Coffee Grounds in the Garden? - Page 2

paxpuella · June 19, 2006

Ok, thanks for the reply. I was thinking that maybe one large can of generic would be ok to sprinkle a little bit on each plant and still be effective towards the plant.

maupin · March 29, 2007

Raw coffee is highly acidic. Used grounds (UCG) are almost Ph neutral. Raw is great for blueberries and azaleas. I add about 70 pounds a week of UCG's. I remove the filters if I am using them in the garden, as they will dry out and litter--I bury them in the depths of the compost pile for the same reason.

Also-- as a top dressing UCG's can prevent moisture from reaching the roots. Scratch it into the soil a little.

Tomstrees · March 29, 2007

I use coffee grounds & tea bags ... haven't had a problem yet ~

(knock wood) ~ Tom

bugsy · March 29, 2007

I get the grounds free from Starbucks and Peets coffee by the trashbagful. It's pretty much the only reason why I go there since I don't drink coffee. Love free stuff. Peets is great because they allow you to give them a bucket and you get pure coffee grounds, well and some filters which I tear up into bits and dig right in. I don't like espresso grounds as much. I planted my last 3 tomatoes in my Nor. Cal garden with about 30 lbs of coffee grounds in the hole for each plant, as well as a bunch of other junk. They're growing great.

dcarch · March 29, 2007

Will coffee ground keep nightcrawlers up all night?

dcarch

celestina · March 29, 2007

I have to agree about coffee grounds attracting earthworms. Lots of fishermen around here have a worm patch, and they just dump coffee grounds in one area---LOTS OF WORMS! We dump our coffe grounds on all our vegetable beds (and flower beds) all winter and then dig them in come spring. We have a whole lot more worms in the beds we dump the grounds in than the ones we don't.

vermiit · March 29, 2007

I'm lucky like Bugsy. I get mine by the large black bags in back of Peets. I put it right on my beds, putting the filters in my compost. I also put my shredded paper/cardboard directly on the beds and mix it up a bit with the coffee grounds. If I'm good, I do this in the fall, and let it do the sheet composting thing before I plant in April/March. I got great tomatoes last year. I'm such a lazy gardener. lol.

sirtanon · March 30, 2007

I just picked up a BIG bagful of grounds yesterday from Starbucks.. and have already started adding to soil, etc..

I've also started a little experiment that I will post pictures of here shortly.. Growing two identical seedlings side-by-side, one in a standard soil mix, one in almost PURE used grounds. I'm curious what sort of results I'll get.

vermiit · March 30, 2007

Wow, interesting! Share the results with pics, sirtanon!

Dee

sirtanon · March 30, 2007

Absolutely!

First the "coffee soil" mixture.. I started out with mostly coffee grounds.. since they're fairly dry, they have a nice light texture that feels like it would be great even as a seed-starting mix... (hmm.. another experiment?

) To this, I added about a handful or two of peat, and then about a handful of perlite. Finally, a tossed in some fresh grass clippings for a little body. Here's how it looks:

Looks pretty good, huh?

I had two seedlings that are pretty much identical, left over from my spring planting.. both of the same cherry tomato variety, so I figured they would make good guinea pigs for this experiment:

Now, for pots I wanted something where I could keep an eye on root development as well as above-soil growth.. so I chose some plastic cups.. small, I know, but they give me a good view of the root area, and I can always pot up to something larger later.. :

Can you tell which one is the one with coffee in it?

As you can see, the 'soil' color in both is a nice dark brown, but in all reality, the 'coffee soil' felt lighter, healthier, and more uniform.. plus it really sets up nicely when wet...

The other soil: dirt from my backyard (crappy stuff too), Peat, Compost(Kellogg's Amend) from a bag, a small amount of 10-10-10 granular fert, and just a pinch of coffee grounds for the N value.

...and yes, it does leak.. seems to me that it's got lots of nutes still in it

-----

I checked both plants this morning, and they're both still in great shape, so I would wager that means the coffee is NOT too strong for the seedling.

I plan to take pics in 3 days and 7 days to compare growth.

creister · March 30, 2007

I used to use the Starbucks grounds in the compost pile, and they really heated it up. Our local SB's has stopped bagging up the grounds, at least on a yearly basis. Last time I stopped, they said they were waiting for the gardening season to start before they did the grounds to garden program again.

duajones · March 30, 2007

I dumped a 5 gal container or so of coffee grounds from SB in both of my tomato beds before tilling this past fall. Saw maybe one earthworm during the tilling. When I planted in February, there were worms in every hole. Not sure if the grounds had anything to do with it or not. And they dont bag them at the local SB. I just call a little after noon, and they usually have a 5 gal bucket full already.

mresseguie · March 30, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by creister

I used to use the Starbucks grounds in the compost pile, and they really heated it up. Our local SB's has stopped bagging up the grounds, at least on a yearly basis. Last time I stopped, they said they were waiting for the gardening season to start before they did the grounds to garden program again.

The employees at Starbucks brighten up when they see me pull up. I take the grounds in both the espresso bags and the drip coffee grounds bags. (I'm not sure if I was clear there. They fill two large plastic bags every day-one is from the espresso; the other is from the drip coffee.) I take both bags off their hands so they don't have to bag them up in those bulk bags nor do they have to drag them to the dumpsters. I actually save them work. On a good day I can walk off with 30+ lbs from one store. There are three SBs in my town.

My worms have all night wild worm parties when I dump that many grounds into a bin. The only thing better for my worms is llama manure IMHO.

Later.

Michael in OR.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

vermiit · March 30, 2007

omigod sirtanon, not only did you do share pics right away, you even printed labels for your experiment!! I'm way impressed. :-) Can't wait to check back in 3 and 7 days...

Dee

sirtanon · March 30, 2007

I also just started another quick experiment for curiosity sake.

