Hi. As a coffee addict I have a lot of grinds to dispose of. I know they're great for sprinkling around plants to protect against slugs and snails and for adding some grit to my clay soil, but a friend raised a doubt in my mind.
It's been suggested that the caffeine can kill or at least stunt some plants. Does anyone know if coffee grinds are harmful to any plants or whether it's best to avoid sprinkling grinds around salads or veg?
Sorry that I don't have an answer for you. But I'm getting an amusing mental image of you getting wired from eating coffee-infused lettuces :)
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.
Fantastic. I must market that idea.
Peter rabbit, flopsy, mopsy and cottontail plus the other rabbits will be delighted to hear of a non-soporific lettuce that will keep them awake so they'll be safe from Mr macGregor. Time for my caffeine hit now.
I found this a while ago when I was looking for ways of getting rid of snails.
http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm
Use whatever talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sing the best.- Henry Van ***
Hi Tim,
Whilst coffee does contain nitrogen which is beneficial for plants, coffee is also very acidic and can be detrimental to soil if an alkaline counterpart is not added. Another downside to putting these grinds out may arise from birds eating them, too much caffeine could potentially be quite harmful. If you are plagued by slugs and snails, check out an alternative deterrent on the website link below: http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/chemical_free/slugs/methods.asp
Claire
I put my grounds in with the compost - maybe the creepy-crawlies will get wired too!
Make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games [Robert Falcon Scott]