Coffee grounds are one of the best good organic fertilizers for your garden but are they good for blueberry plants? Before you fertilize your blueberry plants with coffee grounds, read this first.
When it comes to applying coffee grounds to your plants, here’s what I know:
Yes, Blueberry plants grow well with Coffee grounds because they’re acid-loving plants. Coffee grounds are highly acidic, so plants like Azaleas, blueberries, Hydrangeas, daffodils, can benefit a lot from organic soil nutrients. However, avoid using coffee grounds to soil rich in nitrogen, otherwise you could hinder the growth of blueberries, fruits, and flowers.
Using Coffee Grounds as Fertilizer
Most people and gardeners add coffee grounds to the soil as fertilizer due to their high nitrogen content. In the right amount, Nitrogen is an essential nutrient necessary for plants’ growth and development.
Coffee grounds can be added to soils that lack Nitrogen to give a boost to the Nitrogen content. However, this must be done carefully and sparingly as it’s a delicate balance.
Adding too may coffee ground can lead to excess Nitrogen content in the soil and excess Nitrogen in the soil can stunt plants’ growth.
Aside from boosting the Nitrogen content in the soil, coffee grounds are acidic and would make your garden soil more acidic. This means that coffee grounds are great for some plants, especially acid-living plants.
Adding a little amount of coffee grounds to neutral or alkaline soil when planting acid-loving plants can help the plant to flourish. However, for other plants, coffee grounds can make the soil too acidic, leading to discoloration of plants and stunted growth.
Are Coffee Grounds Good for Blueberry Plants?
The effects of coffee grounds on the soil seem to fall in line with the needs of blueberry plants. Blueberry plants need a consistent supply of Nitrogen and can benefit from fertilizers with high Nitrogen content. Blueberry plants also and love acidic soil.
Hence, the short answer to the question above is yes! Coffee grounds are good for blueberry plants. In fact, Blueberries are among the top plants that can benefit from coffee grounds.
Though coffee grounds are very good for Blueberry plants, you can still end up adding too much to your garden soil, which is not good for blueberry plants. Before you add coffee grounds to your garden soil, make sure that you test the soil to see the natural levels of Nitrogen in the soil as well as what the soil pH is.
If your garden soil is already high in Nitrogen content or is already acidic, then you shouldn’t add the coffee grounds. A few coffee grounds from one or two cups of coffee should be enough for one Blueberry bush. Sprinkle the coffee grounds over the soil and gently work them into the top several inches of your garden soil.
When applying the coffee grounds, use a little and try as much as possible to spread them out rather than putting them all in one spot.
Spreading the coffee grounds will not only help them to break down faster but also reduce the risk of any other close garden plants suffering from a sudden rise in nitrogen content.
What Else to Use Coffee Grounds for?
Now you know that you can use coffee grounds for your blueberry plants. But are there other things you can use coffee grounds for?
If you’re an ardent coffee drinker, you’ll still likely have leftover coffee grounds even if you add some to the soil around your blueberry plants.
Do you have to throw the rest of the coffee grounds into the garbage? No, there are other things you can do with them.
1). They Keep Pests Out
Coffee grounds can help to keep pests out. If you have a compost bin, you can add some coffee grounds to the mix to keep pests away.
You can also leave some coffee grounds on the edges of your garden, or in areas that are frequently visited by pests, to keep some soft-bodied pests out.
2). They Absorb Unpleasant Smell
Coffee grounds can also help to mask and absorb unpleasant smells. Simply place a bowl of coffee grounds in your refrigerator, car, or any other areas you want to keep odor off for a few days. This will help to get rid of any persistent less pleasant odors.
If you’ve been crushing some garlic or chopping onions and don’t want those smells on your hands, you can rub coffee grounds over your hands to take away the scents.
3). They Offer a Great Way to Get Rid of Fleas
Aside from getting rid of unpleasant smells, coffee grounds offer a great way to get rid of fleas. Rub some coffee grounds into your pet’s fur during a bath to get rid of fleas but don’t forget to rinse the coffee grounds all out afterward.
4). To Make Fur and Hair Shinier and Darker
Rubbing some coffee grounds into your pets’ fur may even make their fur look shinier.
Some people also claimed that they use coffee grounds on their hair to increase the shine and darken the color. Although this last point has only been backed by limited scientific research.
Other Care for Your Blueberry Plants
Always Test Your Garden Soil
Just as stated above, Blueberry plants thrive in acidic soil. Always check the pH level of your garden soil where you planted the blueberry plants to ensure that the soil remains very acidic. The optimal pH level for blueberry plants is 4.0 to 5.5.
Though some blueberry plants can tolerate slightly higher pH levels, Blueberries generally perform optimally in very acidic soil.
If your garden soil has a pH level above 5.5 or is alkaline, then you’ll need to acidify the soil for your Blueberry plants by adding some coffee grounds to the soil.
You can also add a soil additive like sulfur and vinegar to acidify the soil.
Blueberry Plant Require an Abundance of Nitrogen
Although Blueberry plants may not require much fertilizer, one nutrient that is required in abundance by Blueberry plants is Nitrogen. Blueberry plants need Nitrogen in a large amount. Coffee grounds are a good source of Nitrogen for Blueberry plants.
To add coffee grounds to your soil, simply spread about four to five cups of dry coffee grounds around the ground underneath each blueberry plant.
Then rake the coffee grounds into the top layer of soil. You can do this at any time of day as well as repeat the process every two to four weeks until your soil is rich in Nitrogen.
Important Note
If your Blueberry plants are already healthy and yielding fruit, they don’t need to be fertilized. In most cases, Blueberry plants thrive without much fertilization and don’t require so much added soil nutrients – except Nitrogen and organic matter.
Conclusion
Now you should stop wasting your coffee grounds or throwing them into the kitchen waste or compost bin.
Coffee grounds are very good to help Blueberry plants thrive, so you should put them on the soil where your Blueberries are planted to increase the soil’s acidity and Nitrogen level.
Whether you have a garden of Blueberry plants or not, keep the used coffee ground in a bowl to absorb some unpleasant smells in the kitchen or fridge, place them around strategic places to keep pests out, or rub them into your pet’s fur to get rid of a few fleas.
