Got coffee?

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Does anyone else use leftover coffee in compost tea?
I tried it recently and my plants seemed to dig it. Apparently fungus really digs it because the day after feeding, there was a wispy layer of fuzz on top of the soil. Not sure if it was good mold or bad mold. It disappeared after the soil dried out and didn't come back, even after subsequent feedings (without coffee).
I'm thinking it was a bloom of mycorrhizae, which can't thrive above ground.
What do you think?
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Coffee grounds are good for nitrogen I think. I usually compost mine. Rather than make teas from them.
I compost the grounds. What about the actual coffee? Ever brew a pot & half of it sits on the warmer too long? I just add the burnt coffee to my tea. Gotta be careful though. Too much will make it foamy if you are actively aerating.
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
I've never done compost teas. Just composting. I don't even let a 6 cup espresso sit for long enough to be stale. Two full cups later I'm pingin!

Our compost sees a lot of banana skins, broccoli, and other vegetables though. Even used tea bags.
 

Kind Sir

Well-Known Member
I've never done compost teas. Just composting. I don't even let a 6 cup espresso sit for long enough to be stale. Two full cups later I'm pingin!

Our compost sees a lot of banana skins, broccoli, and other vegetables though. Even used tea bags.
What is your compost pile have in it? All together?
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
Righto. There's a bit in there. We've got carrots, zuchini, spinach, broccoli, bell peppers (capsicum), eggs, coffee grounds, used tea bags, banana peels, sometimes orange peels. And a few others I can't think of.
 

iHearAll

Well-Known Member
coffee grinds go well in mushroom culturing substrates with a little lime. i use my coffee grinds in the FKG as i make coffee, sometimes i scatter it on the soil surface because ants hate coffee grinds. that's more of an outdoors thing though in the veggie garden. i also make bokashi from the spent grinds i collect from local coffee shops. i mix that with peat moss 1:1 and soak in EMe and molasses 1:250 by volume. and let it ferment for two weeks. it blooms with white molds and smells great
 

cindysid

Well-Known Member
I've been wondering about using the coffee also. I already use it in cooking and throw the grounds around my outdoor plants and in the worm bin. I use it instead of water in my brownies, fudge, and chocolate pie. The coffee taste seems to intensify the chocolate flavor. Maybe I'll try some on the Chocolate Heaven I'm growing. The reviews I've read say it's not all that great...so the coffee couldn't hurt....lol
 

iHearAll

Well-Known Member
i missed te first sentence of op. i use upwards of a qrt of coffee in 5 gallons of compost tea. brew with microbes, molasses. fpe. and whatever else i have made (calphos fish aminos). sooooometimes i cut the tea 1:1 into plain water but that's usualy if i do all the above then add a sock of soil, sock of vernicastings, and a sock of compost. but im mostly a vegetable gardener and ive only run cannabis once this way with some pretty sexy results. ill find picks of last crop but i did this up to today in ny current grow.

last crop using (not exclusively) coffee through most of flowering. i definitely remember masturbating into those tissues. :rolleyes:
flash vs no flash

CIMG2477.JPG CIMG2633.JPG CIMG2649.JPG CIMG2694.JPG


and this run through using coffee and various other liquids during veg. this is a week into flowering.CIMG3335.JPG CIMG3316.JPG CIMG3290.JPG CIMG3322.JPG
 
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Alexander Supertramp

Well-Known Member
Does anyone else use leftover coffee in compost tea?
I tried it recently and my plants seemed to dig it. Apparently fungus really digs it because the day after feeding, there was a wispy layer of fuzz on top of the soil. Not sure if it was good mold or bad mold. It disappeared after the soil dried out and didn't come back, even after subsequent feedings (without coffee).
I'm thinking it was a bloom of mycorrhizae, which can't thrive above ground.
What do you think?
For decades used coffee grounds have been used in gardening/composting. Nothing new too see here...
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Left over coffee? Chuckle....acid acidity anyone?
Not sure about this though.
I have gone from coffee+sugar+cream (the most acidic I could ever get), to coffee+sugar, possibly attaining moksha with just coffee one day, which is actually alkaline on its own (like unpasteurized milk products), at least in our digestive systems.
And plant roots do get compared to an intestine that's been turned inside out... :-P
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
I have found that my teas are generally alkaline, so I adjust with 1/4 cup Neptunes Harvest right before I use it.
 
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