Coffee Grounds On Tomato Plants: Why And How

Adding coffee grounds on tomato plants may benefit your crops. Here’s a few reasons to try it!

Organic gardening can seem impossible when you’re starting out. The market is flooded with synthetic fertilizers, and gaining knowledge about organic ones takes time. Coffee grounds are a quick, easy-to-use organic fertilizer that even beginners can master.

In this article, I explain how you can keep your garden organic with coffee grounds on your tomato plants, what coffee does for your soil, and how tomatoes can benefit if you add it to your soil mix. 

Organic Gardening With Coffee Grounds As Fertilizer For Tomatoes

Although not scientifically proven, many gardeners believe coffee grounds benefit their tomato plants.

There’s no concrete evidence to show coffee grounds make tomatoes grow faster or kill pests around them. However, gardeners have taken it upon themselves to test this theory out. 

Many tomato plant enthusiasts report a difference in their tomato gardens compared to when they weren’t using coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are a popular fertilization method for organic gardening.

Will Coffee Grounds Kill Plants?

Coffee grounds won’t necessarily kill your plants, but they may hold some disadvantages. 

Tomato plants love acidic soil. Coffee grounds bring the pH balance of soil down, making it perfect for this red fruit. The plants next to them don’t like this as much. You might want to skip the coffee grounds if you grow different crops in the same beds as your tomatoes. 

Coffee grounds can leave other crops without the nutrients they need and suck the water in the soil up. This can stunt growth. 

Your plants may even dehydrate. Coffee grounds group together to form a thick, hard layer. This can stop water from running through the soil to your plant’s roots. 

Do Coffee Grounds Add Nitrogen To Soil?

Apart from making the soil acidic, one of the biggest advantages for tomato plants is the nitrogen present in coffee grounds. Most gardeners use coffee grounds in their organic gardens because of this. 

Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These vital minerals fertilize the soil and help you grow healthy tomatoes. Coffee also acts as a slow-release fertilizer to ensure your tomato plants are fed for a longer period.

Reasons To Add Coffee Grounds On Tomato Plants

Although none of these benefits have been proven, you can still add coffee grounds to the soil around your tomato plants for the next reasons.

Coffee Grounds Contain Vital Minerals

Coffee grounds are packed with minerals like nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. Adding them to your soil will slowly release these to your plant roots.

Coffee Grounds Contain Vital Minerals

Coffee Grounds Make Soil More Acidic

Tomatoes thrive in acidic soil. Adding coffee grounds will lower the pH level of your soil to help it meet your plants’ requirements. 

You should use coffee grounds mixed into peat moss for the best results. The acidity in the coffee grounds will reduce over time.

Take Out Time to Also Read:

Coffee Grounds May Prevent Fungal Diseases – Coffee Grounds On Tomato Plants

 Some harmful fungal diseases that affect tomato plants include anthracite fruit rot and early flight. Many gardeners claim that coffee grounds help combat these diseases and keep their plants healthy. 

Coffee Grounds May Keep Pests Away

The love slugs have for tomato plants is one-sided. These critters can harm your harvest, leaving ugly and inedible tomatoes behind.

Researchers tested the effect coffee grounds have on slugs, and it turns out that they don’t want to come near it. There’s no reason to not give this slug repellent a try!

Cats also don’t like the smell of coffee, so they won’t use your soil as a litter box if you use grounds. 

Caribou Coffee, Medium Roast Ground Coffee – Caribou Blend 20 Ounce Bag

Coffee Grounds On Tomato Plants

How Do You Add Coffee Grounds To Tomato Plants?

There are many options if you want to add coffee grounds to your organic garden. Here are some ways you can use it to benefit your tomato plants:

Mixing Coffee Grounds Into The Soil

You can simply mix some coffee grounds into your soil before planting your tomato seeds or seedlings. This will allow it to act as a root fertilizer.

The coffee grounds will ensure nitrogen levels in your soil rise. It will also help keep pests away and make the soil more acidic and favorable for tomato growth.

Just be careful to not add too much to your soil. Doing this can cause drainage issues and harm other plants nearby.

Use Coffee Grounds In Your Compost – Coffee Grounds On Tomato Plants

Mixing coffee grounds into your already established compost is the best and safest way to use it. This will ensure your plants receive the benefits of coffee grounds and the compost you choose.

Your final compost mix should contain a 1 to 4 green to brown ratio. Coffee grounds are considered a green compost material.

Use Coffee Grounds As A Mulch

Mulch helps keep moisture in the ground, prevents weed growth, and promotes a healthy composition. Mixing coffee grounds into your regular mulch will ensure your tomato plants get extra nitrogen.

Add Coffee Grounds In The Water

You can create a liquid fertilizer by making coffee with coffee grounds and water. You should add no more than 2 cups of ground with 5 gallons of water. 

I suggest spraying it on your tomatoes at least once a week.

How Do You Add Coffee Grounds To Tomato Plants

Wrapping Up – Coffee Grounds On Tomato Plants

Coffee grounds are relatively cheap, easy to get, and even easier to use in an organic garden. Adding it to your tomato beds can greatly benefit them and help you harvest more healthy tomatoes than ever before!

While no concrete evidence has been penned about the use of coffee grounds on tomato plants, many gardeners live by it. It’s a key ingredient in keeping tomato plants healthy when organic gardening. If you keep the ratio of coffee grounds to other soil nutrients balanced, you have nothing to lose by at least trying.

I hope you found this article helpful and enjoyed reading it. If you have more questions about using coffee grounds in your garden, ask them in the comments.