![]() ![]() (If the name, Rodale Institute, sounds familiar to you, it is because many of you may know the name through the magazine, Organic Gardening, one of my favorite gardening magazines.) I reached out for Rodale Institute since it was more likely they would have an answer for me. Rodale Institutes’ Respond to the Coffee Grounds Dilemma So, if I followed Gardens Alive’s advice to add leaves to my coffee grounds, would I have to supplement with more “green” material for my compost? To add to the confusion, another gardening article I read called coffee grounds “brown matter.” Boy was I confused. (Okay, it was a kill joy.) It seemed that I can only use the grounds for composting. Well, that article definitely was a downer for me. “Will liked my suggestion of four parts shredded leaves to one part grounds by weight, but adds that even having grounds make up 10% of a pile of otherwise shredded leaves would create great compost.” He also cautioned the grounds should not be added to the soil in raw form. ![]() He found the grounds were too acidic, even for acidic loving plants. Gardens Alive had coffee grounds tested by Will Brinton, founder and Director of the Wood’s End Research Laboratoryin Maine. I stumbled upon an article on Gardens Alive answering a question from someone in New Jersey asking the effects of coffee grounds on plants. Is that too much to ask? Gardens Alive Takes on Coffee Grounds and Plants No one seemed to answer the question of “how much.” The research was quite frustrating.Īll, I wanted to know could I use coffee grounds in the garden. At first blush, I only found articles written from gardeners or DIY’er reporting the same things I knew. I started to dig (sorry about the pun) to find if there was a university study on the effects of coffee grounds on plants. What happens if she was right? (*Gasp*) How much is too much? Searching for the Coffee Grounds Guidelines She said I should not give the plants too much coffee grounds. I was afraid I would have to quit cold turkey after my friend told me to be careful. But, I began to worry that my new found obsession may not be the best idea for my plants. Just to give you some background, my sickly roses miraculous perked up after a round of coffee grounds. I feel like I am at Cheers and everyone knows my name. Every week, I am a regular at the coffee ground bin at Starbucks. ![]() You should always be feeding your soil to keep your plants healthy and growing.I am addicted to using coffee grounds in the garden. Our facebook fans report that sprinkling used coffee grounds in the soil around your house plants will make them grow like crazy!Ĭheck out the results of compost created from only coffee grounds and shredded newspaper. What comes out?… compost tea! Use the tea to water your plants for a nutritious boost.ĥ. Stuff a sock full of used coffee grounds and steep it in a 5 gallon bucket of water (or bigger) for a few days. If you’re itching to try ‘vermicomposting’ give your worms a treat with used coffee grounds.Ĥ. Worm castings are said to be the gardeners ultimate compost because they naturally contain so many of the minerals plants need. The more worms the better, as they are continuously composting and aerating the soil and feeding your plants with fresh nutrients.ģ. Coffee grounds will add nitrogen to the soil to feed the plants and adds acidity for bluer blooms on hydrangeas. Use it straight in your garden as a mulch or soil conditioner. Combining the two helps the organic matter break down quicker and leaves you with a nutrient rich soil to add to your garden. When you compost, you layer ‘green’ materials, like grass clippings, kitchen scraps and plant debris, with ‘brown’ matter (carbon) like leaves, bark, straw or newspaper. Coffee grounds make an excellent ‘green’ material (nitrogen). Here are 5 ways to Use Coffee Grounds as Fertilizerġ. Not only does it smell delicious, your plants will love it. Its loaded with nitrogen, with a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20:1, the same as manure. Used Coffee Grounds are GREAT for your plants, don’t throw it away! Add it to your compost pile filter and all, or even sprinkle the grounds directly into the garden to help plants grow like crazy. ![]()
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