Coffee grounds ?

[Snag]

I've been doing some work for a local coffee shop , and have been offered as much used coffee grounds as I'd care to drag home ...I've read somewhere that they make excellent worm food and can be used as a fertilizer on my garden , but I have no idea how much is enough , and how much would be too much . So , is there a rule of thumb or any kind of guide for this application ? When we were kids we used a 5 gal bucket buried about 3/4 in the ground and filled with burlap sacking as a worm farm . We used Dad's grounds as food , got some very healthy and active worms , and had repeat business from the local fisherfolk ...

[songbird]

pretty heavy to move. buckets with good handles will help your hands a lot.

acid loving plants would probably be ok with some of them, but the majority i would want to compost first before using them in a garden.

worm composting, probably ok too. no idea how long it would take to get the grounds from fresh to processed enough to be usable as compost (i don't drink coffee here or i could tell you exactly as i do worm composting of all of our veggie scraps) but it'd be a month or two as those roasted bean pieces are pretty hard and acidic. probably be a good strawberry topping when done.

having neighbors who are also gardeners would give you other outlets. having them help carry would be even better.

songbird

[John Morrison]

I have two 240 Litre worm farms to which I add all my composting items which includes coffee grounds and filter papers. The worms certainly get stuck into the coffee grounds and filter papers as soon as I add them.

My worm farms contain composting worms that I originally purchased and not the usual earth worms found in home gardens. I'd tend to agree with songbird that the coffee grounds not be used as fertilizer direct on the garden but added by way of the compost bin first.

[jimmy]

[Billy]

Straight on to the plant, they have killed a couple of my squash. Tread lightly.

[Snag]

Thanks all , looks like there's going to be a mulch pile in the back corner of my yard . Good time to start with leaves falling and all . Most people leave bags on the curb , and you can usually tell what species by looking at the trees in their's and neighbor's yards . Same with grass clippings , but the bags are often smaller ... Maybe next year my little garden will do better . Got some nice cants and a lot of cayennes this year . Tomatoes didn't do so well , they kinda stopped producing when the temps shot up to near triple digits . And I'm very disappointed with the lettuce and spinach I planted for salads , lost the spring crop when it went from cold and wet to hot and dry , and the fall planting hasn't done so well either . -- Snag Learning keeps you young !

[Pat Kiewicz]

I wish I was still getting a few 5 gallon buckets of coffee grounds every week...

I put them into the compost, added them to shredded newspaper for a worm bin and mixed them with shredded leaves for mulching everywhere.

Also dusted dried grounds onto and around my eggplants to repel flea beetles.

[phorbin]

How effective was doing this?

[The Cook]

Wish I had known about keeping the flea beetles off the eggplant. Mine EP leaves look like lace. I have a couple of small fruit on the plants and lots of blossoms Same for the peppers. I doubt that they will pollinate in time to produce anything of any size.

Small scare this morning -- Frost Alert 34°F. I did not look at the weather last night so this morning's notice was of no help. Fortunately it only got down to about 39°F here and everything is still fine. Supposed to be the same tonight and then overnight temps in the 40s. About the only thing left are the peppers and the Cannellini beans that I planted late.

Now maybe I can finish getting the Tung Oil on the TV stand that DH as built. One more coat and then get the room cleaned and ready to move it. Also need to put the citrus plants in the greenhouse before we get a real freeze.

[Bobo]

My Grandmother used to put it on her flowerbeds. I've been puttining it directly in the garden for many years. I go thru allot of coffee too. It's a little ascidic but it's already been ground and soaked in boiling water so it's going to break down fast. If you put it on in fall or winter it would be well neutralized by spring.

[Snag]

Hmm , pick up a few bags of manure on fall special sale , some grounds , till it all in and by spring it should be ready ??

[DogDiesel]

There's not really a rule of thumb. You need to keep your ph though. Well, I read somewhere that blueberries love coffee grounds. But Id compost them first. Or if you get like a half truckload or something. I might mix them up with lime and put them in the garden. And worm farms might work, but I thought everyone was using newspaper for worm farms.

[Steve Peek]

Generally speaking, coffee grounds are not acidic. The acid leaches out in the brewing process. In moderation they can be added straight to almost any planting, however pre composting them makes a better fertilizer.

Never, never, never mention blueberries and lime in the same paragraph. Lime is deadly for blueberries, a Ph over about 5.8 is unhealthy for them.

Coffee grounds and shredded paper make a really good substrate for growing oyster (Pleurotus) mushrooms. Have a look at

for more specifics.

Steve

[DogDiesel]

i was talking about lime in my bind weed garden. But yea I see the confusion. I should of said or.

Speaking of blueberries though. I visited a pick your own blueberry farm off of Baumhardt road. In the summer. I was more intersted in their techniques then their blueberries. But they were good. I think I ate more fruit this summer then ever in my life. Theyre site pics arent good though.

[Billy]

My blueberries and potatoes thrive on fresh coffee grounds.

[Pat Kiewicz]

Seeing as flea beetles will find my eggplants the moment I start bringing them out to harden them, it does seem to help.

The weedy nightshades that pop up in various places in the yard always seem to be shot through with flea beetle feeding.

[Marrow]

Hi Snag,

I've not tried this yet myself but am keen to give it a go too. Having a browse through the web for similar information I came across the website 'Sustainable Enterprises'

that has some great information about using coffee grounds for compost and fertiliser.

It includes a bit of info on what quantities to use and how often. Hope it helps :)