Composting With Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds can provide a valuable source of nutrition for your garden if used properly. The proper amount to be used depends on the condition of the soil and, more specifically, what you are growing in your garden. Check with your local gardening expert to see what is best for your situation.

Coffee grounds can be applied directly in the garden along with other materials as a side dressing for vegetables, roses, or other plants.
Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen, but are also acidic. Adding brown material such as leaves and dried grass to the mulch will help keep a balanced soil pH.

Coffee grounds act as green material with a carbon-nitrogen (C-N) ratio of 20-1, when mixed in with your compost. Combined with browns such as leaves and straw, coffee grounds generate heat and will speed up the composting process.

What's In Coffee Grounds?

"ND" indicates a sample is below detection limit. Ug/g = microgram per gram.
Type of Nutrient
Nutrient
Proportion of Nutrient
Primary
Nitrogen
1.45%
Primary Phosphorous ND ug/g
Primary Potassium
1204 ug/g
Secondary Calcium 389 ug/g
Secondary Magnesium 448 ug/g
Secondary Sulfur high
ND ug/g