Coffee Grounds in the Garden?

[mms]

Hello all,
I was watching one of those gardening shows on DIY last night, it was a brand new show called "The Dirt on Gardening". They gave a few tips on gardening, nothing revolutionary or new, but still entertaining. They showed a few people talking about their gardens and one guy said that his soil is a rich black color because he gets coffee grounds from a local coffee shop and adds them to his garden.

I know that this is not a shortcut to having rich black soil, my soil has been a project in the works for thirty plus years turning Indiana clay into a great garden that still has a few too many rocks.

I know that you can put coffee grounds into your compost pile, but what would massive amounts do to/for the garden besides keep the Tomato plants awake at night?

MMS

[Dunkel]

Coffee grounds are an excellent amendment. Opinions vary on whether coffee grounds are acidic. Some say they are neutral, while others say they are slightly acidic. I save all the grounds from my home brewings and add them to the pile. I wouldn't hesitate to add them to the garden. As long as you aren't dumping a 5 gallon bucket into a 3' X 6' bed I think they are beneficial. Just my opinon.

[Rena]

Starbucks has a program called grounds to garden. When you walk in the door is a barrel and it has HUGE bags of grounds bagged up and ready to go. They even have a label that says Free Grounds for Gardens. I was so happy yesterday I got 4 bags!!! These bags are gallon size. I would bring a extra bag to put in the truck as they do leak. You can call in advance to see if they have any. Good luck

[DonnaMarieNJ]

What amount of coffee grinds should you use and how often? Weekly? Once a season? And when?

I missed this show.

[mms]

The program that I watched was on again this afternoon and I did a search on my Tivo to see if it would be on again, and it will be tommorow (Saturday the 8th) at 6:00 p.m. on DIY. It is called "The Dirt on Gardening".

The part about coffee grounds was just a little short segment about 30 seconds long but as I said earlier the show was interesting. The most interesting part was about a resteraunt in California (I think) that grows all of their own vegetables and what is ripe in the garden dictates what is on the menu. There was also a segment about how to select the best plants when buying. I did learn a couple of things from this and I'm very picky when buying plants.

I really didn't think that coffee grounds would hurt the garden, I just didn't know if it would be any better than any other compostable material. The guy on the show apparantly put LOTS of grounds in his garden and it didn't look that big.

I don't have a Starbucks nearby (yes there are places where they are not on every corner) but there are a couple of coffee shops in the area. Maybe I will see if they have a similar program, or will start one.

Thanks all,
MMS

[giardiniere]

Originally Posted by IMISSCOLO

Starbucks has a program called grounds to garden. When you walk in the door is a barrel and it has HUGE bags of grounds bagged up and ready to go. They even have a label that says Free Grounds for Gardens. I was so happy yesterday I got 4 bags!!! These bags are gallon size. I would bring a extra bag to put in the truck as they do leak. You can call in advance to see if they have any. Good luck

I pick up a few bags every time I go in our Starbucks. It is really convenient. I put some directly in the garden, and some in the compost. Whatever strikes my fancy that day.

[creister]

I used them on my rose bushes last year, just sprinkled it on and they really liked it. I also dumped several pounds on the garden last year before planting and saw no ill effects. The only thing you need to watch is how thick you put them down, as they will crust and repel water. Thin layers work great, or just kind of stir them with a pitch fork or shovel. I think I've read any where from 20 to 40 lbs/1000 sq. ft.

[Cecilia_MD7a]

I'm known as the Crazy Coffee Grounds Lady at work - I collect the stuff from the coffeemaker each day. Most of it goes into my compost bins, but I have thrown it onto the tomato patch occasionally, with no ill effect.

Although coffee grounds are brown in color, in the compost bin, they're considered a weak "green." This means that if you use them directly in the garden, they are a mild nitrogen-based fertilizer.

[Adenn1]

All of my home brewing goes right into my lasagna beds..grounds and filters. I cover them with ground leaves and grass clippings. The worms love the stuff and I believe it has really helped. When I started the lasagna beds, I used a great deal of coffee grounds from Starbucks...I suspect I collected a few hundred pounds over several months...

[honu]

Interesting range of results. Quoting from Jeff Gillman's book, "The Truth About Garden Remedies, What Works, What Doesn't & Why": "Some plants, such as lettuce, seem to benefit from coffee ground-amended soil quite a bit; some plants, such as alfalfa, seem to benefit very little; and some plants, such as ryegrass, wheat, and tomato, actually seem to be negatively affected...."

[hunter]

Very interesting. I started using Starbucks grounds last year. I added quite a bit (I'm talking hundreds of pounds) to my tomato beds, and did not see any ill effects. In fact, my tomatoes pumped out fruit like mad all summer.

Out of curiosity, I wonder if composted grounds have any different effects than fresh?

[tomatoaddict]

I have collected hundreds of pounds of Starbuck's cg's and dumped them in the garden. My soil is so much clay that I don't think it's going to hurt anything. If it does, believe me I will let everyone know. I have a big mouth.

[mresseguie]

Originally Posted by hunter

Very interesting. I started using Starbucks grounds last year. I added quite a bit (I'm talking hundreds of pounds) to my tomato beds, and did not see any ill effects. In fact, my tomatoes pumped out fruit like mad all summer.

Out of curiosity, I wonder if composted grounds have any different effects than fresh?

I just finished a compost course (really!) through OSU Extension in Eugene. Coffee grounds were mentioned, and several of us asked more questions.

Every single MG or compost specialist there waxed enthusiastic about how great coffee grounds are as a component in the composting process. Several, in fact, no longer use cow manure in the process. The grounds work better. Over the years, studies/research has been done on coffee grounds.

I was given so many handouts that I can't find the information. Some or all of this information is available on the web at:

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lan...flyer2_000.pdf

The next link is about composting.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lan...zstan_rev2.pdf

One of the course presenters stated the Cornell University's site has a wealth of information of composting.

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/Composting_homepage.html

Enjoy!

Michael

[dcarch]

I don't have access to coffee grounds. Maybe someone can give this a try.

Coffee grounds decompose and eventually disappear in your soil.

What if you first bake them to charcoal, carbonize them and then put them in your soil.

Reasons for trying this:

1. Carbon does not decompose so it becomes permanent part of your soil.
2. Activated charcoal is the most porous material known. Although this is not the way activated charcoals are made, you may still end up with some very porous charcoal, may be much better then Perlite to help retain moisture.
3. The baking process will turn some grounds into ash, perhaps releasing more nutrients.
4. Darkening you soil to absorb more solar heat to warm up your soil.

dcarch

[Althea]

I sprinkle brewed coffee ground in the garden, primarily around the rose bushes, not for their N value but because they are considered gourmet food by worms. Practically nothing is better for plants than worm casings. Once I sprinkled the lawn liberally with coffee grounds acquired from a local coffee shop specifically to encourage worms to aerate the lawn. It worked wonderfully. I mostly add the grounds to the compost.