In this blog, we are going to talk about composting with coffee grounds. For us, there is nothing more delightful than the fresh-brewed coffee smell. After enjoying your morning cup of coffee, it might make sense to you to use all those used coffee grounds in your garden.
When it comes to coffee grounds, they are considered perfect organic matter sources that can be easily put to good use. So, repurposing the remains of your morning cup of coffee in the garden looks like a win-win. However, there are several things to know before you give a hit to coffee grounds.
Table of Content
Are coffee grounds good for compost?
Coffee grounds work as a perfect soil amendment for improving the soil in a range of ways. Go through the amazing benefits of coffee grounds addition in soil mentioned below:
1) Comes with vital nutrients
Generally, coffee grounds comprise 0.6% potassium, 0.06% phosphorus, and 2% nitrogen in terms of volume, which makes it a nutritional powerhouse for your soil. They are considered mineral-rich sources like boron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and copper.
2) Call for earthworms
Just by adding coffee grounds to your soil, there are chances that earthworms get attracted, and you can reap benefits from them. Even they add organic material along with their castings. You don’t have to worry about compact soil and how your plant’s roots will get nutrients.
3) Improve soil quality
If you want to improve soil acidity then must go for coffee grounds. Also, they turn down the growth of pathogens that results into enhance soil tilth and hamper the growth of the plant. That’s the reason coffee grounds are considered “brown gold” for everyone’s garden.
4) Improve aeration
Whenever you add coffee grounds to your soil, then tiny air pockets start creating, which keep the soil aerated. With the air pockets, it would be easier for young roots to boost and access the nutrients and water present in the soil. Also, it provides as much oxygen as required for roots to grow healthily.
5) More nitrogen becomes available
Coffee grounds comprise nitrogen-rich compounds which can be released with the microorganisms’ action. Such microorganisms break down the compounds for making the availability of nitrogen whenever required for your plants.
How to add coffee grounds to compost?
Now, you’ve got the answer to your question can you compost coffee grounds? It’s time to add coffee grounds to compost with little work or effort. One thing to note here is that coffee grounds are much higher in nitrogen, and that’s why they are considered green material in the compost pile.
According to weight, there is a need for a 30:1 mix of carbon to nitrogen matter in your compost. If you follow this ratio, then you can ensure that there is enough nitrogen present in the mix to get properly decompose. Always remember that such ratios don’t refer to the organic matter volume but refer to the weight.
How to compost coffee grounds?
The next question which is arising in your mind might be how to make compost with coffee grounds. That’s why we have come up with some common composting methods that can be considered effective ways to retain the coffee grounds’ nutrients:
1) Add to your tumbler or traditional compost pile
It is vital to treat coffee grounds as green compost matter as they are around 2% nitrogen by volume. So, it is better to add a third of coffee grounds, third of grass clippings, and a third of the leaves to your compost. Again, we are mentioning that coffee grounds must be limited to not more than a third of the compost pile’s overall volume.
There is a need to mix well your coffee grounds into the compost pile. Now, you can turn your pile regularly, due to which your compost keeps aerating and will remain aerobic. Feel free to throw paper coffee filters while sprinkling coffee grounds in your compost. The reason is that paper coffee filters can get easily broken down in compost.
2) Add directly to the soil
This case is perfect when you’re using smaller amounts of coffee grounds. On the other hand, with the usage of coffee grounds in larger quantities, then it is better to use one of the mentioned methods:
- Firstly, sprinkle coffee grounds onto your soil surface, then mix it well.
- Even your can add the coffee grounds to your soil surface and then cover it with mulch, compost, or leaves.
Usually, coffee grounds boost the growth of the microorganisms found in soil that uses nitrogen for reproduction and growth. However, when coffee grounds are being decomposed into your soil, then there are chances of a slight reduction in the availability of nitrogen to your plants.
3) Add to your worm bin
Coffee grounds might fail to be popular among ants, slugs, and snails, but no one can ignore the importance of worms toward coffee grounds. So, there is no need to worry about your worm composter just add coffee grounds.
But the thing to notice here is that you must introduce your worms to new items gradually so that they can turn accustomed to coffee grounds. So, it would be better to sprinkle coffee grounds in your worm bin according to the worms present in your bin.
4) Add to your Bokashi composter
Bokashi composting offers an easy and fast way for composting your food scraps, even comprising coffee grounds. This kind of composting process offers an effective method for turning your coffee grounds into quality end products in 4-6 weeks.
Every 1-2 days, all you have to do is to add coffee grounds to the kitchen composter and sprinkle along Bokashi bran. No different treatment is required in the case of coffee grounds. So, just like other food waste, you can also treat coffee grounds to your Bokashi composter.
Conclusion
Composting coffee grounds can aid you to use them again with the creation of nutrient-rich soil. If you’re someone who is already in composting, then you can consider coffee as the perfect addition to the compost mix. Thus, there is no need to worry about your coffee habit. Because your garden will be going to thank you later and even you’ll save grounds turning into landfill.
