Coffee Grounds?

My mother always had glorious azaleas and I recall she used to put the used coffee grounds on them each morning (maybe not every morn). My azaleas are thriving (barely) and am thinking of doing the same for mine. Guess I should have paid more attention to how my mom was nursing hers.
Anyone else doing this or did I just imagine it growing up?

Sounds like it's worth a try. Coffee grounds are acidic. I bet they'll like it. Coffee is supposed to keep the slugs away too.

my mom used to throw them out into the flower beds too! I make the rounds to all the local starbucks to pick up free bags of coffee grounds, if they don't have them out in a basket, just ask for some! I spread them all over, they work great.

Thanks everyone, I think I'll just start dumping my grounds out in the garden and kinda rotate where I pitch them. Now am sure that is what my mom was doing all those years and that's why her azaleas were so stunning!

i get coffee grounds from starbucks by the bucketful & use it on everything... it's great stuff in the compost bin too! i also have a worm farm and those guys love it.

Add Iris to the list, they love them too.

I know my roses love used tea and coffee grounds. I just mix them into the top layer of soil so I don't disturb the roots (most of the time) the rest of the time I just spread them on top around the plants along with crumbled egg shells. The worms take care of mixing them in and the egg shells add calcium to the soil when they decompose. Until they break down they help control slugs and snails. When the layer gets about an inch thick I move on tho the next area. I do the same with my potted mini roses and other acid lovers.

I have a gardenia plant that hasn't bloomed since I bought it. Have had it for about 3 years. Sometime in February I got the bright idea of giving it some of the used coffee grounds. (Remembered that I read it somewhere! So thought it worth a try!!)

Lo and Behold....my potted gardenia is now bursting forth with beautiful blooms and buds.

Think the coffee grounds will work with most any acid loving plants. Also tea leaves from your used tea bags.

Coffee grounds work GREAT with ALL ACID LOVING PLANTS, SHRUBS, & TREES! I side-dress my Azaleas & Rhodo's with coffee grounds in the Spring & Fall. As well as, Hollies, Hydrangeas, Dogwoods, Ferns, Blueberries & Evergreens, to name just a few!

And when you have leftover coffee, don't dump it down the drain. Water your plants with it. I never have any leftover coffee, since I make it 11 oz. at a time, so this is a hint from long ago. My grandmother watered her porch plants with dishwater and coffee. She never had bugs and her plants were beautiful. Of course, her dishwashing soap was probably an old bar of Octagon laundry soap. And her water was straight from a well in the NE Louisiana soil, full of iron. I'm not sure which fact was key.

Gosh, I am so glad that I happened onto this thread. My husband has been bringing me home coffee grinds from starbucks that I have been tossing out in various parts of the garden. But I haven't put them around my acid loving plants. Good information . Thank you all.

Patricia

No problem, glad you found this.

i read somewhere coffee grounds are also good to get rid of ants. last week, i tried putting some coffee grounds on an ant hill. it works!!!! i have been battling with that ant hill for so many months. it was only the coffee ground that made them pack up and go elsewhere LOL! though to share this experiment with Y'All :)!

MaVie, I think you are onto something here. I hadn't thought about that in my never-ending battle with ants, the fiercest fire ants known to man or beast, but I don't believe there are any in the area where I toss my coffee grounds and other kitchen waste. Wow, if this works, I will buy a case of that cheap coffee I don't like to drink and make a special cocktail for those monsters. I can hardly wait for daylight so I can go out there and dig around to see if it really has been working and I didn't know it.

Scene: Loading dock at the local supermarket, Aimée's car backed up alongside the 18 wheelers

Aimée - Over here, right this way, please, yeah, you, part-timer. Load that generic coffee into the trunk and back seat, and lash the rest to the roof. No, of course I don't run a coffee house, do I look like I would serve this to humans? I do??? Forget it, this is a special order for the ants at my house. Huh? Are my ants humans? Are you daft? (Sputtering now) You say what about the uncles and the cousins? Sonny, I am going to report you to the manager for your lip if you're not careful. It's just snuff, you say? No, it's coffee. Oh, in your lip! So that stain on your chin isn't from licking the coffee bags? Tee time??? I don't think you need to be thinking about your golf game while you're supposed to be loading my coffee into my car. Mind you, I paid a lot for this. Did I buy it on eBay??? Kid, you're nuts, of course I didn't buy it on eBay, why would it be on your dock if I had? Oh, my car? Why, you little punk, this is a very fine Honda, so don't be making fun of it. Of course, I think it will work, I have a friend online who said it will. Not my car, the coffee.

Good grief, I just came here to buy a shipment of ant bait, and this kid wants to make a federal case of it.

u're funny Aimée LOL! talking about fire ants, it is the same monster i have fighting all these months. yeah it works girlfriend :)!

why not go to a local coffee shop like starbucks or peet's coffee house? am sure they have tons and tons of coffee pulps they use and are eager to get rid of. that will be my 1st venture. come to think of it, i think i will go to the local donut shop tomorrow, bring them a bucket for them to dump all the coffee grounds. i will make arrangements to come pick it up the following day.

Aimée, u know i live in the desert and them creatures are all around me. so far, like i said... them buggers had pack and are gone. am slowly moving on towards the back of the big red barn where i saw some today... that area i have not ventured in yet. will keep u posted... hehehehehe.

Yeehaw, I am going to make the rounds tomorrow, this is like Christmas in August! Not going to tell anyone why I want them, it's just to acidify the soil. Yep, taking a bucket with a lid on it. Maybe several so I can leave them each one. MaVie, you are a genius.

not a genius Aimée, just very observant, and uses a lot of common sense and curious about how things will work. somehow doing research does pay off :). good luck!!!

