Coffee grounds and gardens, how much?

[GeekMom84]

I've looked around but all I've found is that people have had good experiences using old coffee and used coffee grounds in their gardens and compost piles. My question is, how much do I use when fertilizing my plants directly? I have access to a large amount of used coffee and grounds due to where I work, but I am unsure of how much to use for my plants. I plan on making a compost/worm bucket soon but until then I would still like my plants to benefit from all the coffee that I'm getting.

Also, anyone successfully grow zucchini and summer squash in their balcony/deck gardens? How big where the containers you used or do you recommend for me to use?

Thanks!

[koofie]

I want to know too! A friend from work brought me some coffee grounds, and now I need to know what to do with them!

I found this:

Used coffee grounds have many uses, from mulching to compost building. This is one ubiquitous material it's hard to have too much of. If you decide to mulch your beds and borders with ground coffee, here's a hot fashion tip: Remove the filters first. Those raggedy white papers look too tacky for words when left fluttering around your flowers. White or brown, you can shred the filter papers and mix them into the compost, where they'll break down nicely in short order.

Ground coffee is high in nitrogen, making it a very good mulch for fast-growing vegetables. Many organic growers swear by coffee grounds as mulches for tomato plants, both for the nitrogen boost this heavy feeder appreciates and for coffee's ability to help suppress late blight.

Years ago, I noticed that my coffee-bean pathways produced terrifically robust seedlings of several fusspot plants. My observation was confirmed by several soil scientists, who explained that coffee contains a number of substances that promote healthy plant growth.

http://www.seattlepi.com/nwgardens/143052_lovejoy09.html

Any other tips?

[Minxie]

Here is a link detailing some of the things that can be done with coffee grounds:

http://organicgardening.about.com/od...feegrounds.htm

[kriket]

DH and I make about a cup of grounds a day. I have just been throwing them in and haven't noticed anything strange. Good to know about the high nitrogen!

[rhianna813]

Here is more info, compile by Oregon State University who did a study on using coffee grounds in gardening:

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lan...ts/cffee07.pdf

Rhianna

[lunarlady]

I've heard coffee grounds (before composting) can be a bit acidic for certian plants. Mama brain here, but before you go mulching in everything in the garden, you might want to check which plants can tolerate the acid in the fresh grounds.