Fertilizing Rose Bushes with Coffee Grounds

Rose bushes are beautiful plants that produce dozens of fragrant blooms everyone can enjoy. But did you know that an easy, cheap way to grow more fruitful rose bushes is through coffee grounds?

After you grind coffee beans for use, the leftover coffee grounds make a great organic fertilizer that is cheap and easy to get your hands on, assuming you're a coffee drinker.

How to Make Coffee Fertilizer

There are several methods for using the coffee grounds to fertilize your rose bushes.

One way is to just put the coffee grinds in a compost heap with other waste from your kitchen, sprinkling the mixture around the roses.

Another method is to just sprinkle plain, dried up grounds at the base of your roses.

Additionally, you can mix 3 parts coffee grounds with 1 part wood ash to mix into the soil around the plants.

Finally, you can mix about a 1/2 pound of used grounds with 5 gallons of water for a mixture you can pour on the rose bushes about twice a month.

Why are Coffee Grinds Good for Rose Bushes?

The reason coffee grinds are so good for rose bushes is because of their high nitrogen content. Roses need neutral to acidic soil, and if you add coffee grinds, it will help take the pH from neutral to acidic.

Coffee grinds also help loosen the soil, which gives the roots more space to grow and helps deliver the nutrients they need to survive.

Plus, astonishingly as it may seem, bugs and pests are repelled by coffee grounds. Coffee is one of the few treats we enjoy that the pests won't try to snag from our kitchens, or gardens, for themselves.

All of these factors have combined to show that coffee grinds directly aid in the growth of roses.

Possible Risk Factors

It is possible to use coffee grounds too much and too often. Remember that the primary benefit from this particular fertilizer stems from how it affects the pH. Applying too much will make your soil too acidic, so be sure not to use more than 1-2 cups of the grinds per rose bush.

Another thing that can occur from overuse of the grinds is that they could go moldy if not worked into the soil correctly.

Collecting Grinds

If you are not a coffee drinker, one way you can get grinds to use on your roses is to have a coffee drinking friend save them for you.

Another sometimes effective method is to go to one of the local restaurants or coffee shops in your area and ask for their old coffee grounds. They will more than likely be happy to save them for you and give them to you for no cost.

Keep in mind, we don't mean local Starbucks facilities or other larger chain stores, as these larger franchises often have policies about their waste and what they can and can't supply members of the public with, even if it's a direct request.

Regardless of the source, coffee fertilizer is nothing to turn your nose up at since the benefits are proven and in many cases you can get it to your roses for no money at all.