"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "George.com" contains these words:

. The amount of caffine in spent grounds was
interesting though. Nothing I have yet read says that the residual
caffine
in the grounds is overly toxic. It seems annecdotally that worms love
it.
The acidity of the grounds is something of note. I think I may be
testing
the ph on the finished compost to see how it comes out. I have also
spread
some grounds across a patch of earth with little worm activity to see
how
what effect it has. The grounds are free so not costing me anything
(except
time) to have a play around.

I should think coffee grounds would make a great biodegradeable
mulch to suppress weeds and hold soil moisture, between crop rows.
Have you tried that?

yes, but I have mixed it with saw dust to keep grass down around some
shrubs. It seems to be doing the job ok. I can also use it under a hedge. I
did think that once dried it could also be applied to the lawn as per other
fertilisers as a nitrogen dressing. I haven't detected any side effects of
it yet though the acidity factor is something to keep an eye on. I guess
that amounts to how much is used and in what conditions. Arguably however
every day high salt fertilisers do more damage to soils yet they get applied
so I am not too worried. A dusting of lime in with the grounds should do if
using it heavily as a mulch, or a ph test every so often. In compost a good
balance of other elements should balance out any slight acidity.

rob