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I got a good question from Ed Robinette, and I couldnt answer it, thought maybe Dwaine or Steve could. Coffee grounds or cornmeal, do they affect the soil's PH at all, and is there an amount where too much is too much? I cansay I have added about 50 pounds of coffee grounds to my patches, and can do that much again, if I can think it will be most beneficial. It feeds the worms, but what is it going to do to nutrient levels and soil PH?

4/5/2004 11:17:54 AM

Omaha, NE (N41-15-42 )

Coffee grounds are acidic with a ph of between 4.5 and 5.2. I put on about 400 lbs spread over my 600 sq ft patch, though, and it only brought the ph down to 7.0 from 7.2.

4/5/2004 4:16:46 PM

Montoursville, PA

The yellow cornmeal will support your kelp and make an even better healthy plant building program. The cornmeal will add about 1% Nitrogen.
....Your use of fifty pounds of coffee could as well be fifty pounds every week or so. Or by eyeball all the worms will eat. In the soil it will have a modest acid effect which you need anyway. If the worms eat ever grain on top of the soil the kasts will be the finest fertilizer that money can buy and the kasts will be very near to 7.8 PH.
....The kasts will contain lots of enzymes, bacteria, trace elements and all the goodness we all need. I doubt that any reasonable amount up to inches of application would move the patch in any measurable amount.
.....I scatter half a five gallon bucket on the soil surface weekly. The ballance I work into my compost pile. If I see it not being used by the worms or not seemingly going into the soil I hold off a little by eye ball engineering. When I get a little heavy in a spot or two I rake very lightly so as not to tear up the fungi working just under the surface feeding the plant.

The nutrient levels will not spurt or get hot so to speak. Natural is always slow and safe. Any change even if you are not testing would be modestly acidic...while remaining in the original form of coffee grounds. After converted to humus or eaten the change is to very near neutral.

If the worms exceed an inch in diameter and two feet in length stop feeding coffee grounds. :) You may stop using corn meal after you have put it into your patch two or three times.

4/5/2004 4:17:59 PM

Montoursville, PA

Bad typo in above. 7.8PH should have been 7.0 PH.

4/5/2004 4:19:27 PM

Hayes, Virginia

Thanks for the help guys.
have a freind who owns a coffee shop.
wasnt sure how much was to much..
happy growing to all

4/6/2004 11:27:33 AM