Tea Leaves, Coffee Grinds and Jellyfish

[opabinia51]

What to do with all this garbage? Usually it all goes into the garbage can, and then off to the dump where it is out of site and out of mind.


I THINK NOT!!!


I won't get into a lecture about how bad garbage dumps are but, I will get into a lecture on how good all of this so called waste is for your garden.

Coffee Grounds: Coffee grounds are great for your garden, they repel slugs and mites and have an N P K value similar to that of some animal manures.
Also, if you have a coffee house around you that roasts its own beans, see if you can get the leftover chaff. Great stuff!

Tea leaves are great things to add to your compost and can be considered one of the browns such as leaves are.

Have I ever mentioned Poatoe, Carrot, Cucumber and other such peelings? Straight to the compost bin with them all! They are great!

Jellyfish? Well, here is the thing. If you live on a Coast and are out collecting seaweed for your garden and happen across some dead or dying jellyfish. Add them to your worm bins. They are great and won't attract rats. I chop them up a bit first. (As I do with everything)

Anyway, the point being that with all this so called waste, you can make the best darn soil that you will ever find and not have to pay an arm and a leg for soil at the local nursery.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Working with Mother to get free healthy ACTIVE soil...

That stuff in bags has been sterilized; not a living organism there. Sure give it a week or two in the ground and it will develop some flora and fauna at the microbial level, but you have no say in what those critters might be. If you are composting , the good guys are there in such numbers that fungii and such have no room at the inn. Mother picks the mix instead of letting the breeze waft in whatever is out there.

Long story short; compost is a tool you can use to fertilize plants, as a fungicide (make a tea and spray it on your plants), a mulch... this stuff does it all...

Nice thread Opa...

Scott

[opabinia51]

Thanks, I like the thread as well.


Was reading a book last weekend on composting and there was a chapter on Compost Tea... that stuff is amazing! WOW! I mean W-O-W Wow! I forget all of the exact details but, as you said: it gives a kick start to Fungal and Microbial populations and it also conditions the soil, acts as fertilizer for established plants and.....?

Other info welcome;

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yeah, in our neck of the woods there is a great guy named Todd Harrington who is running an organic landscape company AND teaching an organic landscaping course for NOFA. He's a huge fan of the tea thing and teaches courses to whoever will listen; I will see if I can get some of his stuff and post it to the website proper (posting a new article of my own there on native, wildlife friendly landscape; check it out...)

Scott

[opabinia51]

I'm not actually doing compost tea this year but, I am doing leaf mold tea. Won't be as nutrient rich as a compost tea but, it will be good. I am playing around with the idea of adding some of my liquid fish fertilizer ( 1 cup) to the tea.

Yes, and as far as Fungi are concerned: Not all fungi are bad Fungi. I think that the figure is something like less than one percent of fungi are pathogens. Andthe soil that is most healthy will have the most biologically diverse fauna including: Fungi (both Myccohrhizal and saprophytic), bacteria (again less than 1 % are pathogens), insects, worms and so on. In fact, a lot of plants cannot survive without soil Fungi.

Again, there is something to be said for organic gardening and NOT using salt based fertilizers. (This goes for bonsai as well.)

[The Helpful Gardener]

In working on this new native program I have been studying the queen of the wildflowers, ladyslippers. Turns out that they don't carry a food source with their seed (known scientifically as endospermic seeds), but allow themselves to become infected with a fungus that they then parasitize for food!

Thing is that under certain conditions (ph out of line, too much or not enough light...) the fungus can turn pathogenic and kill the ladyslipper! Nature is a truly amazing place...(and so is the stuff you can learn from Billl Cullina)



Scott

[opabinia51]

For those gardeners who have plants that for one reason or another require silicates SiO3/SiO4 you can cut up a bunch of Horsetales and add them to the compost.

Note: DO NOT under any circumstance add any part, piece, cell or other such constituents of horsetail roots or you will never get horsetails out of the place where you put the soil.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Equisetum or horsetails, are a living fossil that, while used as a landscape plant in Japan, are really invasive here. They make me a little nervous...

[opabinia51]

Yes, as said before regarding so called weeds: Pick them when they are young and have no seeds and as I said: make sure there are no signs of any root matter.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Opa, as usual your advice is sound. I'm just expressing a little jumpiness at invasives; it's part of my gene structure at this point...

HG

[opabinia51]

Thanks for the reassurance Scott, my reply was in agreement with your point as it is important not to spread invasives and horsetails are incredibly invasive.
Anyway, as said: pick the plants when they are young and DO NOT have any root matter whatsoever and they should be fine in your compost. Once you have horsetails in your garden, you will never get rid of them.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Got that right...

[Grey]

LOL about the horsetails.

I had never seen it before, but at a garden club meeting here about a month ago the lady who owned the house invited us to take up some of her horsetails for her garden. I took one look at the large patch of them she had and asked if they had a tendency to take over. Yep. But people were all over 'em.

I am leery of invasives too - I've had to fight things like kudzu in the past - what a BEAR!!!

I'm constantly learning more about compost - I'm not a specialist in the area but I definitely feel strongly that we have far too much garbage and am personally tired of it. Even one person can make a difference - I want a farm & wil churn my own butter someday. lol.

