Coffee grounds for MG's ?

Hi everyone,
Saw this link in the roseforum where I am usually hanging around.I also use coffeegrounds,banana peelings etc.for my roses and they love it.Also old coffee for my ferns and roses.not on a regular basis but when I have it it won't go to waste.

Wondering if anyone here is using coffeegrounds or anything else organic for your MG's ?
Thank you.
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2002015354019975.html

I think not. But I'll let the experts at that one. Too much nitrogen is not good. I've talked to Ron about soil and he says the myth that they prefer poor soil is just myth. Esp with Nils. Definitely dmail him. He told me how to amend soil for starting good mgs and i'll go try to find that dmail as it seems like he's not around much lately.

I would not use coffee grounds on MGs....Just Bloom Booster.

Morning glories like a kind of soil called loam. It is a even mix of sand,clay,organic matter and silt. It is a balanced soil. Many people have this kind of soil in their yards with no need to help it. Some people have heavy clay which will need dug and ammended with sand,organic matter and silt. The purpureas usually do well if there is some organic matter already in the soil. I only feed purpureas if they appear to need it and usually one shot of miracle grow will do it. Bloom booster as Beth stated can be good for them if you don`t over do it. They need full sun and too much food and shade will cause lush vines with no blooms.

Ipomoea Nils are a little different and they like rich loam soil which is a even mix of sand,clay, organic matter including rotted down manure and silt which looks like like finely ground up rocks. You can see silt washed up on the land after a flood. I feed the nils light fedings of miracle grow every week in the first month and switch to miracle grow Bloom Booster after that.

Everyone may have a slightly different spin on the perfect way to fix your soil and feed the plants based on what they experienced so check around and get some ideas.

Karen

excellent info. thank you and thanks for the question Brigitte. So karen how much is a light feeding and when do you begin? There's A LOT of flood warnings going on around here today. I wonder if I should go searching for silt? ha!

I use whatever I can find and try to save money whenever possible. If it is cheap or free then we give it a free ride home.

To be less technical, most cheap and or more costly potting mixes have this kind of mixture to them. Scotts has a fine light texture I like. I ask if I can see a sample of the soil and most times somebody else already helped me by ripping a hole in the bag. LOL. I`m sure the workers love that.

I look at the mix and sometimes add this or that if I feel something is lacking. The soil should be light and fluffy, it should drain well, and it should have rotting organic matter included.

I feed the nils regular Miracle Grow 24-8-16 at 1 Tb. per gallon when the nils are about 2 1/2 or 3 weeks old depending on if I think they look ready. A light feed is just enough to wet the roots and no need to waste $$$. Then after 3 more or so weeks I switch to bloom booster.

Karen

No need to go looking for silt either! Silt is just a medium sized soil particle. Sand is a large particle, silt a medium particle and clay is a tiny particle. Soils have all of the above but in different proportions. The best soil is a mix of all three.

The purpureas on the other hand have done great for me with just cheap potting soil and no help exept for water. I did feed some of them but only once or twice at the most because they looked like they needed it and those few feedings were enough to get exellent results. Karen.

This is a youjiro with a Knock Out rose. These youjiros do reseed themselves here n my arden and I know I asked for extra weeding to control them later on. So, this isn`t a good recommendation for anyone but is something I did knowing the consequences. lol

If silt is easy to get where you live by all means use it. I suppose what you use will depend on what is readily available where you live. There are ways to create what is needed in ways than can save you time and money.

Karen

I wouldn't mind the youjiros reseeding here... I love them..

What is silt? I probably should know this but I don't.


I used to use bananas and coffee grounds under my roses in CA too.. I just got three Climbers that I have to put into the ground.. I think that will be all for the roses here.
A.

Thanks for all the detailed help :-)

aren't there any organic growing tricks to make them bloom ? sooner/better/more ?? hahaha

what about alfalfa meal ?

Here`s a few links:

silt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silt

loam:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loam

research on ipomoea nil (check Cultivation Details):

(write http: then copy and paste rest of this on your browser)
//www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Ipomoea+nil

This has a picture to show different soil types:

http://www.cityofbremerton.com/content/wc_soiltypes.html



Karen

Edited to try and fix ipomoea nil link since it wasn`t working.



This message was edited Mar 19, 2008 1:31 PM

I don`t see why you couldn`t fix you up some nice rotted down kitchen compost and try a scoop or two of it in your ipomoea nils. I put rotted down garden clippings and horse manure in some of my nils and they thrived.

Your purpureas need some a tiny bit but not as much organic matter as the nils. Experiment a little with some of your cheaper more common seeds and see what happens. Trial and error eventually can get you the best solutions for your own garden.

Karen

I use coffee grinds on my plants. My mother use all kinds of stuff, dig the area right around the plant and put in eggshells, coffee grinds, and even water from rinsing out rice. I have wild animals around my house (foxes, coyotes and deer) so I am reluctant to use some of the things my mother uses, for fear of attracting wild animals in my own backyard.