4 ms·

I'm glad people are doing this. Us long-term gardeners, farmers, farm lifestylers and preppers are happy to answer any questions.

commandlinefan 7y ago
> answer any questions well, since you offered... ;) I've heard differing advice on using coffee grounds in gardens: some say you should and some say you shouldn't. Am I doing my garden a disservice dumping each day's pot of coffee grounds into the dirt? I'm trying to grow tomatos, peppers (jalapeno, bell and poblano), cilantro, beans, squash and zucchini.
- dejv 7y ago
  You should add it to the compost, spreading it to ground will probably don't do much as it will oxidize away.
- mikedilger 7y ago
  Coffee grounds are good. Either compost or dig in directly. Many people get confused about pH. Coffee grounds are acidic. But it will have negligable effect on soil pH. Something about buffering capacity (I'm sure I'll be corrected by someone). Same thing with pine needles. They are acidic but will not change soil pH. They won't make much difference right away, but adding organic matter improves the soil over time.
  - mikedilger 7y ago
    Let me explain the pH thing better, now that I've had a think. Soil has a cation exchange capacity (CEC). Some soils have higher capacity then others. Think if it like a numeric count of all the molecular points where a cation could ionically bond. On each of those points, either you have a hydrogen (which makes it acidic) or another cation (which generally makes it alkaline). Those are calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, but also a few others in minute quantities even lead (Pb+2). Ammonium is a cation too. When adding something, it adds more CEC attachment points, but also more cations and more hydrogen. Within just the coffee grounds, many of the CEC points are occupied by hydrogen, so it is acidic. But when you compare the number of CEC points to that in the soil, the amount in your soil overwhelms. The good cations in your soil wont be affected much until you have enormous levels of coffee grounds (like >10% or something, I'd have to calculate it and I haven't). And of course you can always just measure the pH and add cations which will displace the hydrogen (it will bond with the anion). Calcium is cheapest which is why people use agricultural lime. Dolomite will give you some magnesium which will probably produce healthier veggies. Potassium is important but too much will just bulk up the veggies rather than letting them develop more healthfully. Sodium is almost never useful.
- mikedilger 7y ago
  Out of curiousity regarding the beans, are they doing well? Have you grown them before? One thing I learned that nobody seems to mention is that legumes don't necessarily fix their own nitrogen. In my soil, for instance, beans do poorly and leaves get chlorosis because there aren't any appropriate rhizobium for them to utilize (I've checked the roots - no nodules at all). If you can innoculate the beans before planting they do much better. Adding nitrogen fertilizer hasn't actually helped as much as I would have expected, but does help somewhat -- unfortunately that also inhibits any use of any existing rhizobium. Even so, pole beans give me a 15-fold return on my seed planting (that's actually pretty poor compared to what is expected, but I still think it's a great return). Zucchini is easy and you'll be amazed how fast they grow. So is squash (same family). Tomatoes, peppers and cilantro don't grow well where I live. They like the heat.
  - pvaldes 7y ago
    This mean that your soil is just rich enough in Nitrogen yet Therefore Zucchini grows as kelp, as usual, but beans just so-so. They will still yield but will not develop nodules. You could find useful to rotate parcels and put the beans in the old soil, not in the freshly enriched this year. In cold areas you can try rhubarb and horseradish (a wasabi substitute)
    - mikedilger 7y ago
      Thanks. Next summer (southern hemisphere) I'm putting beans after a cover crop of mustard/lupin/oat over winter, and I'm also checking with the local seed store for rhizobium innoculant designed for beans (after this lockdown). Horseradish grows like a weed here, rhubarb also does great, you are spot on with that advice.

commandlinefan 7y ago

> answer any questions well, since you offered... ;) I've heard differing advice on using coffee grounds in gardens: some say you should and some say you shouldn't. Am I doing my garden a disservice dumping each day's pot of coffee grounds into the dirt? I'm trying to grow tomatos, peppers (jalapeno, bell and poblano), cilantro, beans, squash and zucchini.

dejv 7y ago
You should add it to the compost, spreading it to ground will probably don't do much as it will oxidize away.
mikedilger 7y ago
Coffee grounds are good. Either compost or dig in directly. Many people get confused about pH. Coffee grounds are acidic. But it will have negligable effect on soil pH. Something about buffering capacity (I'm sure I'll be corrected by someone). Same thing with pine needles. They are acidic but will not change soil pH. They won't make much difference right away, but adding organic matter improves the soil over time.
- mikedilger 7y ago
  Let me explain the pH thing better, now that I've had a think. Soil has a cation exchange capacity (CEC). Some soils have higher capacity then others. Think if it like a numeric count of all the molecular points where a cation could ionically bond. On each of those points, either you have a hydrogen (which makes it acidic) or another cation (which generally makes it alkaline). Those are calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, but also a few others in minute quantities even lead (Pb+2). Ammonium is a cation too. When adding something, it adds more CEC attachment points, but also more cations and more hydrogen. Within just the coffee grounds, many of the CEC points are occupied by hydrogen, so it is acidic. But when you compare the number of CEC points to that in the soil, the amount in your soil overwhelms. The good cations in your soil wont be affected much until you have enormous levels of coffee grounds (like >10% or something, I'd have to calculate it and I haven't). And of course you can always just measure the pH and add cations which will displace the hydrogen (it will bond with the anion). Calcium is cheapest which is why people use agricultural lime. Dolomite will give you some magnesium which will probably produce healthier veggies. Potassium is important but too much will just bulk up the veggies rather than letting them develop more healthfully. Sodium is almost never useful.
mikedilger 7y ago
Out of curiousity regarding the beans, are they doing well? Have you grown them before? One thing I learned that nobody seems to mention is that legumes don't necessarily fix their own nitrogen. In my soil, for instance, beans do poorly and leaves get chlorosis because there aren't any appropriate rhizobium for them to utilize (I've checked the roots - no nodules at all). If you can innoculate the beans before planting they do much better. Adding nitrogen fertilizer hasn't actually helped as much as I would have expected, but does help somewhat -- unfortunately that also inhibits any use of any existing rhizobium. Even so, pole beans give me a 15-fold return on my seed planting (that's actually pretty poor compared to what is expected, but I still think it's a great return). Zucchini is easy and you'll be amazed how fast they grow. So is squash (same family). Tomatoes, peppers and cilantro don't grow well where I live. They like the heat.
- pvaldes 7y ago
  This mean that your soil is just rich enough in Nitrogen yet Therefore Zucchini grows as kelp, as usual, but beans just so-so. They will still yield but will not develop nodules. You could find useful to rotate parcels and put the beans in the old soil, not in the freshly enriched this year. In cold areas you can try rhubarb and horseradish (a wasabi substitute)
  - mikedilger 7y ago
    Thanks. Next summer (southern hemisphere) I'm putting beans after a cover crop of mustard/lupin/oat over winter, and I'm also checking with the local seed store for rhizobium innoculant designed for beans (after this lockdown). Horseradish grows like a weed here, rhubarb also does great, you are spot on with that advice.