How to use large quantities of coffee grounds in the garden, worm farms & compost bins
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2019
- Coffee grounds are a fantastic resource for the garden, despite what you may have been told, or seen online! I use them regularly to feed my worms, add nitrogen to my compost bins and even as a short term weed suppressant and long term nutritional boost to my garden beds!
Next time you buy a coffee locally - ask what they do with their coffee grounds! They'll be much more useful in your garden than being thrown into a skip bin!
If you enjoy my channel and would like to support future content, please consider subscribing, giving a 'thumbs up' and adding a comment below - even if you just say "Hi 👋"
It helps more than you know with the TH-cam algorithm to increase my channel's exposure & growth.
Also, I now have an Amazon storefront where I share links to assorted tools & equipment I use and recommend. As well, I'll be adding links for various supplies and products used in my videos as time goes on. Even if you purchase something on Amazon totally unrelated after entering through one of my links, it really helps support my channel with a small commission.. and it costs you nothing extra at all! 😊👍
Thanks for watching!
www.amazon.com/shop/theultima... - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
![The Wall Song ร้องข้ามกำแพง | EP.202 | ตั้ม วราวุธ / เบสท์ คำสิงห์ | 18 ก.ค. 67 [1/5]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cwIoA7XHqnE/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m in Perth, the sandy limestone “soil” Loves coffee grounds !
Thanks for watching Reuben! 👍
Loved watching your post thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it Bev, thanks!😊👍
Really nice bro.
I collect about 2 lbs of tea and coffee grounds each morning from our HyVee Deli. Been doing that for about 3 years. What about the excess acid and nitrogen? First of all, the acid is washed out during brewing. I believe that all organic waste releases nitrogen at first before breaking down. Same as the leaves and organic matter in the forests and woodlands. So that doesn't concern me.
This is my first time enjoying your TH-cam channel. Great work! I’m looking forward to more great content from you. Thank you so much for this informative video! I got so much out of it.
Thanks for the encouragement Bonnie! ❤
That was a nice vid. I’ve been collecting my grounds and I think it’s time to start a compost bin.
Thanks Eric! Yep - go for it! 😊
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Great video once again. I was thinking of planting some daffodils and tulips. I've been told the autumn is the best time to plant them. I'm here in Ireland and September is probably the last month of summer so I'll hopefully be planting in a few weeks. (I've never actually done any gardening before but I've been inspired by your channel) Great work 👍👍👍
You'll never know all the great things in life unless you try new things regularly CS - so go for it!
Thanks for the nice comments and I'll look forward to some great pics of your flourishing daffodils & tulips! 😊
@@TheUltimateRecycler, absolutely. Thank you.
I often use coffee cherry skin as coffee fertilizer or coffee parchement skin for fertilizer in my garden
Hello, I am so glad to find your video. I also have large amounts of coffee grounds to use. I have to ask you, have you ever had an area of grounds turn a reddish or pink color? I noticed when applying as you did with a thick layer on top of the bed, it will crust but also there might be an area that turns color. When I break into it, it behaves like a fungus and you can see the wind carry a fine substance off. I am guessing maybe it is a fungus? and maybe it is harmless to me, my garden and anything downwind receiving it? I live in Texas, a warm climate. Have you ever had this experience?
I haven't noticed any colour forming Kim. It may well be a fungus, or mould of some kind and I don't think that will cause any problems. The microbes in the soil, and worms should break it down.. perhaps cover the area with carpet or something and keep it damp. Cheers, Chris
I am thinking to add a few 5 gallon buckets of coffee grounds to condition a new garden bed 11x6ft, mix it up with the existing sandy soil, while also adding composted tree trimmer garden soil, trenching the center with hugelculture method tree branches then planting in it. Would the coffee grounds be ok straight in a new garden bed to use right away mixed with these other ingredients? Thanks so much : )
The coffee grounds would be better being composted or allowing worm activity first if you are planning to plant into the new garden bed straight away. If you aren't going to use the bed for some time, then adding the grounds would be fine 👍
Hey Ultimate, coffee grounds are a great free material for composting. I’ve been collecting grounds for a few years from cafes at my work. So you have success putting down a thick layer of grounds straight into a garden bed, effectively mulching the bed with coffee grounds?
