Ancient Chinese Secret?

thc&me

thc&me

Active Member
While sitting at my favorite Java shop one morning I noticed this little old Chinese woman who would come in every morning and ask the clerk for their used coffee grinds. I was curious as to why she would want them, so in my broken Chinese I asked her what they were for. She told me that she used them for her garden. This piqued my interest, so I bought her a cup of tea and picked her brain a little. She went on to explain that she used a mixture of crushed egg shells, coffee grinds and something she called black honey as a fertilizer for her tomatoes and chillies. When I got home I did a little research on the subject and was quite amazed at what I found. The black honey she mentioned turned out to be Molasses which feeds the microbes in the soil, the coffee grinds are high in nitrogen and the crushed egg shells provide calcium. I decided to experiment with these natural fertilizers in my latest MJ grow and have seen a marked improvement in the health of my plants. Anyone else tried this method?
 
ClamDigger

ClamDigger

Active Member
all of those things make it into my worm composter, and the vermicompost goes to my girls, so yes i have tried that and it works great.
to make eggshells more available, put them through a coffee grinder. one warning about coffee grounds is this- plants hate caffeine. so only used coffee grounds should be composted.

PS, both the Coffee and Eggshells need to be composted to be used to their full potential.
 
jamaicanskunk

jamaicanskunk

Active Member
Thats really the firdt time you have heard that? Maybe you should explore this site a little more. Natural is the best way to go. add all of those things + banana peels into a compost for a well rounded natural fert.
 
ClamDigger

ClamDigger

Active Member
jamaicanskunk said:
Thats really the firdt time you have heard that? Maybe you should explore this site a little more. Natural is the best way to go. add all of those things + banana peels into a compost for a well rounded natural fert.
Click to expand...
NO BANANA PEELS UNLESS THEY ARE SPECIFIED AS ORGANIC.
INORGANIC BANANA'S ARE TREATED WITH EVERYTHING UNDER THEN SUN.
peel those banana's and put the fruit in the compost pile.
 
thc&me

thc&me

Active Member
I'll admit, I'm a newbie when it comes to organics and composting. I've been growing mj for quite some time, but just recently started "going green" so to speak. Forgive me if I seem a little ignorant about the subject, but I'm eager to learn. Also, my grandmother used to bury dead fish in her garden each spring as well. She always had the most beautiful roses. I grow indoors so I'd imagine this would be a bad idea (smell) but it's interesting nonetheless.
 
ClamDigger

ClamDigger

Active Member
Alaska Fish Emulsion is used by quite a few members on this board, myself included.
AFFQ__47787_zoom.jpg
PS, although it says it "wont burn", it will if you use too much.
start with a teaspoon per gallon and slowly work your way up.
and it stinks...alot.
 
thc&me

thc&me

Active Member
This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to compost indoors? I'd imagine the smell wouldn't be too pleasant, so I'm leaning towards "NO", but I don't have access to a yard.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Possible certainly, feasible maybe not. But hell, just depends on how willing you are and to what ends, you could create an airtight box with a composting station inside with carbon filters and fans :D
 
A

allamay1608

Well-Known Member
thc&me said:
While sitting at my favorite Java shop one morning I noticed this little old Chinese woman who would come in every morning and ask the clerk for their used coffee grinds. I was curious as to why she would want them, so in my broken Chinese I asked her what they were for. She told me that she used them for her garden. This piqued my interest, so I bought her a cup of tea and picked her brain a little. She went on to explain that she used a mixture of crushed egg shells, coffee grinds and something she called black honey as a fertilizer for her tomatoes and chillies. When I got home I did a little research on the subject and was quite amazed at what I found. The black honey she mentioned turned out to be Molasses which feeds the microbes in the soil, the coffee grinds are high in nitrogen and the crushed egg shells provide calcium. I decided to experiment with these natural fertilizers in my latest MJ grow and have seen a marked improvement in the health of my plants. Anyone else tried this method?
Click to expand...
I read about this on another thread. I forgot who but he said it works wonders! I have a question. HOw much should you use of each?
 
thc&me

thc&me

Active Member
I personally just mixed the crushed egg shells and coffee grinds straight into my soil mixture before planting. I use 5 gallon pots filled with soil (1\5 worm castings) and mixed approximately 2 cups of used coffee grinds and a dozen egg shells into my soil mixture. Seems to work wonders. My plants vegetated like crazy, but keep an eye on the soil's PH balance. I believe the coffee grinds are quite acidic.
 
D

Drewet1988

Member
thc&me said:
This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to compost indoors? I'd imagine the smell wouldn't be too pleasant, so I'm leaning towards "NO", but I don't have access to a yard.
Click to expand...
I asked myself this same question before and came across something called vermiculture and it seems like it would work. I haven't personally tried it yet but reading up on it shows many ways of doing it indoors and it doesn't take up to much space. I'm no expert and don't know if it would be to helpful in this situation but maybe its something to look into.
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
ClamDigger said:
all of those things make it into my worm composter, and the vermicompost goes to my girls, so yes i have tried that and it works great.
to make eggshells more available, put them through a coffee grinder. one warning about coffee grounds is this- plants hate caffeine. so only used coffee grounds should be composted.

PS, both the Coffee and Eggshells need to be composted to be used to their full potential.
Click to expand...





Plants hate caffein? i used a bunch of fresh crushed coffee to rid slugs. Just sprinkled it on the base of plants to creat a dry desert so the slugs wouldnt wana go by and i heard they hate caffein to. I jus used a hand full what will happen to my plants?
 
snew

snew

Well-Known Member
I get coffee from a local shop and toss gallons of it in my compost each week. And left over coffee goes right on the plants. Coffee is acidic so a little lime with it never hurts.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
thc&me said:
This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to compost indoors? I'd imagine the smell wouldn't be too pleasant, so I'm leaning towards "NO", but I don't have access to a yard.
Click to expand...
A worm bin would be perfect. No smell (if done right), and timewise, ~15 minutes/week is all that's needed. Mostly, the worms just like to be left alone.

Wet
 
thc&me

thc&me

Active Member
I've done a little research about constructing a worm bin and it does seem quite simple. I'm still concerned about the smell indoors (my girlfriend has a nose like a hound dog), but was wondering if baking soda might be added to the compost to prevent smell? The worms may not be too happy about it, I suppose. I'm also worried about fruit flies and mold as they're both treacherous round these parts. Also, does it really take three months for the process to complete? I ask because I'll be needing a considerable amount of soil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top