coffee grounds

andycarter · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:15 pm Post subject: coffee grounds

hello,
does anyone have experience with used coffee grounds. Starbucks etc will give out bags of their used grind for people to use as a fertiliser on their plants.
i've tried a wee bit on my rhododendron with no ill effects (as yet) as i presumed it would acidify the soil.

anyone else tried it?

andy

lance111 · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:45 pm Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

I have never tried that myself! But it would be nice to see what results you have...

jimothy · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:45 pm Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

I've used them not as fertiliser but as a slug detterent. A good thick layer on top of the soil kept my delphiniums hole-free this year.

Stymie · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:02 pm Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

Same here Jim. I always empty the cafetière onto the strawberry bed. Subsequently no slugs.
I hadn't heard of the grounds being used as an actual feed but they do eventually decompose so...

steve · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 1:40 am Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

They also mold. I would think they would do best turned into the soil so they would be diluted down some.

andycarter · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:26 am Post subject: good point

thats a good point about the mould. i'll keep giving them tiny amounts until they become too hyperactive on caffeine, wouldn't want to turn my trees into caffeine junkies.

andy

fabcricket · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:42 am Post subject: Re: good point

andycarter · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:05 am Post subject: caffeine

yes, very true. i don't want to have to run a bonsai addiction clinic. might try decaff

andy

hungkuen · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

you guys do make me chuckle
Laughing

emorrin · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

I almost started a new topic on this but found a previous one here so ....

I found it interesting that coffee grounds can naturally produce new root growth, at least this is what was said in the latest issue of Bonsai Focus issue 116. Anyone else ever hear of this? It was mentioned on page 60.

I have thought about adding a small amount of old coffee grounds to my fertilizer mix (when I was a kid my parents used to make me dump old coffee grounds on the compost pile) but thought they are too "fine", in that they will cause eventual compaction of the soil. I am now contemplating adding a couple of pinches of old coffee grounds when I fertilize.

Here is an interesting article on coffee grounds used for gardening in general.

http://www.donnan.com/coffee-on-plants.htm

don · Yellow Belt Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 166 Location: Devon

When i was a lad about 200 years ago my dad would always empty the old tea leaves around his plants and they seemed to thrive on it Smile

Stymie · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:15 pm Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

Come to think of that, my tea leaves as well as the coffee grounds end up around the strawberries, which are not in containers of any kind. We don't use tea bags here. I have used other people's tea bags as drainage mesh when re-potting for them at home.

Dick · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:25 am Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

I use the coffee and tea leavings around camelias and rhodies, both the potted and in the ground varieties I have.

steve · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:38 am Post subject: Re: coffee grounds

I still say that in a bonsai soil they should be mixed in so as to avoid mold and fungus overrunning the pot. Not to mention the appearance issue.