Are Coffee Grounds Good for My Hostas?

You may ask, "Will coffee grounds make my hostas grow better?" The answer is a resounding, yes! Recycling used coffee grounds on your garden is good for your hostas. Coffee grounds are a nitrogen-rich fertilizer and caffeine has been shown to be a natural and effective repellent for snails and slugs.

Natural and Safe Slug Repellant

Researchers from the USDA in Hawaii accidentally discovered that caffeine kills slugs and spraying plants with a caffeine solution keeps the pests from eating them. While looking for a solution for frog control, scientists with the Agricultural Research Service discovered the mixture worked on snails and slugs. Although coffee grounds contain much lower amounts of caffeine, many gardeners use them in the garden as a natural slug repellent.

Natural and Safe Soil additive

Coffee grounds sprinkled on the soil create a natural slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen promotes bushy green growth. The coffee grounds also feed the worms. Caring for earth worms is important to the garden as they naturally mix and aerate the soil.

Coffee grounds are also good for making compost. Add filter and all to the compost pile as a green material. Coffee grounds have been shown to heat up the pile, killing weeds and making excellent compost that will help your garden to beautifully flourish.

How to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden

Coffee grounds help deter slugs from eating your hostas. Simply sprinkle a ring of used grounds around plants susceptible to slug damage such as tulips, hostas, lettuce, sweet peas, and strawberries. Mixing the grounds with egg shells helps to deter slugs. The sharp shells scratch the slugs as they crawl over them, adding another natural layer to the deterrent.

Used grounds may be sprinkled directly on the soil and watered in. However, because they are fine the grounds may pack down forming a water barrier. If this should happen simply scratch the grounds lightly into the soil, breaking up the clumps.

You may also dilute cold coffee left in the pot with water and use the solution to water plants. This solution is more acidic and contains higher concentrations of nitrogen and caffeine than used grounds. Acid loving plants such as hydrangea and azaleas especially benefit from this method.

Recycling Coffee Grounds Reduces Greenhouse Gases

Using recycled, natural materials on the garden is green gardening at its best. Recycling used coffee grounds is not only good for your hostas but also the environment. Keeping coffee grounds out of the garbage reduces the amount of waste going into the landfill and reduces the methane gas coffee grounds create when thrown in the landfill.

How will coffee grounds make my hostas grow better? Coffee grounds feed the soil and the worms. They benefit the environment and your pocketbook. Yes, coffee grounds will make your hostas and the rest of your garden grow better.

Resources

Recycling Coffee Grounds: http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/Articles/2007/Coffeegrounds.shtml

Caffeine Used to Fight Slugs and Snails: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/slug.html

Climate for Action: http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2009/02/24/climate-for-action/

Caffeine as a repellent for slugs and snails, USDA research: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1465&context=icwdm_usdanwrc&sei-redir=1#search="slugs+and+caffeine "

Snails and Slugs prefer Decaf: http://articles.cnn.com/2002-06-26/tech/snails.caffeine_1_slugs-and-snails-caffeine-researchers?_s=PM:TECH