When I place coffee grounds in my worm farm I break and spread it out a bit. Once I laid it down thick and the worms died or disappeared from the bin. So generally I dump coffee grounds straight into my compost bin. I guess I get around ten kilograms of grounds a week.
I am interested in mulching a garden bed with coffee grounds.
Karl, you do have to be careful putting a thick layer of grounds into a small worm farm as it will heat up a little and if the worms can't move away, they will be in trouble! I have read that a thick layer of coffee grounds can inhibit plant growth a little until it breaks down. This is good for weed control in a resting garden, but not quite so good in a plot which you want small plants to flourish. Cheers, Chris
It’s winter now so I’m putting a bit more coffee grounds into my worm farm. It seems to be acceptable for the worms.
I swear I’ve watched this one 🤷🏻♂️.. well let it play 👊🏻
Haha, thanks mate! 👊
@@TheUltimateRecycler thank you 👊🏻
I used to put tea bags in my compost then noticed lots of strips of plastic in my garden soil, which I attributed to the tea bag itself , so now I just use the tea and have noticed a decline of the plastic strips in my soil !
Yes John, many tea bags have a plastic component! I did a comparison video once..
th-cam.com/video/HRptAZrJus4/w-d-xo.html
There has been recently published research that shows that the significant caffeine that remains in spent coffee grounds acts as a germination and growth inhibitor. Plants developed the ability to produce caffeine for the competitive advantage it gives them against other plants (and likely against insects as well). It affects some plants more than others. I was direct applying. My radishes grew pretty well, but 98% of carrots never germinated and the ones that did never made edible carrots. There is a strain of bacteria found in soil that does eventually break down the caffeine. Best to apply direct only if you don't plan to plant for a long time or better yet compost or vermicompost it. I too was upset to find out that coffee grounds weren't quite as great and easy as I had heard.😉 Also, don't worry about the acidity. Coffee's acid is water soluble and ends up in your drink. Spent grounds are very near neutral in pH. 😊
Thanks for your detailed comment Triggerfish. I don't apply my coffee grounds direct to active gardens - always to resting gardens where the slight growth suppressant assists with keeping weeds down. Once the worms get into it, the garden then becomes very active with plant growth! 👍😊 You are correct with the pH of grounds being near neutral.
Cheers, Chris
@@TheUltimateRecycler I noticed that in your video. 😊 👍 Subscribed.
@@Triggerfish70 Thanks! 😊
Hey guys, this article I referenced in a clip I made points to the presence of chlorogenic acid inhibiting growth. I know acids are water soluble so increased use or flushing of grounds is super useful and reduce the need for compost. But thought I'd share the link for reference- or google chlorogenic acid kinki university field evaluation www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1626/pps.17.93&ved=2ahUKEwjs18-CttjwAhX88XMBHYioBbAQFjABegQIBBAC&usg=AOvVaw29cPi4gPOzYQRt-za807qU
Great comments but I would add that unless these studies are peer reviewed scientific studies be cautious of the results. There is a company that targets the high end lawn care and golf course industry. I believe the name is Miramichi Green. One of their products for adding biology to the turf has coffee grounds as a key component. You know for fact that professional greens keepers are not going to apply a product if there’s any chance of failure.
I can see potential issues if applying a large quantity of grounds because the grounds do form a crust but I have never had a plant related issue when peppering the soil with grounds.
I have never tried applying to seeded areas so I am curious
, are you absolutely certain the seed issue is directly related to the grounds and no other factor?
Thanks!
Hello, do you know if flavored coffee grounds are ok to use? Not the kind with dairy or sugar, just with subtle flavoring.
Also, what kind of paper do you use? Im concerned about chemicals leeching into the soil.
I think flavored grounds would be fine, but I haven't actually done any tests on them.
