Oriental Lilies - Allelopathy - Caffeine

Leo A. Martin leo@possi.org
Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:37:12 PDT
Hello Catherine,

> For months, I have been collecting by the garbage bagful, courtesy of my
> local Starbucks, large plastic sacks of their used coffee grounds for my
> garden.

Composted organic material is good for most plants. Some fresh organic
matter makes good top dressing but not all.

I have discovered that putting fresh coffee grounds on the soil in pots
during humid weather leads to a lot of mold growing on the coffee grounds.
I don't like the looks of this.

Some cycad growers say fresh coffee grounds as top dressing inhibit or
kill the Asian cycad scale which is devastating genus Cycas in the
southeast of the USA and in Guam.

Leo Martin
Phoenix Arizona USA


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