Hey all! I have heard from many many growers that you can chuck your used coffee grinds into compost for a light Nitrogen boost (around 2%), along with trace nutrients- I have read about people mixing it in with their soil mix for the same reason. It's also a great organic pH down. I am currently experimenting with organics in my DWC setup, and I thought of something I can't seem to find ANYTHING about on the internet: Adding coffee to my nutrient solution. My first thought was to brew a cup and put some of that in my recipe, but then realized that would bring my pH to a level I'm not comfortable with. So my second idea was to brew a cup, dump it out, and brew another one in the same used grounds- it would cut back drastically on the acidity of the fresh coffee, and also pre-dilute my potential additive. My main question is: Has anyone tried putting coffee in their system? If so, how were the results? How much did you add? If not, what do you think of this idea? Additional info: I'm raising a mother Super Silver Haze right now, this is the plant I'm experimenting with. It's 3 weeks old in DWC, been giving it a light fish emulsion in the mix and the roots are growing way faster than I've ever seen before. Time for a N boost to get this lady going up top! ps I do not have a PPM meter Thanks in advance to everyone who took the time to read and contemplate this, I appreciate everyone here! -Tricky:read2:
You add the coffee when you brew your compost tea. If you are doing organics, you should be using something like dolomite lime, so you shouldn't have to worry about any PH shifts. NEVERMIND. Just read the DWC part. That is for soil.
Tricky. Dunno bout coffee, but I do know you shouldn't keep a mom in DWC. No need for explosive growth in your mother plants.
Hey Tricky, like FF mentioned a mother in DWC seems odd unless she's just short term. You'll have clones out the ass and she'll be sucking the bucket dry before you know it. How are you rooting the clones? If it were me, I'd flower that momma after you've got several clones rooted and plant a couple in soil for a long term mother. Be Cool, CG
Hey! Thanks for the welcome So when I got my feminized beans from my breeder, I was all excited about mothering (in soil) a special strain he sent me called Scarlet Flame(some of the best smoke in the world IMO), and the f**ker turned out to be male:BangHead: - the odds were ever NOT in my favor... broke my heart to chop it down(I saved some pollen sacs for the future ;]) --- Anywho, by the time I figured that out, my SSH seedling was already poking her roots out into the res of my DWC. I figured that due to my loss, I'd turn her into a mother and get a good batch of clones. I guess it's never too late to transplant into soil, I'd just have to take all the hydroton tangled in the root ball with it. My plan was to just clone 80% of her, let her recover a bit, flower it, put the best clone in soil to be a mama (CG nailed it), and SOG the rest. Lion - Have you used coffee before in your grows? I'm a n00b when it comes to organic hydro, I'm all about my Fox Farms chemical nutes; I'm just doing an experiment and seeing if I can save money with similar results =p .. from what I understand, there doesn't seem to be a difference between putting coffee grounds in with your tea and brewing the coffee and putting the brewed liquid in the tea (right?) .. Like I said, I don't know. What I do know is I don't get paid for 2 more weeks and my baby needs a Nitrogen boost NOW. lol -Tricky
to the Show Tricky I'm just an organic dirt farmer but I've never heard of anyone using fish emulsions in DWC. I have a hard enough time leaning that shit out of my mixing cups & couldn't imagine the PIA it would be to clean your buckets, hoses and the ressy, probably the pump too. Cheers Duc
I've been very happy using one gallon smart pots for my moms. Every 3-4 months I prune about 50% off the roots & repot with fresh soil, keeps em nice and healthy. Duc
Hello Tricky I am an organic soil man myself but I mainly use coffee for nitrogen.. Not left over grounds but the actual ground coffee. I do agree that it can be used in a "Tea",and with great success. The pH issue is something else.
That's a good idea:thumbsup:. I've had mothers in the past that got so big and bushy they were almost impossible to keep under control. Then they'd get root bound and struggle. I'll have to give that a try!!! Be Cool, CG
TYPO I dunno why I had fish emulsion on the brain, guess I was reading about it and typed it by accident.. I haven't been using fish emulsion, I've been using seaweed in my tea. . So since this is my one plant not in flowering at the moment(still building my new veg box), I was really hoping to Nitro boost the hell out of this little lady early on so I could continue my perpetual harvest with minimal hiccups in timing. She seems like a strong plant, Most likely mama material IMO, So I probably should switch her over to soil to get the most out of her while I figure out what organic hydroponics are all about. That way I can give her coffee with no incident. how's that sound? -Tricky
CG here's and old thread from the OverGrow Archive that I dug up a few months ago about keeping bonsai moms that also covers root pruning. Cheers http://forum.growkind.com/showthread.php?t=47563
Tricky BTW I LOVE that avatar :roffl: That's me half the time- wild eyed. About the mom in a DWC bucket, your plan sounds fine. I just though you were planning on keeping a mom in there long term, and it just seems like that would be hassle. I keep my moms in 3 gallon smart pots, but haven't had them there long enough to need to transplant or trim roots. Also, my understanding is the fabric pots and airpots too for that matter employ air pruning, making root trimming unnecessary - thus the big attraction for use for moms.
While it's true that mom won't become super root bound in a smart pot the root ball will become dense enough that watering becomes a pain. At one point or another the soil becomes so packed with root fibers that it will hardly absorb water, almost to the point of being hydrophobic. Water sill just sit on the surface for minutes without being absorbed. Stabbing holes in the soil with a #2 Phillips screwdriver will help it's probably not the best practice over the long haul.
Thanks everyone for the info/opinions - I went ahead and experimented with the coffee on a young clone, and didn't really notice a change except the water pH was hard to manage. Since coffee offers only a minute amount of N to begin with, I don't see it playing much of a role in organic hydro(at least for my garden). There are simply better ways to get a N boost. -Tricky
Coffee grounds aren't meant as a N fert by themselves, they are meant as a meal for the microorganisms in a soil or compost. The PH of coffee is around 6.5-6.8, so it is almost neutral.