Coffee For Garden Use: Here's a Helpful Summary of Everything You Need to Know! 

If you brew coffee every day, you can get more than just an antioxidant and energy boost out of your ground coffee beans. Instead of throwing away those used grounds, you can implement them in the garden! Whether you want to boost the health of your potted plants, create richer compost, or help a new garden drive, coffee grounds can be a fantastic option. Here, we will go over what you need to know about coffee for garden health and how to use those spent coffee grounds to grow thriving plants!

Natural Organic Coffees: The Best Coffee for Gardening (and Drinking)

Before you can get started gardening with coffee, you will need some delicious coffee to brew! OneGreatCoffee.Com’s natural organic coffees not only taste great, but many have varying levels of all-natural alkalinity or acidity, making the grounds perfect for many different types of plants.

How to Add Coffee to the Garden

Composted and used coffee grounds can be directly added to the soil in your garden or even to the top layer of soil in a potted plant. Grounds can be either raked into the top inch of soil or sprinkled on top. 

• Be sure to evenly distribute the grounds instead of allowing them to pile up in small areas. 
• Spread a thin layer of used coffee grounds throughout the soil where you will be growing plants, or near plants that are already sprouting. 
• Allow the nutrients and nitrogen-rich properties of coffee grounds to go to work for you! 

Why Does Coffee Help in the Garden?

Coffee grounds are rich in all sorts of nutrients, particularly, nitrogen. Coffee grounds also have other nutrients and trace minerals including potassium and phosphorus. As such, adding coffee grounds to your garden or compost pile can be very beneficial. 

How to Use Coffee Grounds for Compost 

The first thing to know when adding coffee to your garden or compost pile is to use coffee grounds, not whole beans. Though whole beans won't do any damage, grounds tend to break down easier and offer more benefits in the composting process.

Will the acidity of coffee impact compost? 

While coffee grounds can be slightly acidic, in small amounts, they will not disrupt or interfere with the pH of your compost pile or its breakdown process. 

Using Coffee Grounds to Help Your Plants: Composting and Gardening FAQs

Used coffee can be directly added to the soil of your garden or certain potted plants as a fertilizer option. Not only are coffee grounds rich in nitrogen, but they also have many other nutrients that can be beneficial for growing plants. Here are a few frequently asked questions on the topic of adding coffee to your garden. 

Can you put coffee grounds in soil?

Yes, coffee grounds can be added directly to the soil as a fertilizer option. Still, some people prefer to compost used coffee grounds first. It all depends on the pH and acidity you are trying to achieve in your garden. 

How to make coffee ground compost? 

If you want first to compost your coffee grounds before adding them to the soil, layer three parts of clippings, organic plant matter, or leaves by volume with one part of coffee grounds by volume. Coffee filters can be thrown in, as they’re made of a thin kind of paper, which is compostable! Turn the compost once a week and monitor for moisture. This coffee ground compost will be ready in 3 to 6 months. 

What types of plants are coffee grounds good for? 

Coffee grounds can be phenomenal for plants that thrive in acidic or slightly acidic soils. These include hydrangeas, blueberries, azaleas, roses, and rhododendrons! Some vegetable crops that can benefit from used coffee grounds include peppers, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, radishes, tomatoes, and beans. Jade plants and African Violets as well as snake plants and Christmas cactuses may also benefit from coffee grounds in the soil. Essentially, any type of plant that likes acidic soil will do well with some added coffee grounds or a rich coffee ground compost! 

What kinds of plants don't like, or should not be sprinkled with, used coffee grounds?

Certain plants don't do well when the acidity of coffee intermingles with their very alkaline soil. Lilacs and lavender, for example, can be harmed by even slight acidity levels in soil. The caffeine in coffee grounds may also be harmful to geraniums. Before adding coffee (especially cheap high-acidity coffee grounds) to your soil, it is important to determine the proper soil pH level for the plants you are trying to grow to avoid frustrating mistakes. 

How can coffee help my garden?

Coffee helps certain garden plants because it contains lots of nitrogen and can balance alkalinity with its acidity. Coffee grounds can also be used for composting! 

Can I use coffee for my plants? 

Yes! Coffee grounds, and brewed coffee, are a great source of nitrogen for plants. They can produce lustrous and healthy green growth and stronger stems. Additionally, coffee contains magnesium and calcium, both of which can be beneficial to the health of your plants. If you want to use coffee as a fertilizer, you can dilute it in a composting pile. Just be careful not to add highly acidic coffee to alkaline-loving plants like lilacs or peonies. Peppers, hydrangeas, blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons, and roses, however, love coffee! 

Will decaf coffee grounds still work for a garden?

Not everybody likes the caffeine of coffee. Many of us decaf drinkers wonder whether we can add decaffeinated coffee grounds to our gardens. The answer is yes! It doesn't matter if your coffee is regular or decaf, it still contains lots of nutrients like calcium and magnesium. Not to mention, coffee can have the perfect acidity levels for some plants and offers plenty of nitrogen! 

To add decaffeinated coffee to your plants, just use brewed coffee grounds and add them directly to the top layer of soil or make them into compost. Some plants can even handle coffee that hasn't been brewed yet. 

Can you put coffee grounds in flower pots?

Again, yes. Coffee grounds mixed with soil can be very helpful for improving the structure and water retention abilities of the soil, even in potted plants. Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen and can be fantastic for making potted plant compost as well! 

Can you use coffee grounds for slugs and garden pests?

Absolutely! The caffeine in coffee is toxic to both snails and slugs. To use coffee to deter slugs and snails in your garden, simply brew an extra strong pot of coffee and let it cool. Then, pour it into a spray bottle and liberally coat the leaves of plants and soil around your garden, taking care to target areas where slugs or snails are likely to converge. You can also use the coffee grounds from this in your compost or sprinkle them in the top layer of soil for a nitrogen boost! 

Can coffee beans be planted?

Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee cherries, meaning if unprocessed and not yet roasted, they can be planted. However, remember that coffee beans can only be planted and expected to grow if they have not yet been processed. So, yes, you can plant a fresh green coffee bean that has not yet been roasted or processed. If coffee beans have been roasted, planting them won't do you much good. Instead, grind them and make delicious coffee!

Coffee for Plants: Final Thoughts and Considerations

So there you have it, now you know all sorts of things about using coffee to help your plants grow and thrive. If you are looking for a coffee with a higher acidity level so that you can use the grounds for acid-loving plants like blueberries or cherry tomatoes, check out this fine acidity naturally organic Mexican Spirit of the Aztec coffee or this smooth, brighter acidity Panama Coffee!