Gardener shares homemade fertilizer using unexpected ingredients: 'That's really cool'

To improve soil quality and save money, one home gardener is using some seasonal coffee grounds to give her plants all the nutrients they need. 

The scoop

Enaya (@enayuhh) shared a video of her pumpkin spice coffee grounds recipe and strategy on TikTok, including which plants she's using them with. 

@enayuhh Do you think they'll like the pumpkin spice? Haha #naturalfertilizer #coffeegrounds #plantsoftiktok #plantas #señora ♬ Sabor A Mi - Los Suculentos

"I'm fertilizing with coffee grounds. To provide more natural nutrients like nitrogen. Specifically to my lemon tree, my alocasia, and hibiscus plant," Enaya explained. 

The creator added that many home gardeners use coffee grounds for hydrangeas to change the color, but that some plants really need the acidity from it.

Enaya simply mixes in the used coffee grounds sparingly into a watering can and waters her plants with the water-coffee mix, using it on the three plants she researched could get a boost from the acidity.

"I don't know if they'll love the pumpkin spice coffee grounds, but we'll see," she said.

How it's helping

Used coffee grounds contain key nutrients needed by plants to grow, including nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and other minerals, according to The Sill. The grounds can also help improve the structure and water-retaining abilities of the soil.

Using a liquid fertilizer with the grounds works well if you don't compost at home. A teaspoon of coffee grounds per gallon of water is the right balance to not overwhelm your indoor and outdoor plants. The remaining coffee grounds can even be used as a natural cleaning scrub or skin exfoliator. 

Using organic fertilizer can have many benefits, keeping your yard from becoming a hotbed of harmful chemicals and saving you money every year. 

Growing your own food not only saves money — an investment of $70 can yield $600 of produce per year — but it also delivers better-tasting food, improves your mental and physical health, and reduces your pollution footprint from mass-produced and transported produce and fertilizers.

Have you tried composting? My compost game is strong 💪 I've dipped my toes in it 👣 I'm afraid to do it 🫣 I have no interest in it 🙅 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Synthetic fertilizers can contaminate groundwater if overused or disrupt marine ecosystems with complex chemicals, but organic alternatives do not pose the same threats.

What everyone's saying

Commenters were surprised and excited about Enaya's seasonal tip:

"Ohh that's really cool!" one exclaimed. 

Another joked, "If we like pumpkin spice, they must too."

One was excited to try: "Wait, I need to do this! So good!"

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