Bed prep

creister · March 10, 2015

I have yet to get most of my beds prepped and will plant out this weekend. I had originally planned to do it two or three weeks earlier, but weather didn't allow me to do that.

My beds are 50 sq. feet. I have a cover crop of hairy vetch that I will cut and lay down cover it with compost and some corn meal, shredded leaves and shredded tree trimmings on top. I will amend each planting hole. I use no till and didn't fertilize after last year.

My question is this, I was going to also layer in copious amounts of coffee grounds either between the leaves and soil, or between the leaves and tree trimmings. At this late stage, should I even put in coffee grounds? I am worried about excess nitrogen and getting big green leafy plants with no tomatoes. Or will the breakdown and release of nutrients be slow enough to feed but not over feed?

March 10, 2015	#1
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	Bed prep I have yet to get most of my beds prepped and will plant out this weekend. I had originally planned to do it two or three weeks earlier, but weather didn't allow me to do that. My beds are 50 sq. feet. I have a cover crop of hairy vetch that I will cut and lay down cover it with compost and some corn meal, shredded leaves and shredded tree trimmings on top. I will amend each planting hole. I use no till and didn't fertilize after last year. My question is this, I was going to also layer in copious amounts of coffee grounds either between the leaves and soil, or between the leaves and tree trimmings. At this late stage, should I even put in coffee grounds? I am worried about excess nitrogen and getting big green leafy plants with no tomatoes. Or will the breakdown and release of nutrients be slow enough to feed but not over feed?