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using coffee grounds in garden?

Our local coffee shop re-bags there used coffee grounds and gives it away for use in gardens. Can someone tell me if it is OK to use as a mix with moss peat for planting or do i need to compost it first. I had mixed some in a bag a few days ago with moss peat as it helps with water retention but when I opened the bag today to plant up some hanging baskets there was a white mold growing on top of the soil. Also, will the mold be harmful to my plants if I remix the bag and use it as it is

Public Comments

1. I wouldn't close up a wet bag, period. That's asking for mold. I wouldn't use the moldy parts either. Toss it in trash. Use only part underneath and use it sparingly until next batch. If spread in the sun,the mold will probably be killed. Mix grounds into soil around plants by scratching soil loose. Eventually you'll see your garden soil improve. I've used it a lot. You can actually forget the peat moss and use compost instead. There's more nutrients in it.
2. Coffee grounds are supposed to be good for the plants, I dont know about the white mold... I think the coffee grounds make the green foliage more lush and green. and it keeps dirt loose and resistant to compacting ... its supposed to be good for rose bushes especially. good luck
3. The mould will not help but wont hurt your plants. Coffee grounds should be used with alkaline soil as the more coffee you add the more acid the soil will become. so in conclusion good to neutralise alkaline soil or with plants that prefer an acid soil.
4. I personally have seen Night Crawler farmers use the coffee grounds to attract worms, and you know how beneficial they are to have in your garden!! I will use them in transplanting pots to ground instead of sand to aerate the clay soil and mix with cow manure.
5. In my experience it's not harmful, just not pleasing, especially in "household" plants. Mixing it in to the soil first would be best (do no use a lot, I did and every time I watered the plants gave off a "used" coffee smell...yuck!). It would work better in an outdoor/garden situtation. If you want to use them in household plants, compost them with the moss and the soil, first. Mold is an indication that the grounds are wet, mold needs a damp environment to grow. Note: "potting soil" does not always have all the correct bacteria in them to compost things with, most potting soils commerically bagged have been sterilized. "....Coffee grounds are, indeed, a good thing. As with anything organic - moisture and warmth will create mold. I would suggest mixing it with your potting soil throughout, rather than layering it on top. It can also form a crust when dry, which might not allow your soil to breathe properly. Used indoors, I think it's best as an amendment to the overall soil. The majority of folks use grounds outside in the garden as a soil amendment (not a mulch) - or they compost them first...." "...the most common contaminates of used coffee grounds are trichoderma (forest green mold), cobweb mold and your basic pin molds. All of which will appear white while in their vegetative stages as mycelium - for lack of a better term, it's the "roots" of fungus - grows. Within a couple days it should turn very green, get very whispy like cobwebs or look like little miniature bean-sprouts with little black dots on top of them...respectively. All are harmless, health-wise, and the spores of which run rampant through your breads and grains as well as where ever they're stored. ....Regardless, if you have any inclination of stock-piling coffee grounds for storage - anything more than a couple days actually - it's a lot easier to pour them out in a shallow container or even a tarp to let them sun-dry for a couple days. Once dry they can't be colonized by molds, etc... The last thing you want to do is keep them moist in a relatively stagnant air environment as that creates the ideal germination environment for molds..."
6. You can sprinkle the grounds on anything that likes acidic soil like azaleas, camellia's or gardenia's. They are also good for adding to your compost pile but it's not necessary to compost them prior to adding them to your garden. As far as the white mold, it's just from being in a dark, wet place. Once you open up the bag and spread out the grounds, the mold will dry out and die. Best of luck Guru of Gardens
7. I'll give a quick answer. I am not certain but I do believe that if you were to compost the coffee grounds first it would be very benificial to you as Nightcrawlers seem to love it! Which means if you set up a compost bin, line it with panty hose, then dump in the green and brown stuff with coffee grounds it may keep any worms you put in there happier! And the happier they are the more they probably are able to compost, which makes you a happier gardener!
8. Put in Composter first