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Have you asked yourself what can you do with your used coffee rather than throwing it? Some cafes collect coffee grounds for gardening. Check out the helpful benefits that you can get from composting coffee grounds.
Using your coffee grounds for gardening is better than throwing it. This can reduce waste that will end up filling the landfill.
Here are some reasons you need to consider in composting coffee grounds:
- It adds organic material to your soil that can improve water retention and aeration in the soil.
- It can be used as fertilizer
“To use coffee grounds as a fertilizer sprinkle them thinly onto your soil, or add them to your compost heap. Despite their color, for the purposes of composting they’re a ‘green’, or nitrogen-rich organic material. Make sure to balance them with enough ‘browns’ – carbon-rich materials such as dried leaves, woody prunings, or newspaper, ” Ann Marie Hendry stated on her website.
“Your compost heap’s tiny munchers and gnawers will process and mix them effectively, so using coffee grounds in this way is widely accepted to be safe and beneficial,” she added.
- It attracts earthworms and other beneficial microorganisms for your plant.
- It has other uses for gardening
Other uses of coffee grounds for gardening
- It can be used for mulching
- If you do vermicomposting, coffee grounds can be a worm food
- Cat repellent. Soil with coffee grounds will keep cats away from using your plant bed as their litter box.
- Using coffee grounds keep snails and slugs away from plants.
“The theory is that the caffeine in the coffee grounds negatively affects these pests and so they avoid soil where the coffee grounds are found,” Heather Rhoades stated.
A study suggested that it is ideal to add the coffee ground to your compost rather than applying it directly to your plants.
Moreover, using fresh coffee grounds can suppress the growth of the weeds around your plants and other fungal pathogens.
Sources:
(1) https://www.growveg.com/guides/a-common-sense-guide-to-using-coffee-grounds-in-the-garden/
(2) https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/coffee-grounds-gardening.htm
