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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Zoglet on April 04, 2008, 18:13:35
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Hi
I got some free coffee sludge from starbucks and was wondering if any one could tell me what veg would like it and which would not?
ta
Z
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As far as I know, no plants actually like coffee. I think its meant to go in your compost. You can put it around plants I think to prevent slug attack, but I would imagine in a large circle around the stem........not too close. Im not sure Im making myself very clear.
Someone who has used it will let you know better ;)
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I agree: not sure about plants actually liking [too much] coffee in their soil, but mixed in with the compost it's fine. Years ago I read that roses like coffee as a kind of fertilizer, but this didn't come from a horticultural source, and I haven't been able to verify it.
Regarding slugs: it does work very well as a deterrent / like a barrier: we surround either individual plants, or an entire bed with a 2 - 4 cm wide band of our coffee dregs, and have not seen a single slug brave it across. Our neighbours swear by it, too.
I think it's as good as these slug pellets, which you have to sprinkle meticulously and repeatedly around your plants, but a good deal cheaper (depending on your source)
My pot-plants in the garden get a band of coffee sludge around them, too - it might not be too pleasant on the eyes, esp. with dainty flowers, but does the trick.
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Stick it all over the place ,I use it as a mulch cum slug b'gone , it does not change the ph, I think Starbucks mention it on their web site. It smells great early in the morning.
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my use of it is less than successful and lost a lot of salads to it and don't think it helped with the slugs either - odd how it works for some and yet not for others :-\
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i have heard of plants liking cold tea but never coffe sludge
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Just watched Gardeners World and the new girl was putting coffee grounds on the soil, not thickly, but it did look like there were seedlings amongst the coffee.
I think the coffee is too strong for plant roots personally.
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There was an excellent experiment with coffee solution as a slug killer that somebody resurrected a few weeks ago... too many applications caused Chlorosis... I'd use them sparingly and compost the excess.
:o
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well, according to the directions on the packet in can be added " directly to the garden as a side dressing to nitrogen loving plants including most perennials and allium plants (onions?) or can be added to the compost heap."
So I may give it a try on the onions!
:P
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Geraniums like coffee grounds!
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Cats dont like coffee sludge. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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What about moles? I might get them sorted once and for all 8) ;D
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Well I have placed it around a couple of rows of onions and one of garlic- will leave a comment if anything commentable happens! ::) - it does smell good though!