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composting

Coffee Chaff

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posted 11 years ago

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I am trying to find the carbon nitrogen ratio of coffee chaff. I have been googling around, I read it is the same as the grounds and I read it is similar to leaves. Obviously one is incorrect. Does anyone have a reference to what it actually is?

Leila Rich

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Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Temperate, coastal, sandy, windy,

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posted 11 years ago

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I have no idea, but the vast majority of (totally unreliable...) internet chatter says it's high in N.

nustada adatsun

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posted 11 years ago

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Thanks.

Because of the high temperature of roasting, I am suspecting at the moment that it might be close to charcoal, but obviously different because it has water slicking properties. I will have to look into how they get these numbers. I found a roaster who will give me some, but they are an hour away and only open during my busiest working hours, so it will be hard to get any in.

garrett lacey

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Location: Edmonton Alberta

posted 11 years ago

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Ive been composting some from a local roaster for a while now, treating them as browns. Seems to be working out!

Ryan Harp

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This seemed to be the best thread to ask this question... I've been collecting spent coffee grounds for the past few weeks at work. The only place to keep them is under a sink in a cabinet and due to a lack of air flow they are starting to get a bit of white mold. Anyone see a problem with this? My plan is to fill up a 2 gallon bucket (half way there) and take it home to mix with my shredded leaf pile that's a bit over cubic yard of material. I assume the mold won't be a problem but thought I'd check to see if anyone had any insight.

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Craig Dobbson

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Location: Maine (zone 5)

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posted 11 years ago

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Ryan Harp wrote:This seemed to be the best thread to ask this question... I've been collecting spent coffee grounds for the past few weeks at work. The only place to keep them is under a sink in a cabinet and due to a lack of air flow they are starting to get a bit of white mold. Anyone see a problem with this? My plan is to fill up a 2 gallon bucket (half way there) and take it home to mix with my shredded leaf pile that's a bit over cubic yard of material. I assume the mold won't be a problem but thought I'd check to see if anyone had any insight.

I don't think it will make a difference in the compost. If you intend to keep them moist in a dark space til you have enough, I would expect that the mold mights spread to other unwanted places or just start to make a stink.

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R Scott

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Location: Kansas Zone 6a

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posted 11 years ago

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Shouldn't be a problem for the compost--but it is a problem for the cabinet at work.

Can you downsize your container to something you can transport every day or two? Once it starts to stink or transfer mold to the cabinet, you will be in trouble.

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Chris Kott

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posted 11 years ago

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I transport all my work compostables, including coffee grounds, in coffee tins with snap lids. Even the cardboard ones work, at least once, until they soak through, but that usually doesn't happen. One coffee tin usually lasts a whole week, and we buy them in the tins, so I just empty them and recycle the tins, unless I need them.

I have also had great success, accidentally last winter, in anaerobic decomposition of excess compost. I had too many mostly greens (the grounds are browns, but I usually have too much veg), so I stockpiled for a few months until the snow melted and I cleaned up the rest of the fallen leaves. I had amazing compost in not much more than a week.

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Ryan Harp

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Great info everyone, I think I'll upgrade to the salable tin can so I won't have to worry about any spreading mold. That was embarrassingly simple!

Thanks All
Ryan

Ryan Harp

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