Coffee Grounds for Plants

The wide usage of tea and coffee as beverages is known by all of us. In fact, many of us kick-start our day with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. With such a popularity, it is understandable that tea and coffee are brewed in almost all households everyday. And not many of us think twice while throwing wet remains like coffee grounds and tea bags in the trash bin. If you indulge in this same habit, stop from today as both leftovers can be used for various applications.

Speaking about the recycling coffee grounds, you can use it for making eco-friendly dye, repelling insects, formulating cleaning product, flea treatment in dogs and more importantly, in composting. Using coffee grounds for plants is highly appreciated by gardening hobbyists and plant enthusiasts. When added correctly, they benefit garden plants in several ways. Why are coffee grounds good for plants? How can you apply coffee grounds in the garden? Let's try to learn about applying spent coffee grounds as fertilizer.

Using Coffee Grounds for Gardening

Coffee grounds are best ingredients for making compost at home. Besides the fallen leaves, plant twigs, branches, cut lawn grasses, you can add coffee grounds and tea bags into the compost bin. These wet components are broken down rapidly and help in balancing the nitrogen content of the final compost. Impressive results are observed after using coffee grounds for acid loving plants, such as hydrangeas, gardenia, roses, etc. They enrich the soil with nutrients and regulate the acidity of the soil medium. Following are some tips on how you can use coffee grounds for plants:

• Coffee grounds make a rich source of nitrogen for all types of plants. You can simply add leftover coffee grounds along with other ingredients while preparing potting media for growing new plants. For plantation in garden, mix them with garden soil.
• Immediately before watering or arrival of rains, supplement the planting medium with used coffee grounds. As water soak these coffee grounds, they will serve as a slow release nitrogen fertilizer for your garden plants.
• Another benefit of coffee ground compost is in repelling insects and pests that accumulate at the base of plants. Sprinkle wet coffee grounds around the base of the plants. This will not only drive away pests, but also kittens and cats who prefer playing near plants.
• You can also make a mild liquid fertilizer with spent coffee grounds. What you need to do is mix ½ pound of coffee grounds and 5 gallon of water in a large plastic bucket. Allow the mixture to settle down and apply to potted plants and garden flowers.
• If you are currently into vermicomposting, you can add small doses of coffee grounds for feeding worms at regular intervals. Do not add in large amounts, as they can affect the moisture balance and acidity of the compost medium.
• Some hobbyists are of the opinion that excess coffee grounds affects plants, as they form clumps under moist conditions. This in turn may deprive the root system of oxygen. Hence, while using coffee grounds for plants, make sure you add in an appropriate concentration.

As you see, using coffee grounds is a healthy way to recycle waste, while benefiting garden plants with essential plant nutrients. You can use coffee grounds for tomato plants and see the results by yourself. They help boost the fruit formation with nitrogen enrichment and at the same time, prevents the onset of late blight disease. In short, spent coffee grounds serve as a toxic free, organic based, nitrogen supplement for garden plants.