The Gardener’s Wisdom: Using Coffee Grounds with Precision
The gardener told me not to use coffee grounds on all plants, but only on these.
The Wonders of Coffee Grounds in Gardening
Coffee grounds enjoy great renown among gardening enthusiasts for being entirely natural, serving as organic fertilizer and ensuring proper soil aeration. Rich in nitrogen, a vital mineral for plant growth stimulating leaf and flower production, they also combat moisture by absorbing excess water vapor.
Their intense aroma acts as a natural pest repellent. However, they cannot be buried or added to soil indiscriminately! Not all greenery benefits from the properties of this fine, compact, and nutrient-rich powder. Some may even risk suffering from an excess of micronutrients, which visibly harms their health.
Let’s learn how to use them correctly and allocate them to truly promote the development of our plants. The first thing to always do is not to use them fresh, just extracted from the moka. Let them rest to avoid excessively raising the acidity level. And then, carefully choose where to bury them.
Coffee Grounds: Beneficial and Harmful to Which Plants
Coffee grounds raise the acidity level of the soil, benefiting acid-loving plants. Among these, let’s specifically mention:
- Blueberries,
- Blackberries,
- Raspberries,
- Potatoes,
- Carrots,
- Parsley,
- Cucumbers,
- Zucchinis,
- Pumpkins,
- Eggplants,
- Rhubarb,
- Turnips.
If we want to aid our aromatic plants, let’s use them only on:
- Basil,
- Parsley,
- Garlic,
- Pepper.
The flowers that respond best to a treatment with coffee grounds are:
- Lilies,
- Hydrangeas,
- Mimosas,
- Azaleas,
- Magnolias.
Trees that prefer their use include:
- Maple,
- Fir,
- Birch.
However, to activate them correctly, we must accompany them with decalcified water. To obtain it, we can let tap water sit for a day or use rainwater.
Never use coffee grounds to fertilize non-acidic soils: they harm sunflowers, radishes, broccoli, and tomatoes, for example.
And now that we know how to proceed, our vegetable gardens, gardens, and terraces will flourish more than ever!
