Coffee Grounds

IrishGuy · May 29, 2008

Hello everyone, first post here but have been reading for a month or so. I have a question about coffee grounds and soil. I have a small garden with tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapenos. I am interested in using some coffee grounds to enhance my existing soil. My garden is planted and well established. Can I just simply sprinkle the coffee grounds in the soil around the plants, or should I wait until the winter to add and mix the coffee grounds into the soil?

I do not currently have a compost bin, I would like to get a small one sometime in the future.

creister · May 29, 2008

You can just sprinkle them in, just know that you might overfertilize if you put down too much. If you wait too long, they might be in a state of mold. They are a good fertilizer, work great in compost, and worms really like them.

amideutch · May 30, 2008

This site may interest you. Get the concentrate to mix with your coffee grounds and do your plants a real favor. Ami

http://www.gardengrounds.com/index.php?cid=49

organichris · May 30, 2008

I would work it into the soil surrounding your plants. I wouldn't worry about overdoing it. In my opinion that would be quite difficult to do with coffee grounds.

Sherry_AK · May 30, 2008

I also think it would be difficult to overdo the coffee grounds. It is a good idea to mix them in with the soil though, since a thick layer on top of the ground can get crusty and repel water.

oc tony · May 30, 2008

Thifty years ago a truck farmer told me he read a study done at a coledge where they used fresh manure directly on the crops in the field. They found that the fresh manure took up nitrogen from the soil for six weeks before it started to give nitrogen back to to the soil. So I use 50 to 75 % composted manure mixed with the coffee grounds then turn it into the soil and then plant the tomatos.

IrishGuy · June 2, 2008

Thanks for the info everyone. I make one pot of coffee per day and I am just going to start sprinkling the used grounds around my small garden. I don't think there will ever be enough coffee grounds to form much of a crust layer over the top of the soil. Maybe this fall/winter I can look into making or buying a small compost pit.

organichris · June 2, 2008

Hey Irish,

An excellent alternative to the compost pit is an organic tomato hill. Instead of composting everything, just throw organic material (food scraps and whatnot) in a hole and plant on top of it. If you gradually add to the hole(s) some of the material will compost, but if not fresh garbage is an excellent tomato growing medium. I am currently proving this out. Here are the details:

http://rotheraine.com/tomato_hill.htm

Here is a video showing it being done and the results:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?...eo.google.com#

jolj · September 7, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishGuy

Hello everyone, first post here but have been reading for a month or so. I have a question about coffee grounds and soil. I have a small garden with tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapenos. I am interested in using some coffee grounds to enhance my existing soil. My garden is planted and well established. Can I just simply sprinkle the coffee grounds in the soil around the plants, or should I wait until the winter to add and mix the coffee grounds into the soil?

I do not currently have a compost bin, I would like to get a small one sometime in the future.

I use coffee grounds to keep slugs away from my plants. I compost with coffee chaff / sheet compost, and use it as a mulch. When i mulched my blueberries they put out new growth in July!!!

jolj · September 7, 2009

I use coffee grounds to keep slugs away from my crops, CG works better then eegshell or beer! I use coffee CHAFF as a sheet compost, as a mulch on fruit trees & berry bushes/ canes, all my plants. With no harm to any of them. You can get grounds from any coffeeshop, but you can only get chaff from a large processing plant, like MAXWELL HOUSE.
I do not worry about nitrgen, if it a problem for you add nitrgen or cottonseed mill to the grounds 24hour before you put it out. If you use soilbuilder covercrops & add N-P-K to your soil every year you will not see a disffirent in the break down of the grouds. Ground coffee is so good I would buy it just for the garden, if I could not get Chaff.I have 2000lbs of chaff now, any one in the middles of S.C. drop me a line I will hook you up NO charge.

gardenfrog · September 7, 2009

Don't forget that you can get free coffee grounds at Starbucks!!!

jolj · September 19, 2009

Hi,
coffee grounds are also great for stoping slugs from eating your plants.
I got this trick from (www.kitchengardener.org)
I use coffee chaff also, put you have to live near a coffee plant(company) to get Chaff.

tuttimato · September 19, 2009

I keep a 7 gallon nursery pot under one of my plum trees and deposit the coffee grounds, egg shells, peelings, etc. Half the tree got some kind of fire blight or something that caused the leaves to turn red and drop. The other half of the tree with the goody pot stayed dark green and put on lush new growth at the same time. It looked crazy but is a prime example of the benefits of composting so the nutrients can leach where they're needed in the first place.

When the pot gets about 2/3 full, I dump the contents into another one so it can decompose evenly. After a few weeks of that, it's ready to use in the garden. Double duty. 5 gallon buckets with drainage holes would work just as well and are a cheap tool to turn waste into gold.

zeroma · January 23, 2013

I've been collecting coffee grounds from my fav coffee bar for about 3 months now. I add it to dried leaves and kitchen scrapes in rubber maid type storage bins with some compost and blood meal. Plans are to use it in the Spring.

Question: Since it has been so cold recently, I've got a full tub of coffee grounds saved up, still in the filters, that need dumping and mixing with the scrapes, etc. Some of it has molded. is that a bad thing? One of the above posts mentioned mold. Won't the mold just decompose along with the rest of it?

Should this be kept until warm weather and added to the outdoor compost bin to actually 'heat'.

