provided by Boresha Coffee

Do you have a green thumb? Maybe you just like to be as efficient as possible. If that is the case, are you aware that you can recycle/use your used coffee grounds to feed and fertilize your potted and outdoor plants or anything else that you might grow in a garden?

The first thing to do is to begin saving and gathering your used coffee grounds. Finding places to get the coffee grounds is easy. You can get them from your office coffee maker at work, friends that drink coffee, basically anywhere you can think of; you just have to ask. It is also a good idea to provide the container for whomever you are asking to save the used coffee grounds. Starbucks will give you bags of used coffee grounds if to use for your home and garden.

The easiest way to save them is in an empty coffee can or another plastic container with a sealable lid. It is important that you keep the grounds somewhat moist. It won’t be long before you have quite a bit of coffee ground compost saved up.

Once you have your grounds saved up, decide what plant or garden you want to use them on and spread them out around the base of your plant before you water it or before it rains. By laying the grounds out just before you water them, the nitrogen will release slower and give you a better result. You may also choose to add your used coffee grounds to an existing compost pile which will help to increase the nitrogen levels of the compost.

If you prefer to use your coffee grounds as a fertilizer, you will need to dilute them with water before pouring the mixture around your plants or garden. The ratio of grounds to water is pretty simple. You want an equal parts mixture. For example, 1 pound of used coffee grounds to 1 gallon of water and so on. Let your mixture set outside and wait for a nice amber color to develop.

Another interesting use for coffee grounds is to keep pests out of your potted plants. The trick is to break up egg shells (once you have used the eggs of course) and mix the shells in with your coffee grounds. Once you have combined the egg shells and coffee grounds, place them around the container and then add the soil.

If you really want to be eco-friendly and have the best results with your coffee grounds compost, you will want your used coffee grounds to be from an organic coffee that is free of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals.