Tea Leaves, Coffee Grinds and Jellyfish

[opabinia51]

Hey Grey,

Yes chemists looked at used coffee grounds and after doing some simple pH analysis (in the form of a pH test ) found that used coffee grounds are not acidic.

Anyway, glad to hear that you are using them, they are great. After putting them in my South Bed last year (and seeing the results) I have decided to stockpile the grounds and put them on the Vegetable garden and the rest of the beds as well. (And not to mention the beds at my parents place)

I also add leaf mulch and grass clippings. (And in some cases; seaweed as well).

[opabinia51]

A little note on harvesting Jellyfish: Be careful which ones you harvest. If they have any bright colours, don't pick them up!!! The clear guys, generally speaking are okay.

(Reminded myself of that little note this a.m. when I picked up a red jellyfish at Discovery Island, my fingers are still sore! Ouch! )

Oh, and open wounds, do not work well with Jellyfish nematocysts (stinging cells) OUCH!!!!

[Grey]

So Opa - are fresh (unused) coffee grounds acidic then? Just wondering for the next time someone hands out free horrid cheap coffee... I won't drink it but maybe my plants can eat it.

[opabinia51]

Used coffee grounds are not acidic but, unused coffee grounds are. Unused coffee grinds also have caffeine in them. Wouldn't recommend putting them in the garden myself. But, you can try it and let us know how it works.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Sounds like their okay for the garden, but now I'm starting to wonder about coffee...

Scott

[opabinia51]

I do know that acidic soils tend to bind up nutrients such that plants cannot acquire them (plants secrete small amounts of acids to release nutrients from humus) this is why I am leary about using fresh coffee grinds.

Oh and... ha! Yeah, I only drink coffee every now and then, my hot beverage of choice is Black, Oolong and Pu Erh tea. Don't know about the pH of those guys though. Though, they are all made from the exact same plant. But, I won't get into a lesson on making tea.

[The Helpful Gardener]

I've been throwing my tea leavings (Camellia sinense and Monarda didyma) in the pile as well

I've grown fond of green tea (leaf), although my Japanese inclined friends all like the powdered...

[opabinia51]

Actually, (I hate to be a stickler but, I am!) it's Camelia sinsensis is the name of the "tea plant." But yes, I put all my used tea leaves into my worm bin. The worms seem to love it and the plants love the aftermath.

Incidentally, worms love used coffee grounds. If you garden is lacking in worms, just add some used coffee grounds and the worms will definately be there in no time flat!!

Also, for those wanting to undertake sheet composting this year, fall is right around the corner and now is a great time to put some Rye or another cover crop in. October 1st would be turnover day and then start your first layer of leaves.

(I have personally been stockpiling cheap manure all summer to ontop of the leaves)

[TheBigEasy]

I won't get into a lecture about how bad garbage dumps are but, I will get into a lecture on how good all of this so called waste is for your garden.

Coffee Grounds: Coffee grounds are great for your garden, they repel slugs and mites and have an N P K value similar to that of some animal manures.

Anyway, the point being that with all this so called waste, you can make the best darn soil that you will ever find and not have to pay an arm and a leg for soil at the local nursery.

I was wondering about this whole coffee ground thing when I saw that SB was actually giving bags of the stuff away.

If you may remember, I am trying to do the container/deck type of garden, and have grabbed a few of these bags to use, but really have no idea how! Do I mix with soil/potting mix If so, what kind of ratio? Or do I use it more as a mulch in a top layer kind of thing I am also considering adding worms either way to get the soil going really going, and I believe I saw on this forum that worms really dig (no pun intended) the grounds too!

Thanks in advance...

[Grey]

I just toss mine into the compost pile with everything else and mix it all up once in a while.

In FL, where I had a rose garden, I would take a handful (rather, scoopful) of the grounds and scatter it around the bases of the roses. They seemed to appreciate it and bloomed more than usual that year.

Now I don't have a SB near me

I really don't drink much coffee either, so what my plants get now is the contents of my teabags.

[TheBigEasy]

Now I don't have a SB near me

WOW! I thought there were SB's EVERYWHERE! And when I say everywhere, esp. here in Pacific NW, I mean everywhere! I think there are 6 within 2 miles of my house! (And that really is a shame too...)

[grandpasrose]

I don't think there is SB within 600 miles of here!!!

Val

[Grey]

WOW! I thought there were SB's EVERYWHERE! And when I say everywhere, esp. here in Pacific NW, I mean everywhere! I think there are 6 within 2 miles of my house! (And that really is a shame too...)

I moved to the Appalaichain foothills last year. There is a SB inside the bookstore in the next large town about 35 miles south of me - but I'm there so rarely it really is just a treat to browse some books and sip a Caramel Mocchiato. And when I asked about coffee grounds the college kid behind the counter gave me quite the odd look!

