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How To Use Coffee Grounds As Fertilizer In Your Garden
By GINA CAREY
Coffee grounds can act as a slow-release fertilizer and add essential nutrients over time, including nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and micronutrients. Once brewed, coffee grounds are close to a neutral pH as coffee’s acid is water soluble, so here's how to use them as an organic fertilizer in your garden.
Prep Your Grounds
After brewing your coffee, collect the wet leftovers and set them aside for your garden work, but if you don’t intend to use them that day, store them in a refrigerated, airtight container. You can also make a liquid plant fertilizer by soaking the grounds in water and letting them steep overnight.
Add Them To The Soil
Once you have enough grounds, sprinkle them generously over the area, but avoid creating big clumps that can lock together and create a water barrier. Then, gently rake the grounds to work them into the soil — be careful as they may repel water if not integrated well.
Avoid For Some Plants
While some gardens benefit from coffee grounds, others are averse to it, like lavender, orchids, and pothos. The roots of some plants are also inhibited by caffeine, including broccoli, leeks, radish, viola, sunflower, and more, so it’s best not to apply it near them.
Other Benefits
Coffee grounds can also be used as mulch and compost or to deter insects and animals. Squirrels dislike the smell of coffee, so sprinkle it liberally on your soil and wet the grounds to repel them as well as ants, snails, fleas, and mosquitoes.