Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Used Coffee grounds uses

CompleterookieCompleterookie Posts: 130
in Problem solving
Somebody has given me a bag of used coffee grounds from a major coffee retailer. I do not make my own compost and I'm not intending to. Is it worth me using the used coffee grounds in the garden some how, if so how? or should I dispose of them?
Thanks in advance for any help 
«1

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    It's a myth that coffee grounds benefit plants.
    They contain growth retardants that may be detrimental to some plants.

    Best use is on the compost heap, but as that's something you don't intend to do, either throw them away or scatter thinly on the garden.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    There’s loads of advice on the internet about uses for coffee grounds in the garden. It’s almost all cobblers. If you can’t compost them I would bin them.
    Rutland, England
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Give them to someone with a compost heap to mix in.
  • clematisdorsetclematisdorset Posts: 1,348
    I can concur that coffee grounds are best not used around plants. I followed dodgy internet advice before I knew better and killed a potted hydrangea (accidentally) after plying it  with used coffee grounds on the top of the soil. I had been reading that this would help turn the flowers from pink to more of a blue...utter tosh!
    Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus 
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Some years ago I had a similar consignment of such material, repeated over several months.  I took them home and spread them on the veg patch where I planted my onion sets in them.  I had a great crop.  One benefit of dark additives to soil is that they warm it by absorbing natural warmth, unlike light clays etc.  Sorry to disagree.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    If you have roses in your garden it's very good for them, and earthworms are quickly drawn to it.  Best to blend it in rather than a thick mulch, which can form a mat, however it's easily broken up.   I use tea in the same way along with chopped banana peels.
    It can cause a temporary depletion of nitrogen in the soil but during winter I wouldn't worry about that.  During Spring/Summer I would apply some fertilizer beforehand.

    This is from what I understand, I don't use coffee grounds myself but know others who do, so it's what I've learnt from them.   I use tea instead. It doesn't do any harm to roses, I can't vouch for other plants.

    https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/maintain-the-garden/coffee-grounds-for-plants/
    East Anglia, England
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    The science doesn't support the use of coffee grounds.
    An article in June this year in New Scientist explains why.
    I can't copy/paste the article for copyright reasons.
    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25834430-900-why-used-coffee-grounds-may-be-doing-your-plants-more-harm-than-good/

    A small extract-
     So effective is caffeine at suppressing plant growth, it has been investigated as a potential novel herbicide for agricultural use, both in the form of direct application of coffee grounds on farms in Brazil and even tea leaves (which also contain caffeine) on plantations in Vietnam.

    But in a nutshell - caffeine (and other compounds within coffee grounds) suppresses plant growth and seed germination significantly.
    Coffee plants produce caffeine not primarily for our enjoyment, but as herbicide to suppress the growth of other plants - known as allelopathy.
    After many years the build-up of caffeine can even suppress the growth of coffee plants.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Since most of the caffeine is extracted in the brewing process, I can’t see any harm in a one-off sprinkling of it thinly on beds and lightly forking it in. It’s all organic matter and better than just chucking it out, surely? I can see it might be problematic for young seedlings or if you pile it on thickly around the roots of a plant.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    ^Yes I agree, I can't imagine there being much caffeine left, so not something I would worry about where roses are concerned..

    I use tea all the time, my roses are not dead yet.

    The article is also by gardener James Wong, who writes for profit and we see on t.v. a lot.  I find he dramatises rather too much for my taste.
    East Anglia, England
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Caffeine content in used coffee grounds can still be high, often higher than in instant coffee, so it is quite conceivable that they have significant herbicidal effects.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Sign In or Register to comment.