Or I guess I could find one in Chattanooga. But I'm in Chatt maybe once every 5 months or so. Really pathetic. I'd like nothing better than to have a SB here in my little town. It would be so awesome!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Easy, I wouldn't mix it right into soil; it needs to compost a bit. For a deck area I would probably think about a vermiculture set-up. Faster turns, great soil amendment and fertilizer, and you can sell progeny to the bait shop... There are small kits for small splaces and you could even disguise it as a plant stand in between feedings and clean-outs...

Scott

[TheBigEasy]

Easy, I wouldn't mix it right into soil; it needs to compost a bit. For a deck area I would probably think about a vermiculture set-up. Faster turns, great soil amendment and fertilizer, and you can sell progeny to the bait shop... There are small kits for small splaces and you could even disguise it as a plant stand in between feedings and clean-outs...

Scott

Embarrased to say, but I'm not sure what you mean by the vermiculture idea. I may be understanding that would have to do with the worms? Or maybe a composting system with worms involved? If so, that would be a great idea as I am also a fisherman (well, I try to be anyway )...and could always use worms! AND, selling them to bait shops would be sweet too!!!

[grandpasrose]

Big Easy -

Vermiculture: The cultivation of worms to break down waste. The worm casts contain recovered nutrients which can then be used for fertilizer or soil conditioning.

As easy as pie!!!

Val

[TheBigEasy]

Big Easy -

Vermiculture: The cultivation of worms to break down waste. The worm casts contain recovered nutrients which can then be used for fertilizer or soil conditioning.

As easy as pie!!!

Val

Thank you Val! It makes sense to me...

Don't know how my wife will feel about it...but we'll see! :lol"

[grandpasrose]

No problem! That's why we're here!
As long as you promise to do all the work she won't ever see them!!

Val

[opabinia51]

Hi Big Easy.

Vermiculture is dead simple. The classic way to do it is to buy a Tote box and drill holes along the sides and on the bottom. Then fill with leaves or newspaper and add about a cup of RED WRIGGLER WORMS and add all your kitchen scraps (chopped up) to the set up and in about 3 to 4 months, you will have lovely soil. And the worms will multiply like you wouldn't believe.

Red Wrigglers are notoriously expensive to buy so, the best way to get them is start a compost pile in your yard (a cold compost pile) and they will come. Then, just transfer them to your worm bin.

[TheBigEasy]

Outstanding! Thank you. I'll give it a go.

[opabinia51]

Hi again Big Easy,

just thought that I would give you some more advice. I prefer to use leaves (usually maple) because they have a C:N ratio of about 800:1 as compared to Newspaper with a C:N ratio of 2000:1 and takes a notoriously long time to be broken down.

These tote box compost systems are actually designed to be used inside apartments and homes. I keep mine outside because when I start a new cycle going, I fill a 5 gallon bucket with some cocoa hulls (or peat but, I don't recommend peat) and manure. Manure is just not something that I want in my house

So, keep the leaves moist so that the worms don't die of dessication.


Oh, and prop your worm bin up with some bricks or something else and place a drip pan (I use one of those aluminium roasting pans from the supermarket) the compost tea that you will collect can be diluted about 10:1 and used as a fertilzer for you plants and as a foliar spray.

You will find that with use as a foliar spray that herbivory by insects and other organisms will decrease. If you like I can get into the particulars of that on a later date.

Anyway, great stuff. My plants love it.

[TheBigEasy]

Thanks! All good stuff there. Makes it really easy for me not to screw it up! (My wife says I don't need more hobbies/stuff, but this is a quick one that doesn't take a whole lot of work anyway!)

[opabinia51]

Pretty tough to screw worm composting up. The one mistake I did make was allowing an old room mate to put all the pulp from the ginger juice that she would make into my bin. (There was a lot of it)

For one reason or another the entire bin went anoxic and I had to empty it and clean the whole thing out with bleach (for the first time in four years). So, be careful with additions of large amounts of ginger. To date, that's the only problem I have ever had.

[TheBigEasy]

Got my composting bin going! Don't have exactly red wigglers yet, just some regular earthworms (as far as I know anyway! Those are soon to come. Lot's of kitchen scraps are being used up now!

Thanks everyone!

[opabinia51]

If you have your compost bin placed on soil, don't worry, the red wrigglers will come. You can cout on it.

[birdhouse-lady]

I have a worm farm and have been making "tea" out of the castings. I also compost, but have not made tea from it. What's the recipe?

[opabinia51]

For compost tea?

For anaerobic tea:

Place your compost in a bucket of water and stir daily for about a week. Nothing simpler


For aerobic tea:

Place compost in a bucket and aerate with an aquarium pump or other aeration device and let steep for a week as above.

Use as foliar spray and/or as feritilizer.

Using compost teas as foliar spray reduces the amount of disease that your plants will recieve as you are adding beneficial fauna to the plants. As a fertilizer applied to the soil nutrients are added as well as the beneficial fauna. It's win-win!