I took a standard 9 oz. styrofoam cup, filled it with my coffee ground mixture, and popped two seeds in there. Watered them in and covered with plastic wrap. Curious to see how well they germinate, and how quickly they grow.

I would imagine the nitrogen in the grounds would give them quite a boost.

March 29, 2007	#18
Tomstrees Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Bayshore Posts: 3,848	I use coffee grounds & tea bags ... haven't had a problem yet ~ (knock wood) ~ Tom __________________ My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~ H. Fred Ale

March 29, 2007	#20
dcarch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NY Posts: 2,618	Will coffee ground keep nightcrawlers up all night? dcarch __________________ tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato

March 30, 2007	#23
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	I just picked up a BIG bagful of grounds yesterday from Starbucks.. and have already started adding to soil, etc.. I've also started a little experiment that I will post pictures of here shortly.. Growing two identical seedlings side-by-side, one in a standard soil mix, one in almost PURE used grounds. I'm curious what sort of results I'll get. __________________ I could sail by on the winds of silence, and maybe they won't notice... but this time I think it would be better if I swim..

March 30, 2007	#25
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	Absolutely! First the "coffee soil" mixture.. I started out with mostly coffee grounds.. since they're fairly dry, they have a nice light texture that feels like it would be great even as a seed-starting mix... (hmm.. another experiment? ) To this, I added about a handful or two of peat, and then about a handful of perlite. Finally, a tossed in some fresh grass clippings for a little body. Here's how it looks: Looks pretty good, huh? I had two seedlings that are pretty much identical, left over from my spring planting.. both of the same cherry tomato variety, so I figured they would make good guinea pigs for this experiment: Now, for pots I wanted something where I could keep an eye on root development as well as above-soil growth.. so I chose some plastic cups.. small, I know, but they give me a good view of the root area, and I can always pot up to something larger later.. : Can you tell which one is the one with coffee in it? As you can see, the 'soil' color in both is a nice dark brown, but in all reality, the 'coffee soil' felt lighter, healthier, and more uniform.. plus it really sets up nicely when wet... The other soil: dirt from my backyard (crappy stuff too), Peat, Compost(Kellogg's Amend) from a bag, a small amount of 10-10-10 granular fert, and just a pinch of coffee grounds for the N value. ...and yes, it does leak.. seems to me that it's got lots of nutes still in it ----- I checked both plants this morning, and they're both still in great shape, so I would wager that means the coffee is NOT too strong for the seedling. I plan to take pics in 3 days and 7 days to compare growth. __________________ I could sail by on the winds of silence, and maybe they won't notice... but this time I think it would be better if I swim..

March 30, 2007	#30
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	I also just started another quick experiment for curiosity sake. I took a standard 9 oz. styrofoam cup, filled it with my coffee ground mixture, and popped two seeds in there. Watered them in and covered with plastic wrap. Curious to see how well they germinate, and how quickly they grow. I would imagine the nitrogen in the grounds would give them quite a boost. __________________ I could sail by on the winds of silence, and maybe they won't notice... but this time I think it would be better if I swim..

June 19, 2006	#16
paxpuella Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Southern IL Posts: 21	Ok, thanks for the reply. I was thinking that maybe one large can of generic would be ok to sprinkle a little bit on each plant and still be effective towards the plant.

March 29, 2007	#17
maupin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Northern Thailand Posts: 77	Raw coffee is highly acidic. Used grounds (UCG) are almost Ph neutral. Raw is great for blueberries and azaleas. I add about 70 pounds a week of UCG's. I remove the filters if I am using them in the garden, as they will dry out and litter--I bury them in the depths of the compost pile for the same reason. Also-- as a top dressing UCG's can prevent moisture from reaching the roots. Scratch it into the soil a little.

March 29, 2007	#19
bugsy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Zone 10b Posts: 67	I get the grounds free from Starbucks and Peets coffee by the trashbagful. It's pretty much the only reason why I go there since I don't drink coffee. Love free stuff. Peets is great because they allow you to give them a bucket and you get pure coffee grounds, well and some filters which I tear up into bits and dig right in. I don't like espresso grounds as much. I planted my last 3 tomatoes in my Nor. Cal garden with about 30 lbs of coffee grounds in the hole for each plant, as well as a bunch of other junk. They're growing great.

March 29, 2007	#21
celestina Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico Posts: 153	I have to agree about coffee grounds attracting earthworms. Lots of fishermen around here have a worm patch, and they just dump coffee grounds in one area---LOTS OF WORMS! We dump our coffe grounds on all our vegetable beds (and flower beds) all winter and then dig them in come spring. We have a whole lot more worms in the beds we dump the grounds in than the ones we don't.

March 29, 2007	#22
vermiit Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: z 14, California Posts: 137	I'm lucky like Bugsy. I get mine by the large black bags in back of Peets. I put it right on my beds, putting the filters in my compost. I also put my shredded paper/cardboard directly on the beds and mix it up a bit with the coffee grounds. If I'm good, I do this in the fall, and let it do the sheet composting thing before I plant in April/March. I got great tomatoes last year. I'm such a lazy gardener. lol.

March 30, 2007	#26
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	I used to use the Starbucks grounds in the compost pile, and they really heated it up. Our local SB's has stopped bagging up the grounds, at least on a yearly basis. Last time I stopped, they said they were waiting for the gardening season to start before they did the grounds to garden program again.

March 30, 2007	#27
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	I dumped a 5 gal container or so of coffee grounds from SB in both of my tomato beds before tilling this past fall. Saw maybe one earthworm during the tilling. When I planted in February, there were worms in every hole. Not sure if the grounds had anything to do with it or not. And they dont bag them at the local SB. I just call a little after noon, and they usually have a 5 gal bucket full already.