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Avatar for dlchasta35
Mar 7, 2015 2:11 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Dennis Chastain
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Zone 7a)
Does any one know how long it takes for Used Coffee Grounds to provide more nitrogen than they consume when mixed it soil.?
dlchasta35
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Mar 7, 2015 2:57 PM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
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I don't know, but I'd say that it would depend a great deal on the conditions at the time of use. Warm and moist conditions would probably speed things up, just like it does in compost piles. I'm thinking that the presence of an abundant supply of active, healthy and hungry microbial life would factor in as well. So...mixing it with cold bare sand might take a significantly longer time than mixing it into a compost pile or an already amended and actively warm garden soil.

Can you elaborate on the question? Are you wanting to apply it directly to the base of plants, or plan to use it in containers, etc?
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Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 7, 2015 4:05 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I just heard a You Bet Your Garden podcast on coffee grounds. I believe Mike McGrath says to wait until after acid-loving ornamentals bloom, especially the spring bloomers, as too much nitrogen can affect the number of blooms. In veg garden, you'd want to use them on anything grass-like like corn but not anything that fruits (like tomatoes or peppers). For fruits like blueberries, wait until after they bloom and start bearing fruit. Should be good for compost at anytime as long as there's enough brown stuff in the pile.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
Avatar for dlchasta35
Mar 7, 2015 10:54 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Dennis Chastain
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Zone 7a)
I just want to know if I work ICG in garden now will they be at least neutral by the time
My potatoes plants start to make leaves. I just plantednthe potatoes on fairly good soil.
dlchasta35
Avatar for dlchasta35
Mar 7, 2015 10:57 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Dennis Chastain
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Zone 7a)
I just want to know if I work UCG in garden now will they be at least neutral by the time
My potatoe

plants start to make leaves. I just planted the potatoes in fairly kgood soil. I thought I was editing not duplicating
dlchasta35
Last edited by dlchasta35 Mar 7, 2015 10:59 PM Icon for preview
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Mar 8, 2015 7:36 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
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You might find this Japanese research article relevant:

"These results suggest that most of N in coffee grounds is insoluble N. However, Wakasawa et al. (1998a) reported that NO 3 -N content of the soil incorporated with coffee grounds gradually increases after 4 months of the application. "

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/a...

Field Evaluation of Coffee Grounds Application for Crop Growth Enhancement, Weed Control, and Soil Improvement, Yamane et al.

The article also discusses the potentially inhibitory effects on growth of some plants in the short term. "These results indicated that coffee grounds are useful to enhance long term crop growth, short duration weed control, and soil improvement in agricultural fields by considering the inhibitory effects on
the plant growth for half year after the application."

As an aside, and maybe not relevant for your purpose, coffee grounds aren't necessarily particularly acidic.
Last edited by sooby Mar 8, 2015 7:40 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for dlchasta35
Mar 8, 2015 8:19 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Dennis Chastain
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Zone 7a)
Thanks for the information and the link from Japan. It is exactly the information I was looking for. I will only use them incorporated in the soil for the fall garden not the spring one.

I do have a question on interpretation however. I do not know what meter to the -2 means. Surly they did not mean 22 pounds to the square meter for the fertility test and 35.2 pounds for the weed control tests.
dlchasta35
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Mar 8, 2015 9:40 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
I think it does mean per square metre, notwithstanding that I'm somewhat mathematically challenged. That's what it looks like from some symbol references I found anyway.

Sounds like a lot but according to the full text of the research the grounds used had 65% water content, so that would have constituted a significant portion of the weight. They used a lot less than that in some of the tests. FWIW I just weighed the spent grounds from our coffee machine and just that small amount in the filter came to 110 grams wet weight.
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Mar 8, 2015 11:06 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
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If you need more coffee grounds than you produce yourself, your local Starbucks (or other coffee emporium) will give you bags of spent grounds. I found that late morning was a good time to go and ask, after the morning rush is over.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." โ€“Winston Churchill
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 8, 2015 3:06 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
If it makes any difference, the spent grounds from Starbucks are a lot drier than what you would take from your home brewing basket.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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Mar 9, 2015 7:22 AM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- ๐ŸŒน (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
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I'm not a believer in incorporating any organic material under the soil surface, or disturbing the soil for any reason besides adding a plant, or removing an unwanted plant. The decomposition crew will take care of decomposing whatever OM that is placed on the surface, distributing it's components to the proper level under the surface, and making the nutrients available to roots. This is how mother nature distributes OM naturally, on the surface. I try to keep a constant layer of OM on the surface, added whenever various materials become available. The wider the variety, the better.

