Maeros Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 So... I came up with an hypothesis about why coffee helps the plants growth... To be honest, i'm a white tea lover, and today, when drinking a cup of tea, a thought came in mind that, while coffee, as well as white tea and it's siblings(Camellia sinensis), increases metabolism in a person, why couldn't it do the same to a plant? So if this is correctly, then the coffee treatment in it self, isn't a fertilizer, but what make the chemical reactions occur faster... be it from the light it receives, the contents from the pitchers or any type of fertilizer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 (edited) The caffeine increases our metabolism by "speeding up" our nervous system. Yes, coffee is fertilizer. It has a lot of nutrients that pure water doesn't, all ready in a very well balanced profile. The coffee bean exists to feed the baby coffee plant, not to make a tasty drink! So yeah, coffee drink does happen to be full of nutrients. But we feel and become addicted to the speed in it. The plants put speed in the bean to poison animals that steal the babies/beans/nutrients. Edited July 11, 2014 by Dave Evans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maeros Posted July 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 (edited) It's true that it have nutrients, but what i'm saying is... it's not the nutrients in the coffee that makes it grow faster, it's the speed as you said... i've noted much bigger difference when seeing pictures of people using just coffee, than those using just a fertilizer; let's say that it does contribute with nutrients, but it's the "extra" what makes coffee special... the speed... in which it makes the plant grow alot faster than the nutrient alone. I may be wrong though... like i said... an hypothesis (: Edited July 11, 2014 by Maeros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Well, it is the fact the coffee is well balanced. There aren't any toxic levels of nutrient or salt which is often the case with chemical fertilizer. If there is another possible affect, it might be that it kills nematodes or other very small pests.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolpenthes Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 If I remember the conversation correctly it was a good way to create a more acidic environment in an otherwise inert soil such as lfs. The wiseman that turned me on to it also suggested not to use it more often than twice a year as a time released fert. Or it would promote rot/fungus. He swore by it for many plants. Nol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paul y Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 seems a bit "bang rock make fire" "me man me hunt" any chance of some actual info to work with here, I drink coffee by the gallon, proper coffee lava java about as strong as you can get, I need it because im addicted to it and if don't get it im likely to hurt things until I do get it. might as well get my neps hooked so dilution rates etc etc? when do you guys get your yes no vote dave? must be soon surely? paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 I use a 3 cup Moka Pot to brew myself a triple espresso every morning. I have on a couple of occasions, re-filled the water and brewed a second, much weaker, espresso for my plants. I can't really say it had any noticeable effect on the plants, good or bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantrid Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 chemicals in coffee dont affect our growth they act on our nervous system, plants dont have a nervous system. Also growth in a plant is not the same as movement and alertness in an animal which coffee affects. But its a nice theory anyway, if it was true maybe I could get my traps to close faster as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolpenthes Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 His mix was 1:3 dark roast to distilled water every 6 months or so :-D He would just boil a pot, let it cool and then mixer up to apply. 'Starbucks' coffee saves all of their grinds for people to use and gives it away for free if you want to be thrifty :-D our local municipality goes through garbage bags of it. Free fert... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Starbucks giving stuff away! They'll be paying their taxes next!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolpenthes Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hahahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Has anyone ever done a controlled experiment to see if coffee works better than anything else? all we have is anecdotal evidence, ie no real evidence at all. When i've tried it it made no difference as far as i can see, other than a typical fertiliser effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paul y Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Has anyone ever done a controlled experiment to see if coffee works better than anything else? all we have is anecdotal evidence, ie no real evidence at all. When i've tried it it made no difference as far as i can see, other than a typical fertiliser effect. my point exactly in bang rock make fire 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Guys, it does work. Everyone knows coffee is a fert, that is why is it used as such by thousands of people. However, there is no reason to be "brewing coffee" for the plants. Rather you just give the plants the coffee which would otherwise be going down the drain when you clean up. The point isn't, does it fertilize better than Miracid? The point is it is way *safer* than using Miracid is on Carnivorous Plants. It is extremely difficult to give your plants a harmful amount of excess nutrient--And this very safer fertilizer is generally free. Whenever I need to fertilize my plants, I just fill a gallon container with the old, now stale, dregs that would otherwise be poured down the drain. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to recover enough. Only plants that do not like acidic conditions have a negative reaction to coffee. Edited July 14, 2014 by Dave Evans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paul y Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 orchid focus by growth technology, i have been told its the doo daas for neps, normal strength foliar application once a fortnight, i know people with huge colourful neps and they told me to use this yesterday. paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Yep, Orchid Fertilizer is specially made for delicate plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Half strength tomato food, much cheaper! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Silverman93 Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 well I'm a coffee believer as it were, my fusca was looking rather miserable, growing slowly and not pitchering, one blast of coffee a few months ago got it going and it hasn't stopped since it just produced this: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctarry Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 orchid focus by growth technology, i have been told its the doo daas for neps, normal strength foliar application once a fortnight, i know people with huge colourful neps and they told me to use this yesterday. paul there are a few orchid focus ferts. grow, bloom and ultra i think. Do you know what is best? I currently use just the grow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Any fertiliser without urea, and with trace elements will do the job. MSU formula is good, although mostly mine rely on snails in the pitchers and what they get out of the peat mix theyre potted in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Over the winter, the sphagnum top layer on my pots (which were planted up last Summer) has turned a greyish dark green saturated mess with a new very fine tiny moss now starting to grow on top in places. I googled the net for possible causes and found nothing. So i didn't know if it was a fungal problem or something else. No problems whatsoever with the nepenthes though, just the sphagnum. I've been racking my brain for months for a cause and i've just had a bit of a lightbulb moment and i'm wondering if it was the coffee fert treatment i gave them back last July. Can anyone confirm if ground coffee makes sphagnum look awful ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Definately sounds like fertiliser causing algae/normal (not sphag) moss growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 I'll take a few pics tomorrow Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Welshy, did you put the grinds on the soil? I wouldn't do that for CP's, but azaleas, blueberries and tomatoes sure would appreciate old coffee grinds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Welshy, did you put the grinds on the soil? I wouldn't do that for CP's, but azaleas, blueberries and tomatoes sure would appreciate old coffee grinds. No Dave, just the filtered liquid. The grounds went in the compost bins. I didn't get time today to take any photos as i was busy doing other stuff, and then i was just browsing through my past photos on my HD and found this one. Remember the Species #1 cutting you sent me Mark ? Well this is a photo of the first pitcher developing, and you can get an idea of how dreadful the sphagnum was looking. The photo was taken in November and i've just realised the moss is looking slightly better at the moment than it does in the photo below, so maybe it's going to recover ? I'll try and get some general photos of the problem moss tomorrow if i get time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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