I know you can't belive everything you hear but I keep getting different answers on using coffee grounds in your garden. Can you "permies " please give me some feedback on this. I have been collecting used coffee grounds all winter, I just don't know if I should use them and if I do what on and how much?
I have heard that they are acidic so that might be something to take into consideration.
Add the coffee grounds along with leaves, green manure, and wood chips, and there in my opinion would be no problem.
I have been adding them for almost ten years in different parts of my property.
I have also heard that they help with ant problems.
Chris said,
I mean, I know that fresh, unused coffee grounds are acidic enough that if you top an ant hill with them and water them in, the resultant acid coffee will be enough to burn off their little legs, so I imagine that if the grounds are too fresh, only lightly brewed with, that they might negatively affect the microbiome.
He also said they are worm candy:
Chris said, But I know it's worm candy. Personally, I would get a worm bin started and process at least some through there. It would also act as a worm breeder, so that when you empty the coffee-grounds-turned-worm-castings out onto your garden beds, some eggs and small worms will go with it, and they will take care of any fresh coffee ground additions.
I've used coffee grounds for years... I can't say I've personally had any issues with how they affect my plants.
Not sure where you are seeing to not use them or what the reasoning is behind it. I'd be curious to know. I would definitely hesitate to just apply them en masse directly to my garden. I've often thought about talking to local coffee shops about the possibility of taking used grounds for them. If I did that though, I wouldn't just pile them into my garden without doing something to them first (e.g., compost, worms, etc.). My applications are just what I use for my morning coffee each day. Spread out across multiple garden areas, a different area each day. Not sure how many you've saved up, but I recommend spreading them out well.
I guess I can say an issue I had at one point was when our dog was young. She went through a phase where she would try to sniff and lick the coffee grounds we put out. We had to bury them a bit for a few weeks, but luckily she grew out of that habit. If you have pets that shouldn't ingest them, then you might want to look out for that.
If there is a worry that there might be some kind of acidic retention, which I have never experienced personally, I would recommend incorporating the grounds into a composting system. Coffee grounds are AMAZING compost ingredients and I prefer to go that route over direct application to the beds.
Hi Julie,
I will agree with everything that was already said :), good stuff and I use it as a part of compost.
Specific to the acidic issue. Fresh coffee grounds (before they have been used to make coffee), can be a bit acidic. But after they have been used, they tend to be not too far from neutral (around 6.5-6.8 according to a popular search engine). So no issues with acid if you are planning to use spent coffee grounds.
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