Coffee grounds are a great way to fertilize your plants without spending a lot of money. They are packed with nutrients that are great for your plants, and they are also eco-friendly.
Although they smell nicer than other fertilizers, do you know how to properly use them? Are you aware of which plants actually benefit from them?
If you have coffee grounds that you don’t want to throw away, you can mix them into your compost or add them to your soil. This is great for your plants!
There is a huge difference between new and used coffee grounds. Plants that like coffee grounds can be divided into four categories:
There are many benefits to using coffee grounds, including: -Exfoliating your skin -Adding nutrients to your garden -Cleaning surfaces Read on to learn about all the different ways you can use coffee grounds!
Coffee grounds are good for plants
Coffee grounds can be used as a gardening tool to help improve plant growth. They provide nutrients and act as a natural fertilizer when added to the soil. Coffee grounds can also help to repel pests and improve drainage in potted plants.
You’ve probably seen coffee grounds used as plant fertilizer in many gardens or maybe your friends houseplants are grown using coffee grounds.
Why are they so good? Let me tell you…
Coffee arounds are rich in nutrients
Some of the minerals contained in coffee grounds are essential to plants’ growth, in fact they are very, very rich in the following:
The coffee grounds consist of 2% nitrogen, which is a significant amount of the main nutrient for plants.
You also get some of the nutrients that plants need in lower quantities, but that are essential for their health, like magnesium and calcium. Finally, you also get some rare minerals like chromium.
1. Many Nutrients In Coffee Grounds Are Ready For Plants To Absorb
When you add coffee grounds to your plants, they can start using them right away.
Adding organic matte to the ground can actually be beneficial for plants as many of the minerals present in coffee grounds act as food for plants. However, you need to wait until the matter decomposes before the plants can make use of it.
Since coffee grounds improve soil quality quickly, they can be used for soil improvement.
2. Coffee Grounds Clean The Soil From Pollution!
You would not have expected that coffee grounds can help to reduce pollution in your soil.
They can absorb these heavy metals from the soil, which helps to reduce pollution.
3. Coffee Grounds Improve Soil Texture
Use coffee grounds to break up lumpy soil, making it loose and easy to work. Coffee grounds are especially good with heavy clay and chalk soil.
Sand and gravel have a similar effect on soil by breaking up hard and impermeable pebbles which improves aeration and permeability.
4. Coffee Grounds Attract Worms
Worms are excellent at fertilizing soil and they love coffee grounds. You want to have healthy soil, which can grow and sustain its own fertility.
You need to have a balance of microorganisms, worms, fungi, and other decomposers in your soil to make nutrients available to your plants. If you don’t have this balance, you’ll enter a negative cycle.
And worms are your best friend as a gardener!
5. Coffee Grounds Keep Slugs And Snails Away!
Coffee grounds can be used to control pests like snails and slugs. Some gardeners like to scatter them around crops that these creatures love to eat.
Snails and slugs love eating especially tender leaves like lettuce, young cabbage, and kale.
You don’t need to use harmful chemicals that will pollute your soil if you just drink a few cups of coffee. This will keep the leaf-eating pests away.
If you have a garden, you can use coffee grounds in your compost. Just add them to your compost bin along with other organic material. Adding coffee grounds to the soil comes with a whole host of benefits for your plants. did you know that coffee grounds are also excellent for composting? If you have a garden, simply add coffee grounds to your compost bin along with other organic materials. Your plants will thank you!
6. Coffee Grounds Are An Excellent Nitrogen Source For Composting
Sprinkle the Ashes over the compost heap in a thin layer or scatter them. You don’t want to just lump them in. They work better when they are distributed evenly and thinly.
7. Coffee Grounds Are Green Compost
The color of coffee grounds does not affect the compost colors. Compost colors are based on the two main nutrients we mix in: brown is carbon rich matter while green is nitrogen rich matter.
If you add fresh leaves to your compost, it will be rich in nitrogen. If you add brown organic matter, it will add lots of carbon.
Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, so they count as green compost.
We can use coffee grounds in many ways. This leads us straight into the next point, which is to use coffee grounds in our gardens. Coffee grounds contain a good amount of nitrogen and other minerals that can help our plants grow.
8.Neutralize and Eliminate Odors
The tiny coffee beans are full of compounds that interact with your nose in interesting ways. Coffee grounds can make a place smell better, not just because of the coffee smell, but because the beans are full of compounds that have an interesting smell to them.
The first step to most coffee deodorizer solutions is to allow your coffee grounds to dry completely. You can:
- Simply sit some grounds out in a small bowl or dish to freshen up a room.
- Leave some grounds in a container in your fridge.
- Wrap grounds up in fabric, like a sock, to freshen up a gym bag or your car.
This study found that coffee grounds can be used to create activated carbon, which eliminates bad odors by binding to the smelly compounds in the air.
The process of creating activated carbon also uses zinc chloride and a furnace, so it’s not something that can be done at home. It’s pretty cool, though.