*drum roll*

As we all wait to see if the coffee worked with fire ants. If this is the case, Aimee might become quite wealthy as she sells her services out to Texas landowners: "Aimee's Round 'em up, Clear 'em out fire ant deterrent". You can tell them the secret ingredient is: "MaVieRose" - they'll never know.

*broad grin*

Y'all are too funny!

sbarr, I think I should get a Congressional medal if it works, but since I sort of stole it from MVR, I guess I won't ask for it.

It's interesting to note that all that money we spend on research at A&M hasn't resulted in an effective deterrent. Free coffee grounds don't make the movers and shakers rich, so it will never be allowed. Like the cars someone developed that could go hundreds of miles on a gallon of gas, it will be whisked out of sight. But I will still use it if it works.

All I can say is that it worked great on my hostas. They are not riddled with holes in the leaves from the slugs. It works. Now to try it on the ants. Of course they wouldn't want it known that plain old used coffee grounds work for something, other than filling up the trash.LOL..

here is where i read about using coffee grounds to get rid of ants http://www.cocoajava.com/java_feature_coffee_grounds.html

it all started when i read this link http://surf.atlantic.net/features/wackyuses.htm

Aimée, u did not steal the idea from me. i gladly shared and volunteered the info i found, used and found it worked!!!

edited to correct spelling.

This message was edited Thursday, Aug 7th 12:09 AM

I poured my left-over coffee under my strawberries. Haven't had any slugs since! I give my worms the grounds and also use them for my roses and hydrangeas.

Aimee - did MVR Ant Killer make the lil buggers pack up and move next door? I do have to laugh - I've been thinking about this much of the day.

Oh yes, they have to go somewhere. Maybe Aimee can make some money with her 'Miracle Cure" for ants! LOL!

Aimee, maybe you could open up a chain of stores: Aimee's Espresso and Extermination Shoppes. Give Starbuck's a run for their money.

celia,

So if I put coffee grounds around each Hosta plant, you think the slugs will "back off"??? It's definitely worth a try!!! I had been putting the coffee grounds in the hole with the Hosta plant, but now I will side dress my Hosta babies with more grounds.

Do your slugs detest a certain brand of coffee or is it just coffee in general???

If I water with instant coffee to get rid of slugs, will that work? I could not stand the smell of percolating coffee. We have so many baby ones right now. I hope they are not the gourmet kind.

Do the coffee grounds stink like coffee?

kell - gosh, you don't like the smell of percolating coffee? How sad, I rank that up with baking bread, frying bacon. Do you drink coffee?

Once I took a big mouthful when I thought it was my tea but it was my DH's coffee...... I thought I would die! Spit it out all over! I have never had a cup in my life!

Shirley, I actually pour my leftover coffee under my plant. I haven't tried it under my hostas yet. Haven't seen any slugs there. I guess brewing instant coffee would work too.
I grind my coffee beans. Am using vanilla flavored. Maybe it's the smell they don't like! LOL

Kell... Starbuck and Peet's coffee shops has mushroomed all over the Bay area. why not drop in one of those shop and get some coffee grounds? at least if is free and u don't have to buy it. or if not, in most offices that provide coffee to their employees have coffee grounds laying around. those u can also use. hth.

I will definitely start side dressing my Hosta's with coffee grounds. Great idea MaVieRose to check out local coffee shops in the area in which you live or work. We must go through pounds of coffee grounds each day at work! Never even crossed my mind to ask for them, but I will NOW!

Celia, the reason that I put a tablespoon of coffee grounds with Hosta, Ferns, Blueberries, or any acid loving plant is because it helps to fertilize them. Plus, I read recently that Roses like being side dressed with an acid fertilizer too. Soooo, it sounds like I'll be needing more coffee grounds than just what we use at home. Better go put "dibs" on used coffee grounds in our cafeteria before they disappear into the trash can!!!

Kell, don't feel bad about not being able to withstand the smell of perculating coffee. I never could stand the smell either as a child. As an adult, I've learned to like the taste of coffee if enough sugar & creamer has been added. I've gotten use to the aroma of perculating coffee, but it definitely is not high on my list of things that I enjoy smelling! So, you're NOT alone!!

Group.... do you suppose it makes any difference if the grounds are decaf? LD

Don't really know about decaf. But I top dress my roses and hydrangeas with the coffee grounds. I also use some for bedding for my indoor worm farm. I have my MIL saving them for me too. Used to get them from work.

I think decaf would work, since the acidity is still there. Some years ago, an acid-neutralized coffee was marketed, and I suspect it might not be as effective. Not sure about instant, as I have difficulty thinking of it as real coffee. And I never knew there were people who disliked the aroma of coffee! So often, we hear the lament "if only it tasted like it smells". I have said it myself, even though I love that bitter taste and will chew on a bean from my Italian espresso canister. Sometimes, I brew a small pot just to have the smell in the house, even though I don't actually want coffee at the time.

Alas, someone has apparently been working while I was sleeping. It seems the grounds in most places are already spoken for, so I will have to branch out. Surely, in this metroplex is someone with unclaimed grounds waiting for me. I did leave my phone number in case those I asked found themselves with a supply no one claimed. And I think I might be able to persuade DIL's cleaning contracts to save them for me, if DIL doesn't kill me for making yet another of my eccentric practices known. She about died when I tried to salvage all of their collectible postage stamps, damaged coins, cardboard boxes, newspapers, long skinny plastic bags from newspapers, and assorted odd pieces of junk. But I have almost a quarter of an acre covered with cardboard and newspapers, thousands of postage stamps, some perfectly good coins in Granddarling's stash, enough plastic bags and styro to package most of Austin, along with various pieces of discarded puter equipment, thousands of fax paper cores and plastic cores from calculator tape. Yep, filled every outbuilding on the place.