Are you looking for some coffee ground uses to enhance the soil in your garden instead of simply disposing of it?
Yes, you’ve read that right, coffee grounds. Instead of disposing of your spent coffee grounds directly to the trash, you can keep it for garden use. The various applications of coffee grounds that help improve the quality of your garden will surprise you.
Using coffee grounds in gardening is not exactly a recent discovery, but only a few people know and practice it. Today, we are going to show you the wonder of coffee grounds and how you can use it for your garden.
1. Composting with coffee grounds
Enrich your compost pile using coffee grounds. You can directly throw your spent coffee bits onto your compost bin. Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen. Adding them to compost will add nitrogen to the soil, improving the soil makeup, especially for sturdier leftovers such as help wood chips degrade faster.
According to zero-waste blogger Antonia Ko, a healthy compost bin is one with a balanced green and brown compost material. We consider your coffee grounds as green compost material, like grass clipping, and vegetable peel.
If you used coffee grounds for compost piles, balance it out with brown compost materials like eggshells, leaves, or paper for the best quality of your garden soil.
The recommended ratio is 4 brown to 1 green compost material.
2. Coffee grounds as a fertilizer
Coffee grounds are an excellent organic fertilizer, comments fantastic turfing professional and consultant Dmitri Kara. You might think coffee grounds might be too acidic for your garden, but actually, the brewing process removes the acidity, leaving only nutrients in your spent coffee grounds, the expert adds.
Coffee bits contain potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Adding them to your garden can help improve the water retention and aeration of your garden soil.
To use them as fertilizer, you can directly sprinkle it on top of your garden soil, spread it evenly, and mix with your topsoil. Careful not to overdo it and put too much as a thick layer may form a solid crust that may prevent water from getting through the soil.
3. Coffee grounds as a mulch
According to backyard junk and waste professionals Bin There Dump That, many gardeners use coffee grounds as mulch to reduce weed growth and to improve the water retention of the garden soil.
But be careful not to put too much and create a thick blanket of coffee grounds around plants and seedlings. Some plants are more sensitive to caffeine than others. A thick layer of coffee grounds might suppress the growth and germination of young plants and seedlings.
4. Coffee grounds as a pesticide
If you are having problems with slugs and other pests ruining your garden, coffee grounds might help solve that problem. The theory behind this is that soft-bodied critters like slug dislikes the sharp and abrasive texture of coffee bits. Coffee grounds offer a more natural alternative compared to a commercial pesticide that contains chemical and inorganic substances that can be harmful to your health.
However, some studies found that slugs have no problem crossing over a layer of coffee bits. With that said, don’t rely too much on the coffee grounds as your only type of pesticide.
5. Coffee grounds for vermicomposting
Vermicomposting is one way of enriching your garden soil, and you can use coffee grounds to feed the worms. Worms can help provide more nutrients for your soil and worms absolutely like coffee grounds. Just do not put too much coffee grounds, as its acidity level can bother your worms.
6. Keep the cats at bay
Others say that putting coffee grounds on your garden soil can prevent the cats from using your garden as a litter box. While cats are cute and we love them very much, they can be a bother when they dig around your garden, ruining your plants.
They say coffee bits to have the same effect as those strong-smelling substances like pepper and eucalyptus that can keep cats at bay. However, caffeine is toxic for cats, so be careful about the amount of coffee remnants you put and where you put it.
7. Coffee grounds to suppress fungal disease
Coffee grounds are also anti-microbial. Adding them to your garden can suppress fungal disease and stop its growth. While the coffee grounds rot in your garden, fungal diseases such as Fusarium, Sclerotinia, and Pythium cannot take hold.
8. Coffee grounds for acid-loving plants
According to home decor expert, you can use coffee grounds to complement your landscape flora and specifically acid-loving plants. These include hydrangeas, azaleas, blueberries, carrots, and radishes. If you have these plants in your garden, put coffee grounds to boost growth. Spent coffee grounds are less acidic compared to fresh unbrewed coffee grounds.
So, if you have unused coffee grounds that you think you would not end up using at all, give it to your acid-loving plants.
9. Coffee grounds for roses
Roses love coffee bits for fertilizers. Roses can be difficult to grow and maintain, but adding coffee grounds to your garden soil can help boost growth. The 2% nitrogen content of the coffee remnants is beneficial for roses, and it also helps loosen the soil to give your roses more room to grow.
You don’t even have to worry about bugs ruining your roses anymore as the coffee bits act as a bug repellant. Apply the coffee bits on top of your flower bed or you can mix it with water, then pour on your roses once or twice a month.
10. Coffee grounds for the grass
Coffee grounds are also excellent for maintaining and keeping your grass green and lush.
Mix coffee grounds with water and use it to water your grass. Spread the coffee bits onto your grass and make sure it reaches the soil instead of letting it sit on top of your grass.
As you have read, coffee grounds and gardening go together. Next time you have a dose of your favorite cup of joe, keep the coffee bits, and use them for your garden. You can also ask your local coffee shops for used coffee bits. Use them properly with care in an appropriate amount to ensure the best results.
Using coffee grounds instead of disposal - remarks
If you’re anything like the modern man, then coffee grounds are a relatively abundant resource or the least one you supply in small amounts yet on a daily basis, and getting rid of it is the last thing on the efficiency list one could do, especially in your sink disposal, which is a huge mistake. That’s why putting coffee leftovers to use for gardening is the best decision in favor of healthy and sustainable living.
Recycle coffee grounds instead of disposal!
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