture. Perhaps it is best used as a dressing in order to dry more rapidly by evaporation (rather than mixing it in the compost pile). As useful elements are rendered soluble by bacteriae rain or watering will rinse it into the soil.

           Cocoa shells come from plants also grown in the same type of acid, tropical soils

Regards

[Iturraran]

Coffee grounds are also reported to have an effect on the slug population.  They don't like them.  I always throw them over the crowns of Hostas in the winter and have noticed a significant drop in holes in the leaves.

Brian,

Wow, a very good point!!!. Something to try in our rainy area, where slugs and snails are already working hard...