coffee grounds
 

I was the recipient of a HUGE bag of coffee grounds, about 25 lbs, this
week. Since my garden is a very small balcony I don't have anywhere to
compost. Can I just mulch the pots and empty window boxes, using it as a top
dressing. I went into a cleaning frenzy last weekend and pulled, clipped,
trimmed and spiffed up everything. Filled three large trash bags, this sort
of hurt since I long for a compost bin, oh well. I then filled all my
planters and pots with spring and summer flowering bulbs. It looks very bare
but sure lets a lot more light into the living room. I'm going to be
scouting the nursery nearby for some deep shade perennials on sale that I
can tuck into a few of these planters. I'm trying to figure out a place
for a worm bin. I'm sure it would be too cold outside this winter, even if I
figured out where I could tuck it, but there is NO place inside. I only have
two closets and they are a Rubik's Cube of storage engineering.

Val
http://photos.yahoo.com/valkyriemi

coffee grounds
 

I've been getting Starbuck's used grounds for my plants for a long
time. They do make good mulch but use sparingly. I also find that
they tend to contain flies (maggots) and gnats so you might want to
bake it before spreading it on indoor plants.

Vermicomposting is great indoors. I kept a stack of 5gal rubbermaids
under my kitchen sink without any troubles. To prevent smells, make
sure your brown:green=3:1 by weight. You have to take the whole thing
outside once a month and to pour out the drip tray and let the bottom
tray breath. Worms love coffee grounds. :)

coffee grounds
 

Why would the grounds contain maggots? You must be going to an unusual
Starbucks. I also pick up coffee grounds from Starbucks and either use it
as mulch or in my compost. Never have seen one maggot.

--
Compostman
Washington, DC
USDA Zone 7
"Pen" wrote in message
om...
I've been getting Starbuck's used grounds for my plants for a long
time. They do make good mulch but use sparingly. I also find that
they tend to contain flies (maggots) and gnats so you might want to
bake it before spreading it on indoor plants.

Vermicomposting is great indoors. I kept a stack of 5gal rubbermaids
under my kitchen sink without any troubles. To prevent smells, make
sure your brown:green=3:1 by weight. You have to take the whole thing
outside once a month and to pour out the drip tray and let the bottom
tray breath. Worms love coffee grounds. :)

coffee grounds
 

Same here. Every fall I collect 100 sacks of leaves and 10 pounds of
coffee grounds. Never had that problem in Houston. =


JK


Compostman wrote:
=

Why would the grounds contain maggots? You must be going to an unusual=

Starbucks. I also pick up coffee grounds from Starbucks and either use=
it
as mulch or in my compost. Never have seen one maggot.
=

--
Compostman
Washington, DC
USDA Zone 7
"Pen" wrote in message
om...
I've been getting Starbuck's used grounds for my plants for a long
time. They do make good mulch but use sparingly. I also find that
they tend to contain flies (maggots) and gnats so you might want to
bake it before spreading it on indoor plants.

Vermicomposting is great indoors. I kept a stack of 5gal rubbermaids=

under my kitchen sink without any troubles. To prevent smells, make
sure your brown:green=3D3:1 by weight. You have to take the whole th=
ing
outside once a month and to pour out the drip tray and let the bottom=

tray breath. Worms love coffee grounds. :)

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal