coffee and tea for plants?

[destinydai.livejournal.com]

i think i read somewhere recently how people "recycle" their tea bags by putting them into the soil, either broken out of the bag, or still in the bag ... and i half-way recall something about tannins - and how those are supposed to be good for the soil?

just a few questions - does this also apply to coffee? both left over liquid and used beans?

is there a "too much" level? i have a lot of plants in the window sills, and quite a few outside that could use a natural fertilizer/mulch ... and we drink plenty of both tea and coffee ... but i dont' want to kill any of my plants!

++cross-posted to quite a few places! thanks for your help!++

Comments

[lyght.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you could use coffee and/or tea as a part of compost. I'm not sure how much would be okay to use, say, fresh from the coffeemaker/teabag and put directly onto the soil, though. It would depend partly on whether they're indoor or outdoor plants, in pots or in the ground, etc., because all of that affects how fast the grounds/tealeaves would break down.

[fannyfae]

I mix the coffee grounds and tea bags (carefully taking out the staple, of course if there is any) and mixing it up with the other compost material. It works out great, and to be honest, I feel guilty when I don't compost this material!

[wedjbai.livejournal.com]

Tea bags and coffee grounds are acidic, so they are especially good for any evergreen plants/trees. I wouldn't add coffee grounds or liquid directly to indoor plants as the acid would get too concentrated in the pot. I do add cold leftover tea, though, as it's less acidic.

[czarina69.livejournal.com]

heavy composter, here.

Coffee grounds, tea bags, dead flowers, potato chips, overripe pasta...all are good for composting. Too much meat in one area can cause a problem if you don't have enough other composting materials to break it down, but otherwise, you're good. To speed up composting, or just get more heat going in the pile, I recommend old fruit, especially apples.

Let the composting process have time...We use a large plastic bucket that has a hole cut in the bottom, and has direct contact with the soil. After it has had plenty of time to degrade, (i.e. about six months) we dig into the soil and rotate the compost in. This is a version of 'bastard trenching' and it works quite well. Our soil is very rich and healthy, and we use it for our indoor plants with no trouble.

If you are trying to go straight to the container plants,...coffee grounds and tea bags are great for roses, citrus plants, most herbs, and many of the favorite 'indoor plants'. Only 1/4 of the soil can be the grounds, but that's about your only limitation.

Hope this helps!

May I friend you?

[stark404.livejournal.com]

At first I wanted to friend you because I want to learn more about composting - but then I clicked on your link and started reading the most recent thread, and I was rolling "Dr. Pepper all over the monitor!" Your sense of humor is tremendous! Please let me friend you!

Re: May I friend you?

[czarina69.livejournal.com]

Sure, I alway welcome new input. Sounds like grounds for a friendship. :)