In many households, kilos of coffee grounds end up in the trash or on the compost every day. But there is still a good use for it!
People around the world love their coffee: an average of one person in this country consumes more than seven kilograms of coffee beans each year. In most cases, the coffee grounds are then disposed of without further ado. There is a good reason not to do this: you can continue to use the coffee grounds as fertilizer for your plants!
Coffee grounds are so good as fertilizer
Coffee grounds are a purely herbal product and therefore contain a relatively large number of nutrients. Coffee beans, for example, contain a lot of protein, in which nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus are collected. While the roasting process and the subsequent brewing process break down the protein, many minerals remain in the processed bean powder.
But that’s not all: Roasting produces so-called humic acids, which is why the coffee grounds have a slightly acidic pH value. Plants that like an acidic humus soil are therefore particularly suitable for the coffee grounds treatment. These include blueberries, rhododendrons and hydrangeas.
How to fertilize plants with coffee grounds
Make sure to dry the coffee grounds before fertilizing! In order to fertilize your plants with the existing coffee grounds, you should first collect the brown powder in a container. Make sure that the coffee grounds can dry well, preferably in a sieve or plate. Otherwise mold can form!
Make sure to work in coffee grounds when fertilizing! After drying, sprinkle the powder in the area of the roots. Then work the coffee grounds into the top layer of soil. If it remains loosely on the surface, it cannot develop its fertilizing power. To support the effect, cover the fertilized soil layer with a little mulch. If you repot your balcony or indoor plants, you can also enrich the soil with dry coffee grounds.
Be careful with indoor plants
You should be careful when fertilizing indoor plants with coffee grounds, because here the powder cannot mix well with the soil and will not decompose. There is a risk of mold growth! Therefore, you should first mix the coffee grounds with the potting soil and then replace the top layer of soil with the coffee soil.