9. Natural Exfoliant For Your Skin
The rough texture of coffee grounds makes a great natural exfoliating agent for removing dead skin cells and dirt from your skin.
To make a coffee body scrub, mix some coffee grounds with water, coconut oil, or your favorite soap.
The microbeads in many store-bought exfoliating products are made of plastic and contribute to ocean pollution. Coffee grounds, on the other hand, are biodegradable and won’t pollute the oceans when you use them to exfoliate your skin.
10. A Natural Dye
If you’ve ever accidentally spilt coffee, you’ll know how much of a pain it is to clean up. It seems to stains anything it comes into contact with. Although, come to think of it, that could be useful!
Coffee grounds can be used to create a natural dye for any fabric that can absorb it.
- Cotton
- Linen
- Wools
- Paper
One way to create fabric with an aged look is to stain it with coffee. Another way is to knit with wool-like Stewart Yarns.
11. Shampoo and Promote Hair Growth
A study has found that caffeine can stimulate hair growth and that coffee grounds still have caffeine in them. Using coffee grounds as a scalp scrub may help to promote hair growth.
To make your own coffee shampoo, mix 1 part coffee grounds to 10 parts shampoo by volume. For example, if you have 50ml of shampoo, you would mix 5ml of coffee grounds (which is about 1 teaspoon).
Not only does caffeine promote hair growth, your head will also smell like a coffee shop.
12. Natural Hair Highlighter
Coffee can be used to dye fabrics, and it can also be used to lightly tint hair.
If you want to add a darker shine to your hair, regardless of its current color, this technique will work. It will result in a small change of tone that will only last until you shampoo your hair again.
- Mix about 1oz of brewed coffee with 1 tablespoon of coffee grounds and 2oz of leave-in hair conditioner.
- Gently rub the concoction into your hair and leave it to soak in for as long as possible. Aim for an hour.
In other words, it just takes time to let it work.
13. Insect and Pest Repellant
Coffee contains poisonous compounds that are used as a natural defense against bugs.
The coffee grounds will keep away flies, beetles, slugs, and snails.
A small dish of coffee grounds can be used to repel pests. Sprinkling the grounds on the ground or in areas where pests are a problem can help to keep them away.
If you’re using coffee grounds as a soil fertilizer, this will work even better.
14. Cat Repellent
If you want to keep both cats and bugs out of your garden, sprinkle dried coffee grounds all over the place.
Cats hate coffee. Maybe that’s why they’re so lazy.
15. Repel Fleas From Your Dog
Coffee grounds can be used to keep bugs away from your pets and your garden.
This is more of a preventative measure against fleas than an actual cure. The best way to remove fleas from your fuzzy friend is to use a prescription product and contact your vet.
If you have already gotten rid of the fleas on your dog, coffee grounds can help to prevent them from coming back.
I I suggest that you rub some coffee grounds into your canine’s coat after a bath.
16. A Cleaning Scrub
Wait about an hour and the scrubbing will be much easier. If you have tough, burnt food stuck to the bottom of your pots and pans, try this hack: add a layer of coffee grounds and a squirt of dish soap. Let it sit for an hour, and then scrubbing will be much easier.
The ground coffee beans are a good abrasive and can be used with any soap to clean tough dirt and grime. This is a safer way to clean than using harsh chemicals.
Remember that coffee will stain your wooden cooking spoons, making them appear darker.
17. Acne Treatment
When coffee is applied to the skin, it causes the cells to contract.
Astringent compounds can help to treat acne by tightening the pores in the skin. This helps to reduce oil build-up and dry out the skin.
Acne is often caused by oily skin.
18. Reduce The Appearance of Cellulite
I do not agree with this completely, but it is a common internet rumor, so I included it on the list.
Cellulite appears as lumpy, dimpled flesh on the thighs, hips, buttocks, and abdomen. It is most common in adolescent and adult women. While the condition is not harmful, it can be a source of insecurity.
So, coffee grounds are rumored to help with cellulite because the caffeine temporarily increases blood flow to that area. Supposedly, this helps break down the fat.
In order to use this method, mix some coffee grounds with coconut oil and apply it to your skin a couple of times per week.
Even though the caffeine in coffee grounds may improve blood circulation, I don’t think it would be enough to get rid of the fatty lumps that are pressing up against the skin from below.
What’s to stop more lumps from forming if the massage only helps to break down the existing ones?
You cannot replace exercise and a healthy diet with coffee grounds.
19. Meat Tenderizer Paste
Muscle fibers are made of protein and are formed so that the muscles can contract and relax. Meat is made is muscle fibers.
No one wants to eat chewy meat. In order to make the meat more tender; the muscle fibers need to relax.
There are several ways to tenderize meat, including using enzymes, acids, salt, or simply hitting it. Coffee’s acidity makes it a good natural meat tenderizer.
The flexibility of coffee grounds
All these plants can benefit from coffee grounds used well.