On Nov 8, 2:09*pm, Higgs Boson wrote:
There was a long, detailed article today in Dave's Garden about using
coffee grounds to feed one's plants.

Anybody have extensive experience with this? *Mine is limited to
dumping the grounds on Friday (when I make coffee for the gardener)
on *nearby plants, mostly the two side-door plants, Azalea and Hebe,
as well as Roses in m rose path.

My question now relates to long-term, systematic use of coffee grounds
on roses. *I can pick up grounds from coffee shops (as mentioned in
Dave's Garden article), but am looking for your real-world experience.

I live in So. Calif coastal. Soil is/was alkaline (adobe) but has been
modified over many years by me and previous owner, so I think it's
neutral (but should verify just for info).

So, if you're into coffee mulching, would *you pls share your
experience.

Tx

HB

I wouldn't consider used coffee grounds (UGC's) as a fertilizer - they
are just too low in nutrients to be well-considered for this purpose
(NPK = 2.0, .3, .3 approx.). You would probably need to supplement
with something containing trace elements as well as higher
concentrations of the big 3 (NPK). But as a soil amendment or compost
additive, they are great. I would be cautious about using them as a
mulch or very heavily as a mulch. If they are allowed to dry out, the
surface becomes hydrophobic and repels water, which defeats one of the
primary purposes of mulching. They do seem to have the ability to
deter slugs and snails, but studies have shown that may be just the
after-effects of the caffeine - supposedly spraying plants with stale
coffee will have the same effect.

And remember that UGC's are pH neutral or just barely to the acidic
side of the scale and are not of any particular help in lowering soil
pH