Coffee grounds

[shallrelicme]

So I was thinking I want to use my morning used coffee grounds as green matter to add to my compost bin I've been trying to get going. My question is: should coffee grounds be used as a straight soil amendment straight out of the container or is it better to compost the used grounds? I guess I just need some clarity from people that have experience with this and I can think of no better place to find information than this here organic soil forum nirvana. Thanks to all the mentors here you really have changed my life.

 

[ghetto gardner]

coffee grounds is food for the worms bro

 

[transplant]

coffee grounds is food for the worms bro

coffee grounds will mold in your soil. ok for out door, not in door. ggod for compost, high in nitrogen!

 

[shallrelicme]

coffee grounds will mold in your soil. ok for out door, not in door. ggod for compost, high in nitrogen!

How about tea? I drink a lot of tea and always just discard the bags in the garbage.

 

[CannaExists]

How about tea? I drink a lot of tea and always just discard the bags in the garbage.

Also good for compost and high in nitrogen. I get

because it doesn't have staples in the bags, so I can just take it out the kettle and toss it in my compost. The smaller quantity boxes of the same brand have staples in them, for some reason.

 

[JackTheGrower]

coffee grounds will mold in your soil. ok for out door, not in door. ggod for compost, high in nitrogen!

There are a few threads on coffee grounds but yes! The mold is not healthy to breath.

However I have no problem with a little spent grounds in a soil mix. even indoors.

I apply fresh ground in mixes with rice as top dressing but I also micronize.. and and and.. Do have a gander at the fine collection of information here.

Chances are there are already a tome on it here in Organic Soil.

Oh the compost tumbler gets all I can muster up.. Tea bags and strings NP.. Coffee and filters NP..

If your are serious make friends with your local Starbucks

 

[maryjohn]

How about tea? I drink a lot of tea and always just discard the bags in the garbage.

make sure you rip them open, and don't feed a lot of spicy ones to worms.

 

[guest2012y]

My mom used coffee grounds on the indoor house plants for years with great results,but doing what we do here I would say nay. They are acidic(I have never tested the ph but assume they are acidic because I drink the shit),high in nitrogen,and yes,they mold..That can't be good except in an outdoor compost,I hear worms dig em'..especially if you drink good organic coffee!(they told me so)

 

[Villasukka]

I'm going to do it.. searched the interwebs plenty and found lots of discussion, most people saying that you can put quite much coffee grounds on soil.. as much as 25%, i'd just like to keep my soil airy

Some people have done experiments, and found that coffeegrounds(used) act as an PH buffer at ~6.5. I think escpecially in my case, when i'm using tap water with PH of 8.5, some acidic coffee grounds would be just fine.

First plants get some P and K from the stuff, and then later as microbes start to break down the stuff it acts like an slow release N fert.

About mold - I think it's just a matter of proper soil moisture.

Don't have reliable sources to point at.. I will try this, i'll report back when my plants are rotten and dead.
"I have been using coffee grounds along with selected browns as a mulch for
years. I have my soil tested regularly and have not found an acidity
problem here in the Pacific Northwest know for a certain level of acidity.
I have found the following to be trustworthy.

Starbucks commissioned a study in 1995
to better understand the make up of the
organic matter we call coffee grounds. The
following is the result of the analysis
performed by the University of Washington,
College of Forest Resources:

Primary Nutrients
Nitrogen 1.45%
Phosphorus ND ug/g
Potassium 1204 ug/g
Secondary Nutrients
Calcium 389 ug/g
Magnesium 448 ug/g
Sulfur high ug/g
Terms: ND = indicates sample is below
detection limit
ug/g= microgram / gram

Most of the acidity in coffee is removed
during the brewing process. Used grounds
have an average pH of 6.9. Use your
grounds within 3 weeks to capture the
most nutritional value."

http://list.communitygarden.org/pip...communitygarden.org/2007-February/000397.html

 

[maryjohn]

Hey, if the mold is white, don't sweat it. But the ones with flashy colors are generally toxic to plants or animals nor both.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Staples actually do oxidize and fall apart in time. Reminds me of a story from my childhood. I was planting some Ganj in the back area of my grandmothers garden and my spade hit a big chunk of metal. Dug it up and it turned out to be a small one man cannon from the revolution! Weighed about 20-30lbs of cast iron, and still had the curved spike that pivots on the barrel intact and working. A soldier would run up to a rise and jam the spike into the ground and light the fuse. If I remember correctly they called it a 'spring gun' or something. It was years ago, and I donated it to the town library. I wonder if it's still there.

