Coffee for plants? Oh yeah!
Aug 5, 2008 10:35:55 GMT -10
Post by Dave Evans on Aug 5, 2008 10:35:55 GMT -10
I have tried using coffee for watering Nepenthes, Pinguicula, Heliamphora and Drosera; as well as several non-carnivorous plants like Pothos and this super rare climbing fern. I had minimal results with Pinguicula, but that might because I used only a very small amount. All the rest showed an amazing change, turning much darker green and growing faster. My pothos plant now has leaves five times the surface area as compared to the leaves it has been growing for the last year (in the same exact conditions) before watering it with coffee, I've been growing this clone for years and years, and never knew it had the potential to grow this robustly.
Nepenthes love the coffee. I have only watered them once with it. I tried it on a few plants, saw amazing results and then gave the rest of them some. If your plant is having some sort of nutrient deficiency that feeding insect does not seem to help, the coffee should more than make up for it. I typically see results is four to six week after application. Smaller plant show the change a little more quickly.
Do not over do it or you'll produce conditions of rot by feeding bacteria and fungus already present in the soil. Simply take some cooled, stale coffee you would normally throw out and use it to water your plants once, in place of water. Just once. Do this with your houseplants too.
I would not apply coffee to the soil more than once or twice a year. Do not apply to the leaves or pitchers. It works on seedlings too, but wait until they have used up their cotyledons and have grown out a couple of leaves. Otherwise there will not be any benefit, but could cause weeds and pathogens to over take them when they are still small super small.
Every Nepenthes I tried this on has become much more vigorous, including N. madagascariensis. It does not even look like the same plant as compared to the same time last year. It was always very yellowish and slow growing. Not anymore
Nepenthes love the coffee. I have only watered them once with it. I tried it on a few plants, saw amazing results and then gave the rest of them some. If your plant is having some sort of nutrient deficiency that feeding insect does not seem to help, the coffee should more than make up for it. I typically see results is four to six week after application. Smaller plant show the change a little more quickly.
Do not over do it or you'll produce conditions of rot by feeding bacteria and fungus already present in the soil. Simply take some cooled, stale coffee you would normally throw out and use it to water your plants once, in place of water. Just once. Do this with your houseplants too.
I would not apply coffee to the soil more than once or twice a year. Do not apply to the leaves or pitchers. It works on seedlings too, but wait until they have used up their cotyledons and have grown out a couple of leaves. Otherwise there will not be any benefit, but could cause weeds and pathogens to over take them when they are still small super small.
Every Nepenthes I tried this on has become much more vigorous, including N. madagascariensis. It does not even look like the same plant as compared to the same time last year. It was always very yellowish and slow growing. Not anymore