Chemicals are not good for your soil, most people want to provide nutrients to their plants by using natural resources. It looks a little crazy that you are using household material to make fertilizer or compost for making your grass greener.
An inexpensive and eco-friendly method is using coffee grounds for adding all basic nutrients to your soil. The magic of the coffee grounds provides benefits to your plants. The color of the flowers will improve by the addition of these in soil. When you add coffee grounds to the soil you will see the vivid and bright colors of hydrangea.
It can be used in making compost, you can’t deny the benefit of these leftover coffee grounds. In gardening, these coffee grounds are just like a treasure of nutrients that have protein, nitrogen, fatty acids, and essential oils. There are many advantages, we will discuss them one by one.
1- COFFEE GROUNDS AS COMPOST
Coffee grounds are added to those things that would generally be thrown away. You can add them to your compost pile as they are a good source of nitrogen to your compost pile. Always try to make a balance between composting material.
Green material which includes grass clippings and the vegetable peel will provide high nitrogen while brown material ( leaves, paper, eggshells, and cardboard) is a good source of carbon. The best recipe for making compost is a third of fresh grass, a third of leaves, and a third of these leftover coffee grounds. In this way, you will get the best quality of compost for your garden soil.
2- COFFEE GROUNDS AS FERTILIZER
Natural and cheap way to provide a large number of nutrients to your soil. The first question that arises in your mind is how to use them as fertilizer. Firstly, you should have a bag full of coffee grounds and a bag of topsoil.
Now start mixing the grounds and topsoil to make a potting mixture. Now your fertilizer is ready you just Sprinkle it on the top of your raised bed or in-ground but soil. it is an important thing that the layer of your fertilizer should not be thicker than half an inch.
If you do so then water is not able to get through into the soil. With the help of a fork or rake, you can mix this coffee fertilizer with the top layer of your flower bed.
You can use another way which is adding them directly to your garden soil. Before adding it, first, you should see the reaction of your plants. For this purpose, you should add a tablespoon of grounds once in a week and check the changes in your plants, if it suits your plants then you can increase the amount or frequency of adding. nitrogen phosphorus and potassium which are present on the grounds can easily be absorbed by the plants.
Another way of making the best fertilizer for your plants is by mixing leftover grounds with eggshells. This will create a perfect and rich fertilizer for the healthy growth of your plants.
3- COFFEE GROUNDS AS MULCH
If you start mulching with straws and other organic material, you have to gather them in large quantities. But when we talk about free coffee grounds you will face no difficulty when mulching with them but sometimes disastrous effects can be seen on plants by using coffee grounds.
Caffeine, which is the main component of coffee, suppresses the growth of plants. Another reason for not using coffee grounds alone for mulching is the presence of very fine particles that resist water penetration.
Try to spread half an inch on the top of your soil. After this, you can add another layer of mulch of organic material such as wood chips. The addition of high nitrogen the temperature of the soil will be increased which helps seeds to develop quickly and their germination will become easier.
4- USING COFFEE AS PESTICIDES OR INSECTICIDES
Pests are one of the major problems for plants. You can’t see that bugs and insects are destroying your plants. You should do something to keep unwanted pests out of your garden.
If you buy commercial pesticides for solving your problem, it is full of chemicals that are not good for your plants and even for your health. Coffee grounds help you to repel ants and slugs away from your plants.
5- USE COFFEE GROUNDS TO SURPASS FUNGAL DISEASE
Fungal diseases like fusarium, lithium, and sclerotinia destroy your plants. Organic materials when rots in your garden’s soil then they will help to stop fungal diseases. If you add coffee grounds for making compost, it will help you to prevent your plants from spreading fungal diseases. The black material in your soil will help to affect dangerous bugs like E.Coli and Staphylococcus.
6- COFFEE GROUNDS AS SOIL AMENDMENT
Add half an inch layer of moist coffee grounds on the top of the soil of your flower beds. After spreading the layer of coffee grounds, you will add nitrogen fertilizer so the decomposition of coffee grounds will be increased in the presence of nitrogen fertilizer and your plants will get more nutrients.
The mixing of coffee grounds and fertilizers can be done with the help of a pitchfork or shovel. You must be careful and don’t leave the coffee grounds on the top of the soil because it will block the water and the soil will face difficulty in absorbing water.
WHEN NOT TO USE THEM IN YOUR GARDEN?
Caffeine is not good for your pets, especially for cats. It is very toxic to cats. If you have pets like cats and dogs then you should be careful while using leftover coffee grounds in your soil. You should add a little number of coffee grounds with compost so your pet will be safe.
WHICH PLANTS LOVE THE BLACK WASTE?
Coffee Grounds can be used as a fertilizer for many plants and shrubs but some plants react better than others. The addition of coffee Grounds will improve the texture of the soil as well as the drainage ability of the soil of your garden. Coffee grounds are a good treasure of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus which is very essential for the growth of any plant.
Coffee grounds attract earthworms which will help to boost the soil and repel the slugs which destroy your plants. Make an even mixture of compost or topsoil with leftover coffee grounds to increase the production of your vegetables.
Plants that like nitrogen feel happy when you add coffee grounds to the soil. Tomatoes, corn, spinach, leafy vegetables, roses, camellias, rhododendrons, and azaleas are included in the list of plants that thrive well in the presence of nitrogen.
Every gardener has a dream to boost his crops, by using natural organic waste you can achieve the goal of healthy plants very easily. Another benefit of using natural organic waste is that your food will be chemical and pesticide-free.
THE MISCONCEPTION ABOUT COFFEE GROUNDS
People are much confused about the acidity of the coffee grounds. First, we should understand the pH number of different materials. The pH number shows the nature of any material is acidic or alkaline,7 is a neutral number and the number below the seven shows acidic characteristics while above are alkaline in nature.
The pH of unused coffee grounds is acidic which is 5. The pH of used coffee grounds will become 6.5 or 6.8 which is near to neutral number 7. It is important to know that the hot water will reduce the acidity of coffee grounds.
CONCLUSION
All the benefits of coffee grounds and precautions about using it discussed in detail. Hopefully, this article will guide you for making the best lawn fertilizer and compost for your garden soil. This is a very cheap way to make fertilizer for your plants and the tips are very valuable for you.