Roses need nutrients to grow and flourish. Coffee grounds can be used to add some of those nutrients to your soil. Like all fertilizers, you have to be careful how you apply it to your roses' soil.
Do roses like coffee grounds? Yes, roses do like coffee grounds when they are added correctly to the soil. In this article, I explore the best ways to add them to your rose garden.
When to use coffee grounds for your roses
When deciding do your roses like coffee grounds, you have to take several things into consideration.
If you make your own cup of coffee every morning and you don’t want to waste all that leftover coffee grounds, you can actually use it as fertilizer for your roses and other plants.
It is because coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, which is an important nutrient for growing roses. But like any type of fertilizer, you need to use coffee grounds carefully because too much of it could actually burn and kill your precious plants.
Although you probably have a steady supply of coffee grounds at home, you can’t just apply them to your roses whenever you want to. In fact, you should only use it from April to May right after winter when your roses are already beginning to bear new leaves. This is because coffee grounds need time to penetrate the soil.
If you apply it as winter approaches, your roses’ new growth could just die because of frost. Choosing the right timing for applying your coffee grounds will ensure that you get to enjoy the full bloom of your roses after the nutrients have absorbed completely and nourished them adequately during the warmer months.
Do coffee grounds help roses?
Coffee grounds do help roses.There are many benefits to using coffee grounds to fertilize your rose garden. Aside from being a rich source of nitrogen, coffee grounds also contain other minerals that help promote the growth of plants including chromium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron.
Coffee grounds help roses in other ways. Coffee grounds also contain elements that help absorb heavy metals in contaminated soil, so your roses can grow healthy and produce flowers fast. Of course, coffee grounds are attractive to worms, which play an important role in creating the right environment to grow your roses.
How to use coffee grounds on roses
You may be wondering how to use coffee grounds on roses. Moderation and the right timing are key to using coffee grounds effectively to fertilize your rose garden. Here are some steps to help your roses like coffee grounds:
Put coffee grounds in your roses' compost
You don’t have to throw away your coffee grounds and even your used coffee filters when it’s not the right time to put them in your roses' soil. Instead, you can add them as part of your compost for later use.
Composting is one of the best ways to create the right organic fertilizer for your plants. You can use leaves, food scraps, coffee grounds, and egg shells to create a compost in your backyard that you will be able to use during the warmer months.
Adding compost to your roses helps to improve your roses’ health by allowing the soil to retain more nutrients and water.
In fact, a study found that compost that contains coffee grounds and kitchen waste has more nutrients than one that’s made with just waste. It’s also safer for the environment since it emits fewer greenhouse gas emissions than that of regular compost.
Aside from coffee grounds, you can also add leaves, shredded newspaper, grass clippings, herbs, stale bread, barks, fruit, and vegetable trimmings to your compost to make it as effective as possible in fertilizing your rose garden.
Apply coffee grounds directly on your roses' soil
If you happen to have a stock of coffee grounds during the summer or you get some from your favorite coffee shop, you can put them directly on the soil in your rose garden.
You just need to mix them into a few inches of soil or simply sprinkle them on the ground where they can do their job. You don’t have to do any digging when using coffee grounds as a direct fertilizer to avoid disturbing the roots of your roses.
The grounds will eventually be absorbed by the soil, especially with the help of worms. Just make sure that you don’t put too much coffee grounds or pile them up since they can create a barrier that will make it hard for your soil to absorb water.
If you have the time, you can create a coffee ground tea concoction for your plants. Simply mix two cups of coffee grounds with five gallons of water and leave it to steep overnight. You can then transfer some of the mixture into a spray bottle and use it as liquid fertilizer for your roses. This is actually a great idea because it saves you the hassle of watering your roses after.
Create a coffee ground pest barrier around your roses
Roses are attractive to several insects and pests, but you can use coffee grounds to keep them away from your precious garden. Since coffee grounds have a strong smell, you simply need to sprinkle them around the perimeter of your rose garden as a barrier against different types of pests.
They are even effective in keeping cats away from using your rose garden box as their litter box because of the abrasive aroma of coffee grounds.
Use coffee grounds in your roses' mulch
The best pH for roses is based on the type of roses your are growing. Roses are acid loving plants since they like their soil to have a pH level between 6.0 and 6.5. Coffee grounds can add some acidity to your soil which can be beneficial for your roses. Just make sure to avoid using coffee grounds on very young rose plants. The high acid content may cause them to die.
Roses also attract weeds. You can use coffee grounds around your roses and in your mulch to keep the weeds from growing fast.
This will help you save time in removing weeds that will compete with your plants in getting nutrients and water from the soil.
It’s also essential to use them cautiously if you have pets since ingesting coffee grounds could cause hyperactivity, especially in dogs and cats.
Create a vermicompost
It’s no secret that worms love coffee grounds and you know that they are very helpful in maintaining a healthy soil for your rose garden. So if you are interested in trying vermicomposting, you can actually use coffee grounds to feed your worms.
Then, you can move these worms into your rose garden where they can help pull the coffee grounds under the soil to make sure that all their nutrients are absorbed well for your plants to enjoy.
How often should you put coffee grounds on roses?
Coffee grounds can be put in your roses soil once a week if they need it. You may find that your roses only need to be fertilized once a year. If this is the case, you don't want to add coffee grounds to your roses often.
You also need to consider the type of roses you are growing and your soil when making a schedule for putting coffee grounds on your roses.
Do roses like coffee grounds summary
Your roses will like coffee grounds. Add them at the right time of year. Use the right amount. Apply them correctly. Follow these simple guidelines and your roses will get all the benefits coffee grounds have to offer.