http://permaculturenews.org/20...
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
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The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
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Mar 9, 2015 7:43 AM CST
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
I incorporate coffee grounds into my potting media, which I custom-make in a large wheelbarrow. I go through approximately 10 cf. of this mix each year. The "backbone" of my mix is always milled sphagnum moss. I use liberal amounts of "chunky" perlite as well. I really don't worry about all the "science" of whether the grounds produce nitrogen quickly or whether that nitrogen is "available". I could not care less. I just don't waste the coffee grounds. During the spring and summer, I toss a handful of grounds onto each of my azaleas and my groupings of gingers/cannas. I have done this for many years. Does it do any good? I don't know. Does it do any harm? Hardly.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Mar 9, 2015 8:07 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
Butterflies Birds Enjoys or suffers cold winters Garden Sages Plant Identifier
Ken, I think Dennis is concerned about nitrogen being temporarily "stolen" by the microorganisms that decompose the coffee grounds, which can result in N deficiency in the plants. If you add sufficient inorganic nitrogen fertilizer to your mix then that potential problem is canceled out in any case.
Last edited by sooby Mar 9, 2015 8:21 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for porkpal
Mar 9, 2015 8:30 AM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
I agree with Tiffany. I constantly add all manner of organic "mulch" on the surface and let nature take its course - no problem with nitrogen being lost during decomposition.
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Mar 9, 2015 8:50 AM CST
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
I generally will add a couple of handfuls of Osmocote, or the equivalent slow-release fertilizer, to each wheelbarrow load of potting media. Since I water/fertilize so frequently (having over 800 tropical plants, I'm always watering and/or fertilizing something! Whistling ), those potted-up plants, with my coffee grounds infused media, get that supplemented as well.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Mar 9, 2015 10:17 AM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- ๐ŸŒน (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
Growing in a pot & growing in the ground are 2 totally different things. If they weren't, filling pots with ground dirt would work well. Trying to provide fertility via OM in pots is usually fruitless since the conditions rarely enable microbes to stay alive. Fertilizer is usually needed.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜‚ - SMILE! -โ˜บ๐Ÿ˜Žโ˜ปโ˜ฎ๐Ÿ‘ŒโœŒโˆžโ˜ฏ
The only way to succeed is to try!
๐Ÿฃ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ”๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿพ๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒธ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒน
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
๐Ÿ‘’๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ‘ฃ๐Ÿก๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒพ๐ŸŒฟ๐Ÿโฆโง๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒฝโ€โ˜€ โ˜•๐Ÿ‘“๐Ÿ
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
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Mar 9, 2015 10:26 AM CST
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
My point was root restriction, not the fact that ground-growing and pot-growing are different entities. Where I am, with our horrible clay 2-3" below our "top-soil", only pine trees and hardy hardwoods seem to grow reasonably well. This clay will kill a citrus tree in a heartbeat (drowning) and has absolutely no nutritional value. Good drainage, regardless whether it is pots or the ground, is very important.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Mar 9, 2015 10:59 AM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- ๐ŸŒน (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
I agree, absolutely and completely, about drainage. But wouldn't till or otherwise disturb soil as attempt to improve that. Disturbing the soil wrecks what little drainage there may be. This can also lead to drastic erosion, such as that which led to the dust bowl in the 30's.

Keeping ground covered with OM is like magic, and does the work of turning airless clay into black, fluffy, crumbly, fertile soil that's not muddy when wet, or cracked and hard when dry. There is no such thing as a dense, healthy forest with bad dirt because the OM in them is never removed as is often practiced in gardening (and more dramatically in mowed areas.) In order for soil to have tilth and humus, it must be added to the surface in the form of OM, and replaced as it is depleted.

This works equally well in a housing developments up north where all of the top soil has been removed for sale when houses are built, and in both red clay and sandy spots in AL. Spots that required a maddock to dig a hole before being covered with OM while can be easily planted in with a hand trowel after a few seasons. The condition and composition of soil is so easily changed with very little effort, a little time, as I've seen in so many new beds I've stared in both states. I've watched various yearly-tilled gardens over the years and the soil in them gets worse, not better. Lighter color, hard as a rock and cracked when dry, muddy when wet. Those gardens usually need fertilizers.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜‚ - SMILE! -โ˜บ๐Ÿ˜Žโ˜ปโ˜ฎ๐Ÿ‘ŒโœŒโˆžโ˜ฏ
The only way to succeed is to try!
๐Ÿฃ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ”๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿพ๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒธ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒน
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
๐Ÿ‘’๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ‘ฃ๐Ÿก๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒพ๐ŸŒฟ๐Ÿโฆโง๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒฝโ€โ˜€ โ˜•๐Ÿ‘“๐Ÿ
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
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Mar 9, 2015 11:03 AM CST
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
OK, tell me again, what's "OM"? I'm old! Sighing!
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Mar 9, 2015 11:17 AM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Organic matter, Ken. Smiling
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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