Last Updated on July 30, 2022 by Griselda M.
Are you wondering about adding coffee in plants’ growth cycles and the benefits they bring? We have all heard of using coffee in plants for fertilizer and soil amendment. Coffee can be used as a soil amendment in various ways, so, let’s go over most of them below.
Is Coffee Good For Plants?
Coffee beans contain high levels of vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, and fiber, and are thought to be a good source of minerals. The beans also encourage the growth of various mushrooms – I know this because I actually grow shiitake, oyster, pink oyster, and a few others on coffee grounds. If you have healthy soil fungi, you have healthy plants.
There is some mythology on the internet suggesting that caffeine, a natural stimulant present in coffee, can increase the number of photosynthetic cells and the rate at which they absorb nutrients. I found that there are quite a few papers that suggest some inhibition, and some suggest some benefit. This is a nice article that shows that at low doses, caffeine has some sort of beneficial effects, and at high doses the reverse.
The high amount of antioxidants found in coffee may also have an impact on plant growth and development, as well as protecting against diseases. Some studies have even shown that coffee may be able to promote plant growth and reduce the risk of disease and pests. Slugs and snails definitely respond negatively to coffee grounds.
The Benefits Of Using Coffee In Your Garden
Caffeine is an alkaloid poison produced by the coffee plant to protect its seeds from among other pests, Weavil beetles. The benefits of using coffee in your garden are many and varied. The first of these is that it can help prevent certain beetles. When you put it around the base of your plants, it will attract beneficial insects to help protect your precious greens.
Secondly, if you are looking to increase the nutrient content of your soil, then coffee is a great option because it contains nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and other micronutrients. It also contains trace elements such as manganese, iron, copper, and zinc. These are the nutrients your plants need most.
Thirdly, you can also use coffee to improve the health of your soil by adding them as mulch. Mulching can help prevent the loss of nutrients, while also keeping weeds under control. If you want to increase your plants’ ability to absorb water, coffee makes a great addition.
Lastly, you can add a tablespoon or two to your garden bed, and it will help retain moisture in the soil. Your plants will have better access to essential nutrients by absorbing excess water.
Can You Add Coffee Directly To Soil?
You probably already know that coffee is a great way to keep weeds down and promote growth. Adding ground coffee in plants and the benefits they bring are pretty well-established. But have you ever tried adding coffee directly to your soil?
If you have healthy soil with a lot of organic matter, this soil will easily absorb a few inches of coffee grounds. I have done this in the past, and found that it causes a major bloom in soil fungi, and, interestingly enough, the most wriggly earthworms you have ever seen!
Should I Use Coffee Grounds As Fertilizer For Indoor Plants?
You can use coffee grounds as fertilizer if you keep the water levels in the container such that the soil is moist, but not soggy. The coffee grounds will degrade and use a lot of oxygen if the soil is too moist, and this can in turn damage your plant’s roots.
Final Words On Coffee In Plants And The Benefits They Bring
I speak to a few local coffee houses in town and provide them with buckets with lids. They fill these buckets and send me a message when there are five full buckets. I fetch these and replace the full buckets with five empty buckets.
If you buy a few mushroom kits such as these you will find you can fruit them and get some mushrooms and then take the spent kits and mix them into your coffee grounds and soil. You should get mushrooms growing in your garden as a result, and the mushrooms help to convert the coffee grounds into useful nutrients for your plants at a high speed.
FAQ
Will coffee hurt plants?
According to a study by researchers at the University of Florida, coffee can be a beneficial soil additive if you mix the grounds in with soil. Researchers found that coffee grounds added to soil increased the number of roots produced by plants. This means that the plants could absorb more nutrients and water. Various studies show similar and dissimilar results around the world - my advice is just to add the grounds in moderation.
Water plants with coffee
Some friends of mine do this every now and then to control pests. The coffee (they boil old coffee grounds) is a deterrent to many pests as caffeine is actually a toxic alkaloid that has a bad effect on the nervous system of insects and slugs.
How to use coffee grounds in plants?
Vegetables that prefer acidic soil benefit from the addition of coffee grounds. You should choose crops like lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and so on. I find my banana trees love coffee grounds, as do guava trees. I have also found that my fern plants seem to benefit from having composted coffee grounds added to their rhizomes in a thing layer.
Find more information about Coffee For Plants – Viable Growth Booster Or Internet Myth?
Branko is the world‘s most enthusiastic gardener! He is always on the hunt for the perfect flower, bush or tree to add to his ever–growing garden. He is known for his love of all things green, and his passion for nurturing the plants he grows is unmatched. He loves to get his hands dirty and can often be found humbly tending to his garden at all hours of the day. Branko is the go–to guy when it comes to gardening advice – he is always happy to share his knowledge and wisdom with anyone who will listen. He also loves to play pranks on unsuspecting visitors, so beware if you enter his garden!
