Statistically speaking, every German drinks 77,000 cups of coffee over the course of their life, which corresponds to a daily consumption of 0.41 liters - with these quantities, of course, a lot of coffee grounds are produced, which in most households simply end up in the trash. Coffee grounds can be used in a variety of ways, for example they are ideal as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly fertilizer - not just for geraniums.
Can you fertilize geraniums with coffee grounds?
Coffee grounds are ideal as a geranium fertilizer because they are rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. You can either work dried coffee grounds directly into the substrate or use it as a diluted mixture (1 tablespoon of coffee grounds per 10 liters of water) for watering.
Coffee grounds contain many important nutrients
Coffee is rich in various minerals and trace elements that are not completely released from the ground coffee during brewing. This means that there are still plenty of nutrients left in the coffee grounds, especially
- Nitrogen
- Potassium
- and phosphorus.
While nitrogen is important for growth - and especially leaf and shoot growth - summer flowers such as geraniums need a lot of phosphorus to bloom prolifically. Potassium, in turn, ensures, among other things, that the leaves remain a fresh and strong green and do not turn yellow.
Fertilize geraniums properly with coffee grounds
So coffee grounds are ideal as a supplementary geranium fertilizer, although if possible, you should not use the powder fresh from the machine. Instead, the coffee grounds should first be allowed to cool and, if you want to mix them with the planting substrate, dried thoroughly. Damp coffee grounds quickly start to mold and then spoil the plant substrate. In principle, you can use coffee grounds from filter bags, coffee pods or coffee brewed by hand - only coffee from aluminum cans cannot be used.
Work coffee grounds into the substrate
Coffee grounds can be dried by spreading the wet mass out on a flat plate etc. and placing it in a dry, warm and bright place. Finally, dry coffee grounds can be incorporated into the substrate when planting or repotting the geraniums or distributed in the root area of flowers that have already been planted. Then make sure not to just store the coffee grounds on the surface, but to mix them carefully with the substrate.
Dilute coffee grounds
Alternatively, it is also possible to dilute a little coffee grounds with a lot of water and water the geraniums with it. If you choose this option, use about one tablespoon of coffee grounds per ten liters of water. However, the mixture should not get on the leaves or flowers of your geraniums.
Tip
Coffee is slightly acidic and therefore ideal for geraniums, which also love slightly acidic soil.