[Mum2mj]

So after coming home with a bagful of coffee grounds and feeling pleased with myself I came a cross this article by James Wong https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/23/coffee-grounds-are-not-good-for-plants-its-a-myth?client=safari
I would be interested to hear peoples thought on it 

[mumofstig]

Add it to the compost heap, mixed with paper or cardboard - I don't know of anyone that adds fresh coffee grounds direct to the soil where plants are growing   

[jambop]

Add it to the compost heap, mixed with paper or cardboard - I don't know of anyone that adds fresh coffee grounds direct to the soil where plants are growing   

I do never had a problem... mind you if you don't keep giving them their grounds once a day they get very narky

[AussieInFrance]

Hi Re coffee grounds. I add (by way of sprinkling lightly across the surface of the potager) a 10L bucketful each week, courtesy of the local bar. On reading the article, i was inclined to think it may have been added a little thickly, which could have resulted in a dry surface crust. As he said, not exactly a properly controlled experiment. As in everyone's experience, i"m sure, if you watch enough Utube you'll find contradiction on a grand scale. What i read doesn't cause me to question the practice i've adopted, either in terms of quantity nor frequency.

Coffee is a legume, therefore adds nitrogen as legumes do. I add a few handfuls to the composts bins as well as to each of my 7 worm farm trays. I don't use any artificial fertilizers to my garden at all, relying on leaf mould and compost, with the resultant microbial and fungal networks, to feed my soil. It works.

I don't rely on coffee as the only soil additive, but i value it nonetheless. My driving gardening principal is to feed the soil and the vegetables will look after themselves. They know what they need to do and they're usually gung-ho to get on with the job. I see it as my responsibility to provide them with the best possible conditions i can muster.

PS LOL Jambop. I know the feeling!

[Mum2mj]

Thankyou all I feel much better now 

[Featherstone]

I add coffee (a few times a year) to my acid lovers and they don't complain. They picked up so much when I started doing it.

[Mum2mj]

I add coffee (a few times a year) to my acid lovers and they don't complain. They picked up so much when I started doing it.

Thanks that's good to know I'll add some to my blueberries 

[Puenktchen]

As long as coffee ground is only spread very thinly over the soil and only occasionally (not every day as James Wong did) it should be fine. Avoid thick layers of it as it will inhibit growth then. I add coffee ground to my allotment for over a year now, just sprinkling it over the beds like a fertiliser. Everything grows very well, big healthy plants. I also use it to repel slugs by applying a layer of coffee ground around vulnerable plants. It works as slugs normally don`t like to crawl over it.

[8doubles]

Not a fan of Mr Wong , he is prone to contradicting himself and most of his advice is far from practical.


Oh yeah, also never believe anything you read in the Guardian !

[Mum2mj]

Not a fan of Mr Wong , he is prone to contradicting himself and most of his advice is far from practical.


Oh yeah, also never believe anything you read in the Guardian !

  I'll keep that in mind thanks!

[Mum2mj]

As long as coffee ground is only spread very thinly over the soil and only occasionally (not every day as James Wong did) it should be fine. Avoid thick layers of it as it will inhibit growth then. I add coffee ground to my allotment for over a year now, just sprinkling it over the beds like a fertiliser. Everything grows very well, big healthy plants. I also use it to repel slugs by applying a layer of coffee ground around vulnerable plants. It works as slugs normally don`t like to crawl over it.

Thanks i heard it was a good help to keep slugs away, I might add it with crushed egg shells

[JayG]

Lots of info out there ont tinterweb, some of it quite contradictory! 

As far as I can make out, coffee grounds are only slightly acidic (most of the acid is extracted into the coffee  ), and as with most organic materials, including dried chicken poo, nearly all the nitrogen is bound up in insoluble organic compounds, which in practice means it could temporarily deprive your soil of available nitrogen if used in large quantities.

Worth using though if you're aware of its limitations, and much better than chucking it in your general waste bin of course.

[3759allen]

i add coffee and tea grounds to my blueberies, i know a lot of people say the grounds are so marginally acidic it's not worth bothering with but i think it gives them some goodness with out reducing the acidity too much.