[The Helpful Gardener]

I will buy my butter, but find myself spending more time with the compost pile all the time (my Becky says I should cut it out and actually garden, but I think of it as gardening on the microbial level...

Scott

[opabinia51]

Not really gardening but, more like farming on the microbial level... and the Macrobial level as well. What with all the worms and insects and fungi that are involved in composting as well.
I've already got two new compost piles going at my two gardens this year. And as always, my worm bins are working away. Lots of great soils for my gardens.
Tomorrow night, I am going to pick up any remaining manure from local farms to stockpile for the fall. (To be placed over the fall rye once it has been mowed a few times and turned over into the soil. Actually, fall rye and a bit of clover.)

[The Helpful Gardener]

One of the dairy farmer's in my area is advertising (painted on plywood ) " Barn Mulch"...

[opabinia51]

Barn Mulch? That's a conundrum (sp?) of sorts. Perhaps rotted manure? Perhaps rotted barn? Should be interesting to find out what: Barn Mulch is.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Oh it's a euphimism alright, and I think you can guess what for

S

[opabinia51]

So long as we are talking about compost here:


Here is a bit on Coffee grounds: They are wonderful for your soil, and have an NPK value of 2/0.3/0.2. They also hold moisture and contrary to common belief do not acidify the soil.

The carbon:Nitrogen ratio of coffee grounds is such that they can be considered a green and not a brown.

Mixed with manure and some mulched up leaves, they are great. And you can add the odd Jellyfish that you find washed up on the beach as well

[The Helpful Gardener]

While you have routinely touted the addition of invertebrates in the compost pile, not everyone has access Opa

Besides, we don't need PETA in here with a "Save the Jellyfish" campaign!

HG

[opabinia51]

What? Not everyone lives on a coast? You are kidding me?


Yes, that comment was supposed to be fun Scott.


And methinks that if one should happen to find a dead or dying Cnidarian while walking along the beach.... no point in saving it. Into the compost pile with you my friend!!! On Carbon, on potassium, on Sodium!!!! Let those nutrients fly!!

Incidentally, for those people who don't have access to an ocean.... terrestrial invertebrates are also a good addition to your compost pile. Though, insects are the better known of terrestrial invertebrates, they do not vastly increase the amount of nutrients of the compost but, they do add a bit. And live terrestrial invertebrates like Red Wriggler worms, ground beetles and the like are great at making compost.

[NZG]

Smokers delight
You can buy nicotine sprays or you can soak your butts and salve your concience by using the water as a spray against scale pests and mealy bugs. 30 cigarette or cigar butts soaked in 4 1/2 litres of water for five days will make an effective brew.

Salt
If red spider mites of cabbage worms are extra troublesome a hot salty spray will get rid of them, and it wont harm your plants either.
A heaped tablespoon of salt dissolved in 4.5 litres of water is the recommended strength but it would be as well to soak the ground well afterwards to disperse the salt which could damage young and tender roots.
You can kill snails and slugs by putting salt on them.

Mice
They're quite fond of pea and bean seeds. If you roll the seeds in paraffin before planting they will leave them alone.

Scale
A strong spray with soapy water is an initial method of attacking against scale. Always use soap and not detergent
Spray is made by dissolving 225g common laundry soal (not liquid) in 9 litres of water. After spraying hose the plants with clean water and repeat the process as often as necessary.

Pepper
Pepper shaken around plants will prtect them both against animals and some insects. Sprinkle on dew wet leaves and it will keep caterpillars away.

Mildew
Plants such as begonias are subject to mildew. Dried sage sprinkled around them will help, as will spraying with teas made from horsetail or nettle.

Beer
There is nourishment in beer. The rinsings of empty beer can/bottles will be appreciated by indoor plants

[opabinia51]

VERY INTERESTING!!! So, the parafin wax doesn't inhibit the germination of the seeds?

Thanks for the post Newzealander.

[NZG]

That trick isn't something I have personally tried, but was told via another gardener.

[The Helpful Gardener]

EXCELLENT STUFF! Good on you, N.Z...

[opabinia51]

A note on Coffee Grinds. I have read that as a mulch, they should not be spread any thicker than half an inch because of the fact that they (the coffee grinds) can mat together.

That said, last year I mulched one of my beds with coffee grinds, leaf mulch and manure and put the coffee grinds on indiscriminately and had no problems. In fact, the soil is so rich in that bed this year that I will be doing the other beds (along with the same one again) this year.

Also, the neighbour across the stree just had his huge lawn mowed by some professionals who colleced the clippings in large plastic barrels. I just spread the clippings over my bed and then spread maple leaf mulch with some coffee bean chaff over the grass. Here's for creating great soil!!!

NOTE: When mulching a bed in the summer or spring, do not put the mulch directly against the stems of plants. Mulches (especially grass clippings) can become quite hot and actually kill plants. Leave about 4 inches space around plants. Rake the mulch up to the stems in the fall or early winter.

