I live in a very fertile area, the Arkansas Delta. We can grow some great tomatoes, corn, soybeans, rice, etc. with very little soil preparation. So, I've been doing some research and people say to put used coffee grinds and eggshells in gardens to help with plant growth. Does this help with peppers? I was considering throwing some of it down and tilling it in my soil.
-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
Coffee Grinds & Eggshells
- Thread starter MizNitch
- Start date
I'm sure it will help, but for me the plants in 5 gallon pots did a lot better mainly because I was able to control the pH and nutrient intake a LOT more. In the ground you have a lot less control. I would do a soil analysis first to determine the pH to see if you even need to add coffee grounds or calcium. I think it's all about giving plants exactly what they need without giving them too much.
The problem is that the coffee grounds and eggshells need to decompose to help. It will take severals months to do this. Think of it as a compost pile in the planting hole. If you put them in in the fall, there is plenty of time for this to happen. If you put them in now, it will help in the long run, but not now. I also have better luck in containers with peppers mostly due to only having hard as a rock heavy clay to work with for soil. I know some people have excellent results in grould though.
jacob
jacob
jacobs right but cofee grounds decompose faster than the eggshells so in about two months they will start to fully act. Before then you may see a slight improvment due to the minerals in the grounds being released into your soil but by two months it'll go into full swing. For egg shells i recomend drying them and the putting them in the blender and powdering them for a slow release fertilizer. If you make it really coarse however it will not only fertilize but repel slugs and snails.
Peppers especialy C.Chinense seem to like extra calcium especialy when they bud and fruit.
I'd think eggshells would be breaking down right about the time it needs it for budding etc.
In my pots eggshell takes a lot longer to break down than bonemeal but not as long as oyster shell(ground up into sand).
Thats going by my plants behavior.
Also an acid soil will disolve the shells -make the calcium usable to the plants faster than a more neutral soil.
In acid soil the calcium can disolve rather quickly compared to less acid soils.
It will change the PH of the soil for as long as it's disolving but it depends on how much you use as to how much and long of a time it will do so.
If your soil is acid naturaly then eventualy it will return to acid as soon as the shells or whatever is gone/used up by the plant.
I grow in pots so my soil almost always is at least slightly acid due to the wood products and peat turning it acid as it breaks down.
I add calcium to my plants often if I see leaf curl or they are budding.
I tried Coffee grinds once and had problems with water retention in my pots from the grinds.
I read to compost them first if using them in pots or use them as a mulch rather than a soil additive.
They are like coco bean husks.
They smell great but break down and hold too much water if mixed in as an ingrediant in a potting soil mix.
Supposed to be high in nitrogen -I think I read.
Break down fast so they are supposed to be great for when you first pot up your sprouts outside in their growout containers.
Since they break down fast they are supposed to be used up by the time the plant needs less nitrogen and more phosphorus and potasium for fruiting and buds.
As a side note,grinds seem to attract bugs,gnats and june beatles/grubs.
Since I've been using a lot of fine orchid bark in my mixes it seems to have solved that problem though.
Bugs don't seem to like the bark.Maybe it has the properties cedar does that repels bugs.It is labled as redwood/fir bark
I'd think eggshells would be breaking down right about the time it needs it for budding etc.
In my pots eggshell takes a lot longer to break down than bonemeal but not as long as oyster shell(ground up into sand).
Thats going by my plants behavior.
Also an acid soil will disolve the shells -make the calcium usable to the plants faster than a more neutral soil.
In acid soil the calcium can disolve rather quickly compared to less acid soils.
It will change the PH of the soil for as long as it's disolving but it depends on how much you use as to how much and long of a time it will do so.
If your soil is acid naturaly then eventualy it will return to acid as soon as the shells or whatever is gone/used up by the plant.
I grow in pots so my soil almost always is at least slightly acid due to the wood products and peat turning it acid as it breaks down.
I add calcium to my plants often if I see leaf curl or they are budding.
I tried Coffee grinds once and had problems with water retention in my pots from the grinds.
I read to compost them first if using them in pots or use them as a mulch rather than a soil additive.
They are like coco bean husks.
They smell great but break down and hold too much water if mixed in as an ingrediant in a potting soil mix.
Supposed to be high in nitrogen -I think I read.
Break down fast so they are supposed to be great for when you first pot up your sprouts outside in their growout containers.
Since they break down fast they are supposed to be used up by the time the plant needs less nitrogen and more phosphorus and potasium for fruiting and buds.
As a side note,grinds seem to attract bugs,gnats and june beatles/grubs.
Since I've been using a lot of fine orchid bark in my mixes it seems to have solved that problem though.
Bugs don't seem to like the bark.Maybe it has the properties cedar does that repels bugs.It is labled as redwood/fir bark
I always add coffee grounds and eggshells to my compost and/or worm farm and then into my pots. I find tomatoes really like the calcium moreso than peppers which seem to need more magnesium. The eggshells may not decompose quick but they are also great for keeping slugs, snails, and some other small pests away if you crush them and place pieces on top of soil
MizNitch said:
Most universities have the ability to analyze your soil for you. Just take a sample and mail it to them. For me I used this link since i'm in cali. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/TURF/SITEPREP/soilan.html
Here is some good basic info from the same site on growing peppers. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/peppers.html
I like to take a scientific approach to my hobbies so I did a lot of reading and research and had good results with my 5 gallon containers. I didn't want to go any larger as I didn't over winter any of my plants. If you do plan on overwintering them 7-10 gallon may be a better fit.