RayR · January 23, 2013

Zeroma, besides having simple sugars and nitrogen, coffee grounds have a great deal of cellulose and lignin which fungi thrive on and are very good at decomposing. The coffee grounds are also slightly acidic which promotes the growth of the mold. The The mold is not a bad thing except that will dominate and consume a great deal of the good stuff in the coffee grounds before it even gets to the compost bin. I just mix the grounds in the compost bin in the winter where it will do more good in the long run in balance with everything else.

May 29, 2008	#1
IrishGuy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana Posts: 6	Coffee Grounds Hello everyone, first post here but have been reading for a month or so. I have a question about coffee grounds and soil. I have a small garden with tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapenos. I am interested in using some coffee grounds to enhance my existing soil. My garden is planted and well established. Can I just simply sprinkle the coffee grounds in the soil around the plants, or should I wait until the winter to add and mix the coffee grounds into the soil? I do not currently have a compost bin, I would like to get a small one sometime in the future.

May 30, 2008	#3
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	This site may interest you. Get the concentrate to mix with your coffee grounds and do your plants a real favor. Ami http://www.gardengrounds.com/index.php?cid=49 __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

September 7, 2009	#11
gardenfrog Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Shelbyville, IN Posts: 343	Grounds Don't forget that you can get free coffee grounds at Starbucks!!!

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May 29, 2008	#2
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	You can just sprinkle them in, just know that you might overfertilize if you put down too much. If you wait too long, they might be in a state of mold. They are a good fertilizer, work great in compost, and worms really like them.

May 30, 2008	#4
organichris Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 630	I would work it into the soil surrounding your plants. I wouldn't worry about overdoing it. In my opinion that would be quite difficult to do with coffee grounds.

May 30, 2008	#5
Sherry_AK Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Alaska Zone 3/4 Posts: 1,857	I also think it would be difficult to overdo the coffee grounds. It is a good idea to mix them in with the soil though, since a thick layer on top of the ground can get crusty and repel water.

May 30, 2008	#6
oc tony Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: oc ca. Posts: 173	Thifty years ago a truck farmer told me he read a study done at a coledge where they used fresh manure directly on the crops in the field. They found that the fresh manure took up nitrogen from the soil for six weeks before it started to give nitrogen back to to the soil. So I use 50 to 75 % composted manure mixed with the coffee grounds then turn it into the soil and then plant the tomatos.

June 2, 2008	#7
IrishGuy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana Posts: 6	Thanks for the info everyone. I make one pot of coffee per day and I am just going to start sprinkling the used grounds around my small garden. I don't think there will ever be enough coffee grounds to form much of a crust layer over the top of the soil. Maybe this fall/winter I can look into making or buying a small compost pit.

September 7, 2009	#10
jolj Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: S.C.-U.S.A. Posts: 6	I use coffee grounds to keep slugs away from my crops, CG works better then eegshell or beer! I use coffee CHAFF as a sheet compost, as a mulch on fruit trees & berry bushes/ canes, all my plants. With no harm to any of them. You can get grounds from any coffeeshop, but you can only get chaff from a large processing plant, like MAXWELL HOUSE. I do not worry about nitrgen, if it a problem for you add nitrgen or cottonseed mill to the grounds 24hour before you put it out. If you use soilbuilder covercrops & add N-P-K to your soil every year you will not see a disffirent in the break down of the grouds. Ground coffee is so good I would buy it just for the garden, if I could not get Chaff.I have 2000lbs of chaff now, any one in the middles of S.C. drop me a line I will hook you up NO charge.

September 19, 2009	#12
jolj Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: S.C.-U.S.A. Posts: 6	Hi, coffee grounds are also great for stoping slugs from eating your plants. I got this trick from (www.kitchengardener.org) I use coffee chaff also, put you have to live near a coffee plant(company) to get Chaff.

September 19, 2009	#13
tuttimato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Gulf Coast USA Posts: 17	I keep a 7 gallon nursery pot under one of my plum trees and deposit the coffee grounds, egg shells, peelings, etc. Half the tree got some kind of fire blight or something that caused the leaves to turn red and drop. The other half of the tree with the goody pot stayed dark green and put on lush new growth at the same time. It looked crazy but is a prime example of the benefits of composting so the nutrients can leach where they're needed in the first place. When the pot gets about 2/3 full, I dump the contents into another one so it can decompose evenly. After a few weeks of that, it's ready to use in the garden. Double duty. 5 gallon buckets with drainage holes would work just as well and are a cheap tool to turn waste into gold.

January 23, 2013	#14
zeroma Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 637	I've been collecting coffee grounds from my fav coffee bar for about 3 months now. I add it to dried leaves and kitchen scrapes in rubber maid type storage bins with some compost and blood meal. Plans are to use it in the Spring. Question: Since it has been so cold recently, I've got a full tub of coffee grounds saved up, still in the filters, that need dumping and mixing with the scrapes, etc. Some of it has molded. is that a bad thing? One of the above posts mentioned mold. Won't the mold just decompose along with the rest of it? Should this be kept until warm weather and added to the outdoor compost bin to actually 'heat'.

January 23, 2013	#15
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	Zeroma, besides having simple sugars and nitrogen, coffee grounds have a great deal of cellulose and lignin which fungi thrive on and are very good at decomposing. The coffee grounds are also slightly acidic which promotes the growth of the mold. The The mold is not a bad thing except that will dominate and consume a great deal of the good stuff in the coffee grounds before it even gets to the compost bin. I just mix the grounds in the compost bin in the winter where it will do more good in the long run in balance with everything else.