 

[JackTheGrower]

My mom used coffee grounds on the indoor house plants for years with great results,but doing what we do here I would say nay. They are acidic(I have never tested the ph but assume they are acidic because I drink the shit),high in nitrogen,and yes,they mold..That can't be good except in an outdoor compost,I hear worms dig em'..especially if you drink good organic coffee!(they told me so)

I agree on the acidic nature however we should note that applying an acidic material doesn't mean we acidify the organic soil.

Nature has a way of dealing with things..

So moderation yes.. Worry no.. Top dress with fresh Folgers classic roast? Sure thing mixed with kelp meal rice or rice flour, azomite, bone meal, guanos, green sand and whatnot.
pH has a way of staying around 6.8 here. I assume water pH will effect things.
that can work for or against us.. We have to figure out what is best.

The spent coffee material has a much lower acidity i have read but then again I toss a handful of crushed oyster shells in at will in any mix I feel like doing it with... Just like some great cook .. A bit of this and some of that..

Hell I am even mixing coconut powder into the top dress layer today. The biology eats everything.


Starbucks coffee is abundant.. Really for personal composting you can't beat that stuff..

Besides the BSF eat coffee.

 

[h.h.]

Putting spent grounds in microbial tea reduced the bubbles which made me think perhaps the left over caffeine was somehow affecting or killing the microbes.Other than that I've used them outside for years along with left over coffee.
Coconut powder. Do you get it locally? Ive broken up whole coconuts and the meat breaks down nicely. The shredded I find has added salt.

 

[guest2012y]

I agree on the acidic nature however we should note that applying an acidic material doesn't mean we acidify the organic soil.

Nature has a way of dealing with things..

So moderation yes.. Worry no.. Top dress with fresh Folgers classic roast? Sure thing mixed with kelp meal rice or rice flour, azomite, bone meal, guanos, green sand and whatnot.
pH has a way of staying around 6.8 here. I assume water pH will effect things.
that can work for or against us.. We have to figure out what is best.

The spent coffee material has a much lower acidity i have read but then again I toss a handful of crushed oyster shells in at will in any mix I feel like doing it with... Just like some great cook .. A bit of this and some of that..

Hell I am even mixing coconut powder into the top dress layer today. The biology eats everything.


Starbucks coffee is abundant.. Really for personal composting you can't beat that stuff..

Besides the BSF eat coffee.

I keep reading that spent grounds have a lower acidity as well,I'm just so freaked out on screwing up ph because it can really fu*k your life up when it comes to a good harvest. If I had the room and time to experiment with such nice sounding stuff I honestly would. II'll post some pics later today in this forum and show you what I mean about some wierd ass ph stuff I've been freaking on.

 

[JackTheGrower]

Putting spent grounds in microbial tea reduced the bubbles which made me think perhaps the left over caffeine was somehow affecting or killing the microbes.Other than that I've used them outside for years along with left over coffee.
Coconut powder. Do you get it locally? Ive broken up whole coconuts and the meat breaks down nicely. The shredded I find has added salt.

http://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Powder-LB-Unsweetened-Desiccated/dp/B000JMDH9A

I have found Amazon has freak organic soil products.

This is two for two on low cost freak stuff.

Um I really don't know on the coconut powder if there is salt I kinda hope it's on the sugar carbs side of a microbe food. It's that simple.
I hope there isn't any salt but if there is.. It's not a serious situation.

All these exotic things are not necessary folk.. Just fun and Organic Games.