[opabinia51]

I'm just full of posts today! Was at my University Cafeteria the other day and noticed all of the eggshells that they have leftover from breakfast... I'm thinking "Bonus!". Yes, the plan is to ask if I can get the eggshells and then put them into my compost.

I already collect all the eggshells from myself and my room mates and compost them. The more calcium in the soil, the better.


Yes, so my suggestion to other gardeners is to do the same. Save those eggshells, don't put them down the drain or in the garbage.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Hey if Starbucks will part with the grounds, you can claim precedent (although law may not hold much sway with the lunch lady )

[opabinia51]

I actually get all my coffee grounds from a locally owned coffee shop that also roasts it's own beans. So, I also get the chaff leftover from roasting the beans. Bonus!

And it is currently 9:33 in the morning and I have a bucket of eggshells sitting next to me on the floor. Big bonus! The compost will love these.

[Grey]

Eggshells are great

A few months ago when I lived near a Starbucks, I'd happily take home a few of their giant bags of grounds they'd normally throw away. Nobody else in that posh area seemed to care. lol.

I was one of those led to believe grounds were acidic, and had put them all around my roses and hydrangeas.

The hydrangea did great with them. The roses - well it was Florida (I.e. HOT) and I got busy for a few months, so they didn't florish as well as they could have with some actual attention. (sigh).

[opabinia51]

Hey Grey,

Yes chemists looked at used coffee grounds and after doing some simple pH analysis (in the form of a pH test ) found that used coffee grounds are not acidic.

Anyway, glad to hear that you are using them, they are great. After putting them in my South Bed last year (and seeing the results) I have decided to stockpile the grounds and put them on the Vegetable garden and the rest of the beds as well. (And not to mention the beds at my parents place)

I also add leaf mulch and grass clippings. (And in some cases; seaweed as well).

[opabinia51]

A little note on harvesting Jellyfish: Be careful which ones you harvest. If they have any bright colours, don't pick them up!!! The clear guys, generally speaking are okay.

(Reminded myself of that little note this a.m. when I picked up a red jellyfish at Discovery Island, my fingers are still sore! Ouch! )

Oh, and open wounds, do not work well with Jellyfish nematocysts (stinging cells) OUCH!!!!

[Grey]

So Opa - are fresh (unused) coffee grounds acidic then? Just wondering for the next time someone hands out free horrid cheap coffee... I won't drink it but maybe my plants can eat it.

[opabinia51]

Used coffee grounds are not acidic but, unused coffee grounds are. Unused coffee grinds also have caffeine in them. Wouldn't recommend putting them in the garden myself. But, you can try it and let us know how it works.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Sounds like their okay for the garden, but now I'm starting to wonder about coffee...

Scott

[opabinia51]

I do know that acidic soils tend to bind up nutrients such that plants cannot acquire them (plants secrete small amounts of acids to release nutrients from humus) this is why I am leary about using fresh coffee grinds.

Oh and... ha! Yeah, I only drink coffee every now and then, my hot beverage of choice is Black, Oolong and Pu Erh tea. Don't know about the pH of those guys though. Though, they are all made from the exact same plant. But, I won't get into a lesson on making tea.

[The Helpful Gardener]

I've been throwing my tea leavings (Camellia sinense and Monarda didyma) in the pile as well

I've grown fond of green tea (leaf), although my Japanese inclined friends all like the powdered...

[opabinia51]

Actually, (I hate to be a stickler but, I am!) it's Camelia sinsensis is the name of the "tea plant." But yes, I put all my used tea leaves into my worm bin. The worms seem to love it and the plants love the aftermath.

Incidentally, worms love used coffee grounds. If you garden is lacking in worms, just add some used coffee grounds and the worms will definately be there in no time flat!!

Also, for those wanting to undertake sheet composting this year, fall is right around the corner and now is a great time to put some Rye or another cover crop in. October 1st would be turnover day and then start your first layer of leaves.

(I have personally been stockpiling cheap manure all summer to ontop of the leaves)

[TheBigEasy]

I won't get into a lecture about how bad garbage dumps are but, I will get into a lecture on how good all of this so called waste is for your garden.

Coffee Grounds: Coffee grounds are great for your garden, they repel slugs and mites and have an N P K value similar to that of some animal manures.

Anyway, the point being that with all this so called waste, you can make the best darn soil that you will ever find and not have to pay an arm and a leg for soil at the local nursery.

I was wondering about this whole coffee ground thing when I saw that SB was actually giving bags of the stuff away.

If you may remember, I am trying to do the container/deck type of garden, and have grabbed a few of these bags to use, but really have no idea how! Do I mix with soil/potting mix If so, what kind of ratio? Or do I use it more as a mulch in a top layer kind of thing I am also considering adding worms either way to get the soil going really going, and I believe I saw on this forum that worms really dig (no pun intended) the grounds too!

Thanks in advance...

[Grey]

I just toss mine into the compost pile with everything else and mix it all up once in a while.

In FL, where I had a rose garden, I would take a handful (rather, scoopful) of the grounds and scatter it around the bases of the roses. They seemed to appreciate it and bloomed more than usual that year.

Now I don't have a SB near me

I really don't drink much coffee either, so what my plants get now is the contents of my teabags.