Any modern paper is fine, inks these days are soy based and paper isn't bleached with chlorine products these days - so no nasty chemicals should end up in the soil. Just avoid the heat sensitive receipt paper.
@@TheUltimateRecycler awesome! Thank you !
I get large quantities of coffee grounds and saw dust , would these two components mixed together make for a good compost ?
I reckon they would John! Turning them occasionally to introduce fresh oxygen would help speed up the composting process 👍😊
@@TheUltimateRecycler thanks
6:19 is the white stuff mycelium?
It could be Howard, but not sure. Some type of whitish mold on the coffee grounds from memory..
My friend Charles was applying his coffee grounds and I was talking to him from the coffin, He was a little confused and only heard me say "tea bags" (I was telling him to pick up the tea bags) he ended up plummeting his nuts into the spent grounds repeatedly until further notice... 😰
You really don't want earth against the raw wood siding of your house.
Yep, good point Ben! 👍
im using grounds but found this article what do you think?? curiosity.com/topics/whatever-you-do-dont-put-coffee-grounds-in-your-garden-curiosity/
Dan: I have collected spent coffee grounds (SPG) for years, last year to the tune of 35,000lbs. It is an obsession of mine. The video we just watched is pretty spot on. The link you are asking about I believe is not telling the whole story. The writer of that article is talking about straight SPGs. Yes they will suppress plant growth, worms and I suppose bacteria. Gardners soon learn not to use straight uncomposted SPGs. I have learned never to use them straight and uncomposted, (even on blueberries) unless you are trying to kill an ant hill or keep slugs away.
Proper composting always involves both N rich and C rich components. When these are in balance SPGs are amazing as the N source and the worms go crazy. They love them. If you are just using SPGs the grounds will take a while to breakdown enough before the worms and other critters will take to them. Maybe as long a year. In a pile by themselves they become sticky and anarobic.
Regarding he pH of SPGs. I am skeptical of the 6.5 -6.8 figure that is bandied about. They will compost to that, but raw SPGs are in the low to mid 5 range. There is an article out of Oregon State that is the basis of the 6.5 claim. Not sure where they got the grounds from but I have mine regularly tested by Penn State and the raw grounds are usually in the low 5 range. I get my grounds from 5 or 6 different shops and they all have different moisture levels, colors, cold brew amounts etc. pH is always in the 5s. After composting they elevate to 6.7-7 with 3-4% N and 10:1 C:N ratio. But again that is with leaves, coffee filters and wood chips in the compost mix. Hope this helps.
@@georgebell2773 - Great reply to Dan's question! Thank you 😊
Dan, I've seen that article and it's pretty much been debunked by people who actually work with coffee grounds!
@@TheUltimateRecycler Not a problem TUR. Loving the passion you and your listeners have for this topic.
Those black bags full of grounds from the bakery are similar to what I do here in Pennsylvania (pre COV19). I find that the shop owners appreciate a consistent, reliable pick up with my own clean, bagged buckets as containers. Many of these videos presume that the shop owners are just waiting for an enthusiastic composter to show up to fill some buckets from time to time. My collection shops are so grateful for the pick up service which ends up being more frequent than their regular trash pick up. I also ask them include the filters which makes it easier for them. I then just run the separated filters through a leaf shredder which accelerates their decomposition time and prevents them from blowing around.
@@georgebell2773 Excellent! Let's hope we can get back to some form of normality soon! Stay safe. 🤞
Dig it over…. Why? No dig all the way
Digging introduces more oxygen and helps with breakdown and worm activity. But my back is totally in favour of "no dig" situations! 🤣
Just an FYI, Coffee beans, used grounds and brewed coffee contain caffeine, a very dangerous and toxic chemical to cats and dogs. Ingestion can be life threatening. According to the Pet Poison Helpline, a moderate amount of coffee can easily cause death in small dogs or cats.
My understanding is that used coffee grounds have very little caffeine left and are not even that acidic, which some claim they are. I've never had any problems with animals and caffeine.
M v