 

[JackTheGrower]

I keep reading that spent grounds have a lower acidity as well,I'm just so freaked out on screwing up ph because it can really fu*k your life up when it comes to a good harvest. If I had the room and time to experiment with such nice sounding stuff I honestly would. II'll post some pics later today in this forum and show you what I mean about some wierd ass ph stuff I've been freaking on.

Well, I surely don't know everything and my Organic soil Peers are great friends and sources of wisdom as well..

My area is old old "reused" soil.. That's actually a funny thing to say "reused" or recycled. Damn White Rhino..

Anyway I have this soil that is 8 or 9 years old.. I feed it and practice other organic practices and I don't fear coffee grounds. I actually like to compost spent and I top dress with fresh in a mix.

I do this indoors BUT folks I have a killer air filter system I built myself so watch out for fungus indoors it can be rough on the lungs.

I mix materials for top dressing like a batch of food. I Think of Greens and Browns as in how we look at compost.

So if I have a handful of fresh coffee I know that adding some bone meal will somewhat balance the nitrogen with a more carbonaceous one and so I practice a Chi or Qi in the system.
The Garden is a place of love energy.. I do not doubt the plants feel like family. It's a labor of love my box...

So If you are mixing some soil up. Don't worry practice adding organic materials with the Chi in mind, your Chi, and watch and learn.
That's the whole thing.. Being a part of a living system.

 

[h.h.]

Reminded me I have an open can of cc milk in by the water heater. At this point it has condensed to a soft cheese with a slight lacto smell. This stuff will put a nice coating on char, providing a food source.

 

[guest2012y]

Well, I surely don't know everything and my Organic soil Peers are great friends and sources of wisdom as well..

My area is old old "reused" soil.. That's actually a funny thing to say "reused" or recycled. Damn White Rhino..

Anyway I have this soil that is 8 or 9 years old.. I feed it and practice other organic practices and I don't fear coffee grounds. I actually like to compost spent and I top dress with fresh in a mix.

I do this indoors BUT folks I have a killer air filter system I built myself so watch out for fungus indoors it can be rough on the lungs.

I mix materials for top dressing like a batch of food. I Think of Greens and Browns as in how we look at compost.

So if I have a handful of fresh coffee I know that adding some bone meal will somewhat balance the nitrogen with a more carbonaceous one and so I practice a Chi or Qi in the system.
The Garden is a place of love energy.. I do not doubt the plants feel like family. It's a labor of love my box...

So If you are mixing some soil up. Don't worry practice adding organic materials with the Chi in mind, your Chi, and watch and learn.
That's the whole thing.. Being a part of a living system.

For some reason I stay away from animal "parts". The whole blood,bone,and feather thing is kinda weird considering that the cow,pigs,and fowl they got that shit from were probably not organically fed,and it tastes funny to me when I smoke the flowers grown with it. I use bat guano mainly,but will work with chicken shit outdoors,and composted cow shit(not exactly organic,but not a part of the beast itself) I have noticed that certain products do leave a taste behind,such as rabbit shit,fish fert.,etc.so I go with what tends to taste right to me when the smoke is puffed. Are animal "parts" really anymore effective than some good poop? I'm thinking they have more in the line of NPK ????

 

[JackTheGrower]

You are not alone in this forum.. Vegan I think it's called. Jaykush knows a lot about plants we can use and I would like to know how not to use bone or fish.

I also agree the soil influences flavor. I don't have any complaints.

Back on the wet used coffee grounds I prefer to compost those first.

I assume in a natural setting materials from the soil surface become available over time.
For me? The people here have encouraged me to see if the soil can provide without a major composting this season.. So far no problems. Source of Nitrogen are always important. I brew coffee and use it in my liquid feeding mix.. It's not caused a problem I can tell and I assume some nitrogen is in the liquid.

What else is a good source for nitrogen? Alfalfa is I believe,

Alternates to bone, I don't use blood, hoof and horn, feather and such would be handy. But in an organic soil Nitrogen is the Green light to go.
Nothing much happens for the plants until there is a supply of nitrogen in the whole soil area here.

 

[mad420]

Coffee is a BASE. Has anyone actually tested it. It is bitter and slippery. 2 of the properties of a BASE.