Coffee/Tea recycling in the garden?

I read somewhere that tossing used coffee/tea grounds under acid-loving plants is a good idea. I have many azalea and am planting blueberry bushes. Anyone have experience or advice with this?

It's like tossing teacups of water onto a bonfire. It can't hurt, but the effort isn't worth it. If you have alkaline soils, the only way to grow azaleas is to take out the soil and replace it with pure organic matter with sphagnum peat moss as part of the mixture. If you have acidic soil, then you're fine.

The coffee grounds do not contain acid. That was in the coffee drink itself. The grounds are good for the soil, especially for attracting earthworms. Azaleas are easier to grow in regular amended soil than blueberries.

Blueberries need a very acid soil, very fast draining. For this reason, rather than trying to amend the soil I planted my blueberries in huge tree-size nursery pots. They are growing very well there.

Here is a good potting mix for blueberries with planting/growing instructions. It has worked very well for me. I planted them spring of 2007. Had a few berries last year, and a very good crop this year.

http://www.baylaurelnursery.com/order/clicksite.cgi?cart_id=&xm=on&ftr=Blueberries&p=Blueberries

Karen

There is a residue of acid in the grounds, but even if the coffee had not been brewed, the amount needed to be successful with azaleas is infinitesimal. A mixture of 50/50 pine bark mulch and Cadadian sphagnum peat moss is a good mix for an azalea bed. 12 inches under ground level and 12 inches above ground level. The plants will have to be uprooted and replanted as the organic matter breaks down. It isn't worth the heroic efforts. There are other pretty flowering shrubs. Azaleas bloom for a relatively short time and are plain the rest of the year. I know about the Encores, but their reblooming is exaggerated.

Thanks for the info everyone- I also live in 7b, do you leave the blueberries outside for the winter?

Yes, my blueberries were outside all winter. They didn't even loose their leaves. We did have a dusting of snow twice last winter -- very unusual. Because they don't like to dry out completely, I keep them heavily mulched year around. I do have them in morning sun/afternoon shade. Our heat index is 10 -- so a lot full sun plants will fry in the summer here and need to be in afternoon shade instead of full sun.

There have been experiments on the acid in coffee grounds. It is so little that it won't change the soil at all. Just way too little for that. Some place I read where someone has been amending soil with coffee grounds for 30 years as an experiment. No appreciable change in soil acidity. I agree about the azaleas. Very short blooming time for so much trouble. I did get a couple of Encores, and I agree that their re-blooming is highly exaggerated -- I was very disappointed. So, it's back to Rose of Sharon, crepe myrtle, and other reliable, non-fussy bloomers.

Karen

ccfromnc, We are in a similar zone with similar soils. Azaleas do great with no special attention. Just prep the growing hole by turning, and amending with some compost or peat to lighten things up. Our soils are very acid, but heavy, so to lighten them with compost is helpful. Likewise the blueberries. These two plants are all but no brainers here. Feel free to throw your tea and coffee grounds in as well. It's always a good idea, no matter where you live, to start your plants out with a perfect mix when transplanting. However, if you grow plants within your zone and conditions, you don't need to excavate. We grow blueberries, but are limited to rabbit eyes. You may want to make sure your varieties are in keeping with your zone.
Good luck.
Laurel

My soil is fairly neutral -- certainly not acid enough for blueberries. One of the reasons, though, for the large tree pots is that the soil is hard, red clay -- just like concrete -- cannot dig it to amend, and would take way too long if I could. My granddaughter doesn't want to wait years for her blueberries. For other plantings I've built raised beds and lasagna beds.

Karen

Have you had your soil tested by your extension service glendalekid? Seems like most of us are always adjusting for too much acid or tooo alkaline.

Durham is a great growing place. The sky is the limit in my opinion.
Laurel

Yes, but even if it was acid enough, I can't dig it up. My 24-year-old grandson can't even dig it up. The purchased dirt in my raised beds is very close to neutral as well. Except for the blueberries I don't really amend for acid/alkaline. The blueberries are the only thing I grow is very sensitive to that.

Karen

The berry farm that I pick at has all of the blueberries in raised beds. They are about 2 feet tall, with drip irrigation. Our "soil" is loes/limestone/gravel mix`.

We have many U pick blueberry farms near our place in North Georgia. Rabbiteyes are grown here in the deep South. I don't know the growth habit of other types. The rabbiteyes are five to six feet and grow in clay soils generously amended with leaf mold. We grow ours at the edge of the woods and do nothing to cultivate them. We also have wild types that abound in the woods. Due to terrible storms this past Spring, and trees down on our blueberry bushes, many won't make it. Just enough for some cereal sprinkles and snacks this summer. No jam. So sad.
Laurel

Oops! Clear as mud again! The raised beds are about 2 feet tall. The bushes were 4 + feet until last years ice storm. :-(

The beds are just "hilled up" amended soil, well mulched.

I know how you feel, Laurel. Last year I was shocked every time I opened the freezer and didn't see them.