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There are different ways to use coffee grounds, and it is first beneficial to remember the grounds are acidic; this might indicate that highly alkaline soil can either benefit the most, or at least benefit with the least amount of work on your part.

Adding your grounds can simply mean depositing your morning's used grounds directly in the soil outside, whether by a flower bed, in your container plants, or in the garden itself, but you can certainly choose to get more creative.

Some people recommend adding the grounds directly to flower beds and compost piles; some add them directly to houseplants, then add water and stir gently (or overturn the soil) with a fork. When adding coffee grounds to compost heaps, Starbucks' website recommends mixing the grounds with leaves and straw "to generate heat" and "speed up the composting process."

Some gardeners even recommend adding the grounds to alkaline soil to "bring in the worms!" Serious gardeners also recommend asking Starbucks for their used grounds, and they generate a serious amount of used grounds in their stores, apparently "enough to equal 4 747's per year in weight!" This is a wise way to use this common "refuse" while benefiting your house plants and garden.

Additionally, some people have even testified to pouring their cool liquid coffee on houseplants with good results. Others mix the coffee grounds directly in with their potting soil, making it easier to regularly utilize the grounds without any noticing extra work.

Coffee grounds can also be used to mulch, and one website claims this works particularly well for container plants. If you are short on gardening space, this can be particularly useful.

You can find out more about what is in coffee grounds (and how to use them) by accessing Starbucks website, where nitrogen, calcium, potassium levels and more are displayed. They also provide valuable links to other composting sites.

Sources:

http://www.susta inableenterprises.com/Business /coffeefert.htm

http://www.star bucks.com/aboutus/compost.asp

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