Your Hibiscus Plants Thrive With The Help Of This Leftover Kitchen Staple

Are you always on the lookout for natural ways to help your hibiscus plants thrive in the garden? There are around 300 different species of hibiscus from tropical varieties to hardy shrubs, and these all require slightly different growing conditions. Depending on where you live, you should be able to find a few varieties that you can grow in your garden. If you're not sure about the difference between hardy and tropical hibiscus and which ones you should grow, you should know that the hardy varieties will tolerate colder temperatures while tropical ones prefer the warmth. Regardless, hibiscus is one of those shrubs pollinators especially love for their massive blooms. To help yours thrive, you can use a popular leftover kitchen staple — like coffee grounds — for a little added nutrition and excellent soil health.

There's nothing quite like that smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning to start your day with a lift. But don't waste those used coffee grounds by throwing them in the trash. These to-be-discarded leftovers will do wonders for your garden by helping to improve the soil and feed all the organisms that live there. In fact, your hibiscus plants will really appreciate a sprinkling of coffee grounds on the soil around the base of the plants, as long as you apply the grounds correctly and sparingly. Most importantly, you want to avoid one rookie mistake when using coffee grounds in the garden by making sure that you only use leftover brewed grounds and never fresh ones.

In general, hibiscus plants like plenty of sunshine and nutrients to encourage strong growth and plenty of lovely blooms. For example, tropical hibiscus varieties prefer a regular feed of phosphorus during the warmer months to grow more blooms. They also need iron, which is one of the micronutrients found in coffee grounds. Essentially, coffee grounds contain quite a few nutrients that your hibiscus plants will love such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium. But, the nitrogen found in coffee grounds won't be available until after they have been broken down.

One of the major benefits of using coffee grounds around your hibiscus plants comes from what they can do for the soil. All the tiny microorganisms that live in the soil will happily feed on the discard, and which makes it rich and fertile. Healthy soil contributes to healthy growing plants. Earthworms can also make your plant's dirt better by tunneling through to create better aeration and drainage, as well as nutritious castings that your hibiscus plants will love. And the good news is that earthworms absolutely love spent coffee grounds. One thing to remember when adding this amendment around your hibiscus plants is to just sprinkle it over the soil and lightly work it in. If coffee grounds are applied too thickly, they'll form an impenetrable crust that may stop water from getting into the soil.