[stompy]

Do you have to compost coffee grounds or can they be put down straight away as a mulch?

Where i work they get through alot of coffee and have been told i can have as much of it as i like, so i was thinking of using it as a mulch along with grass cuttings.
Just wondering if it would affect the planst at all?

I was thinking of using it around my squashes as a slug barrier and around carrots and brassicas to detere the root flies and also generally around the perenial plants and trees as a weed supressing mulch?

[arugula]

You can put it straight on the ground.

[stompy]

Bloomin hec,

That was quick argyllie,

My plot will begin smelling like a french caffe as of Saturday 

Thanks

[arugula]

Applied straight on the ground I think it is most effective as a slug barrier. I don't know how good it is at being a mulch...

[stompy]

I don't know how good it is at being a mulch...

Im only thinking of using it as a mulch as i will have so much of it!

I work at a large hospital and the canteen and caffe have 2 machines each, and there is a constant cue for them. (all day)

Result. . . . . lots and lots of coffee grounds.

[arugula]

I don't suppose it will do any harm, but see what others think too.

[hamstergbert]

I save coffee grounds all winter and use them as a slug barrier layer around all my lettuces/salad leaf stuff.  I have no idea if it actually works or why it should or should not - all I can say is that it seems to have some sort of effect and on that basis I just keep doing it year after year.    Of course, it is possible that spreading the coffee grounds around in my veggie beds may eventually mutate into some sort of voodoo ritual with the original anti-slug intention being lost in the mists of antiquity and the process acquiring some sort of mystical spell-like folk magic status!


What doesn't get used like this in the anti-gastropod campaign simply gets chucked into the compost in the normal way.   At the end of the season, what has been used (sometimes built into quite a thick layer) gets dug in along with everything else.

[Dreamer@45]

I use loads of the stuff all around my plot as a soil conditioner with no serious visible adverse effects though when it gets bone dry as a mulch it laterally repels water, just something to watch for.

[stompy]

when it gets bone dry as a mulch it laterally repels water, just something to watch for.

Thanks for that Dreamer, im going to be mixing it with the grass cuttings from the back garden too.

[arugula]

I save coffee grounds all winter and use them as a slug barrier layer around all my lettuces/salad leaf stuff.  I have no idea if it actually works or why it should or should not....

I think it is meant to work due to their slight acidic and abrasive qualities.

[Sweetpea C]

This is great information and the search engine worked too (I usually fail on it!).

[ally]

I had blueberries in pots and I used to mulch with coffee grounds they seemed to like it ..... forgot about the anti slug properties ....

[bravemurphy]

just inquired in work and I can get loads of it I mean loads.

Is it worth getting ?

if I compost it do worms not like it like slugs?

[rowan57]

I think if you used TONS    of coffee grounds you may acidify the soil somewhat, good for blueberries etc.