Coffee Grounds

ltrent

13 years ago

What do you do with your used coffee grounds?

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Comments (10)

quidam2
13 years ago
I put them in the compost pile.
oldcrafty
13 years ago
are you thinking something creative can be made with them? As in using them like glitter without the shine....or to embed them in a cement project to give a different finish? Have never tried using them for anything...just toss them in the garbage....BUT there may be possibilities. It will be interesting to see some suggestions.
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The heat in a compost pile is produced by bacterial activity, the more active your bacteria are the more heat is generated and there are at least three different species of bacteria active depending on the temperature, those bacteria that work to get the temperature to 100 degrees stop about there and another species takes over and gets the temperature even higher. The heat is an indication of bacterial activity but it has little do do with the bacteria that function in your soil aiding in disease prevention. Many bacteria, if allowed, will develop immunities, or a means of attacking disease pathogens. You find this happening in your garden as well as in the compost pile, indicating that the heat generated during the digestion process is not required for those immunities to develop. Once again, by the time you get the bleached paper what was used to bleach that paper has been washed out and is no longer in the paper.
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Dog, for most houseplants, you do not need to add anything to the potting soil. I'm sure you added the coffee grounds in an attempt to either give some acidness to the soil or possibly to thwart some bugs that might like to invade the soil....such as soil gnats. If you understand just why your houseplant is advised to use potting soil...and not garden soil, then you will understand that potting soil has everything in it to feed your plant for a time before the need to give outside food. Potting soil is "sterilized" to keep out such bacteria that could harm tender plants....including seedlings. By adding material that may defeat this "clean" mode of the soil, then is going against what you used the potting soil for. And, depending on just how much coffee grounds you gave the surface, such small amount of soil in the pot can easily have its pH taken to maybe too high a point that is not doing the plant any good. Any good houseplant potting soil has already in it what can feed the plant sufficiently in its young age and promotes proper growth. The trick though, is buying what is "good potting soil". There's a lot of garbage out there calling itself potting soil. but adding coffee grounds does not do whatever soil any good. After the plant has used what nutrition the potting soil initially had, then there are countless proper fertilizers on the shelves for our plants.
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Comments (3)
Another way to help trap that nitrogen is to add a little clay. The ammonia smell, I understand, is the nitrogen escaping. The microbes in the soil need a target to fix that nitrogen to and compost doesn't normally provide that unless there is soil mixed in it. A little clay will help your compost save that nitrogen more efficiently and increase the nutrient impact of your end product. This is based on classes I've taken through Growing Power in Milwaukee with an amazing guy named Joel. Hope it helps!
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Comments (42)
@John, the idea of drying was only relevant to trying to get a better sense of the amounts involved (in more precise dry weight terms). Your garden doesn't care much whether it's wet or dry when applied. I would guess it is essentially impossible for a normally-sized household (like, less than a dozen people) to consume so much coffee for it to exceed the amounts identified above as 'too much' for anything but a small plot. And you'd notice because it would be well more than several inches thick. (I'm assuming that any coffee applied outdoors in air will degrade and lose any of the identified negative aspects over a period of a couple of months, because it's obvious. Most households could keep applying their used grounds forever, if the amounts are within reason). I should note, I'm being a bit lazy in terms of math. If you're worried I'm wrong in doing no math whatsoever, spread it out a bit more. Seriously, this is a silly thing to worry about (IMHO). Common sense.
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sorie6 zone 6b
13 years ago
Compost!! I also just throw them in the garden or on the grass the worms love coffee grounds.
kellied
13 years ago
Compost, topdress acid-loving plants such as rhodies and blueberries, sprinkle them in garden areas where the cats like to go as it deters them. Rake into the lawn.

My niece gave me 40 pounds of used grounds for Christmas one year. Loved it!!
concretenprimroses
13 years ago
What a riot about your niece kellied!
Now you make me think I should collect any of my nieghbors' who don't have compost. It is wonderful for the compost, and I didn't know about it deterring cats.
Has anyone put them in concrete? I'm wondering if it would make a nice color.
Kathy
toomuchglass
13 years ago
I didn't know you could just sprinkle them on the lawn .We go through tons of coffee .I might have to start
recycling the grounds .
kellied
13 years ago
The earthworms love them. I also broadcast them under my evergreen trees, till them into the veggie garden (they are chock full of nutrients).

Starbucks bags and gives away their used grounds to anyone who wants them.
quidam2
13 years ago
Thanks ltrent for the question. It got me thinking about what I could do artistically with coffee grounds and I did a small trial.

I put wood glue on a small piece of a pine block I had, put the coffee grounds on it, and then spray painted it with two coats. I can see the potential there for some fun stuff. I am looking for a project to do with it.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}
toomuchglass
13 years ago
great texture. There's a bunch of possibilities there !
organizedsarah
13 years ago
My daughter has a lovely, thriving worm colony creating beautiful castings for her. We often toss coffee grounds into the vermicompost bin and you can practically see the worms SALUTE! They just love 'em!

I also put them by the bucket full on my compost pile (I get them from a local espresso stand). They're filled with nutrients and are a great addition to my compost.

Rhododendrons are our state flower and I have several big Rhody's in my yard which also LOVE the acid from coffee grounds!

My daughter also puts dried, used coffee grounds in bags and makes "tea bags" as gifts for friends...they use them to brew up tea for watering their roses. (She also puts worm castings in similar bags as gifts for her gardening buddies to make worm tea.)

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Coffee Grounds

Comments (10)

quidam2

oldcrafty

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sorie6 zone 6b

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