Green Powder on Coffee Grounds

[pinksand]

I have a large bag of left over coffee grounds I've been saving for my garden and/or compost pile. However, when I opened it the other day it was coated with a bright green powder. Maybe some kind of mildew? Would it be safe to add to my compost pile at this point or should I trash it?

[applestar]

It's mold. But I use it anyway. Be careful not to breath it -- it puffs spores when dry.

Coffee is nutritious and will attract fungal growth. Sometimes it's green mold, sometimes it's mushrooms -- they both start out as white filamentous growth (hyphae/mycelia). Best way to avoid it is to not store the UCG too long and use within a week or two at most.

[ElizabethB]

Just a thought - don't hoard your coffee grounds. I have a covered container in my kitchen that I toss coffee grounds, filters, crushed egg shell and vegetable trimmings into. I take a daily walk to the compost bin to dump it. I have kind of a well in the bin. When I toss fresh greens in I cover it with the existing material. When I toss I just create a new well. I started doing that because the crazy birds like to pick out egg shells and vegetable peels and scatter them in the yard.

I do love composting.

[brinboise]

It doesn't take long for the grounds to develop mold...I keep a covered plastic bucket outside my back door; next to the kitchen and dump it every day into the compost pile

[toxcrusadr]

They're just anxious to decompose and are starting without you. Throw them in.

[pinksand]

Thanks everyone! I'll toss them in

I actually got the bag of grounds from Starbucks (their "free for your garden" bags) and had completely forgotten about it, hence my lovely green surprise!

[toxcrusadr]

Posting at 3 am? If you're one of those night gardeners, you'll fit right in. My neighbors probably think I'm nuts, out watering and looking at things with a headlamp at 11 pm, but when it's 90 in the shade during the day, I think I'm the smart one.

[pinksand]

Haha! I definitely did not post at 3am, although I am right with you out there at 11pm with a lantern lol. My husband always jokes the neighbors are going to think I'm burying bodies. I also didn't join the forum at 6am... hey something's definitely not right here!

Right now it is 2:21pm and it's saying I'm posting at 6pm now.

[applestar]

Check your profiles and make sure time zone is correct