coffee grounds under Azaleas?

[Betsy]

I generate a lot of coffee grounds :)

Is it safe to just strew these under the azaleaas as is?

[David J Bockman]

Yes. :o)

Dave

[Tom Randy]

Yup!

[Roy]

Thats where the last 20+ years of coffee grounds and tea residue bag and all has been going at my place. I have some great looking azaleas as well. Visit my website:

expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Stephen M. Henning]

Van Veen Nursery in Portland, Oregon, has been using coffee grinds from Starbucks Coffee House for about 18 months. They have been very satisfied with the results. 1) it helps to aerate their clay soil. 2) slugs don't like to go through. (so you can see we have both mixed in and put on top.)  It does help to make the soil more acidic. But it does not replace fertilizer.

They suspect that by making the soil more acidic you are actually helping the uptake of magnesium. This in turn helps iron uptake and that helps to make the plant green. So really you are starting a process not fertilizing. Combine the coffee with horse mature and organic mulch and watch the amount of fertilizer you use decrease dramatically. As for how we apply it, when the plant is dry and just before it rains we sprinkle it on and around. The rain takes it from there. Otherwise we incorporate into the new beds. No exact rate just cover the top and work it in. (courtesy of Vicki at Van Veen Nursery)