What are coffee grounds good for??

[Crazy4Chicks]

I go through ALOT of coffee when the weather is cold - and this morning while making a pot I got to thinking there has to be something that old coffee grounds are good for-- but what??
Can you put them in the garden - use them on my house plants ?? do they keep bugs away ?? they have to be good for something right LOL

Julie

 

[sgtsheart]

I remember my mom putting coffee grounds on her gardenias. She also used pickle juice for some plants. I wish I could remember which.

 

[2468Gardeningisgr8]

You can put them in a composter ..filter and all.....

 

[MeanQueenNadine]

Do NOT use on house plants - they are in a "sterile" environment that doesn't house the proper organisms to properly break the grounds down. For house plants make them tea - regular black tea, they love the tetanic acid. I make a REALLY strong batch and will clean/polish the foliage then dilute it down and water in. Obviously I do not clean/polish certain plants like African violets....

DO USE them in the garden they will help your worm population. I go to Starbucks and pick up extra grounds. They have a corporate policy to put them out for gardeners. They have a bucket that they put them into (in their original packaging with the label "Grounds for Gardeners"). You can just throw it on top like a top dressing or work it in manually, either way. This time of year I would just throw it down and walk away.

By the way, somebody will probably come around and say "watch out for acidity" - this is a fallacy. USED coffee grounds are actually pretty neutral on the PH scale.

HTH
n
edit due to the fact I an not type.....

 

[skeeter9]

I use them around the bases of my rose plants. Just plop some around and kinda work them into the soil a little bit. The roses love them.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

Thank you all for the great advice ! I guess I will brew my house plants some tea ! I told DH about using coffee grounds in the garden - he said it will smell like a coffee house outside LOL He is alittle worried about the chickens scratching around and might eat some of the grounds will it hurt them?? I have not had my chickens long - so this will be my first spring trying to plant flowerbeds and having chickens at the sametime.

Julie

 

[bayouchica]

Hi, my MIL puts our coffee grounds under the azaleas & blueberry bushes.

 

[Nifty]

Fun topic! I need to update my compost page with more info on coffee grounds. I've heard wonderful things about them, but don't know how they compare to other goodies I put in my compost, i.e., if it is worth the hassle of going to the coffee shop (where I never go anyway) to get a bucket of grounds.

 

[Southern Gardener]

I've always composted my coffee grounds and I put them around my roses. (the couple I have left!)

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

well i gave all my houseplants some tea water yesterday - hope they like it and i will start saving my coffee grounds this spring and start adding them to my flowerbeds/compost pile.
does anyone know if coffee grounds keep bugs away? i have the worse grasshoppers around here - this is my first spring planting season in the new place and i saw a ton of grasshoppers when we were moving in. I plan on letting my chickens do most of the work but in areas where they cant go i was wondering if the grounds would keep them away ( grasshoppers ).

Julie