You Might Already Have This Common Item in Your Pantry That Helps Tomato Plants Grow Healthy

Tomatoes are a staple item waiting to be checked off on most household grocery lists. These vegetables are generally easy to grow at home, even in containers, but some gardeners may have qualms about their sustenance. Experts now suggest that you can not only grow tomatoes at home but also help them thrive with a common pantry item. For the average caffeine lover, they can repurpose their coffee grounds to build a bountiful garden of tomatoes. The use of coffee grounds should not be tossed into the trash, but can be used to enrich the local garden soil or pots due to their high nutrient content, per a Den Garden report. 

Luke Hammond, director of brand advancement at Seedtime, pointed out that coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, which is beneficial for the environment. Unlike legumes, most plants cannot extract nitrogen from the atmosphere but require nitrogen for survival. By adding coffee grounds to the soil, gardeners can enrich their soil with the crucial element and grow healthy tomato plants. Additionally, the minute amounts of phosphorus and potassium, in addition to nitrogen, foster growth for leafy plants. 

“Coffee grounds also contain small amounts of potassium and phosphorus that can contribute to overall plant health. Their organic matter may also help improve soil structure, drainage, and water retention as well,” he told the outlet. According to Garden Design, micronutrients like boron, calcium, copper, and iron are also present in the useful pantry item. Also, it is a sustainable approach to reusing coffee grounds that would otherwise end up in the bin. Lucie Bradley, an expert gardener at Easy Garden Irrigation, elucidated that coffee grounds also have antifungal properties and repel pests.

“Tomato plants can be damaged by fusarium, pythium, and sclerotinia, and these diseases can all be reduced using coffee grounds,” she said. However, it is recommended to add only used coffee grounds so that the acidity in them is removed before adding them to the plant soil. “Any roast, whether it’s light, medium, or dark, is fine, but avoid using flavored or sweetened grounds,” Hammond added. Sprinkling a thin layer of dried coffee grounds would do the trick to act as a “slow-release soil enhancer or light mulch.” 

Otherwise, coffee grounds should be used as a mix to compost bins created with brown and green materials, making up about 20% of the total volume of the composted materials. While this item is highly beneficial to plant growth, it is not advisable to overburden the plants with coffee grounds. Bradley warns that adding them to tomato plants should be done with caution. Excessive coffee would suppress growth. Once or twice a season is enough to reap the benefits of the pantry time and note the plants’ reaction to the addition.

In addition to reducing wastage and recycling coffee grounds, the pantry item also acts as feed for earthworms, every farmer/gardener’s best friend. They break down compost and release essential nutrients for the plants. When You Garden shared how coffee grounds can be used as a fertilizer for tomatoes on YouTube. Coffee grounds also improve water retention in soil, a boon for moisture-absorbing plants. 

Breakdown of organic matter in a compost pile produces heat that further accelerates decomposition, thus maintaining ideal temperatures in the soil for the breakdown. The texture of coffee grounds also aerates the soil, aiding poorly drained or wet soil. This approach is typically advantageous for plants like azaleas, blueberries, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and roses, and vegetable crops like carrots, potatoes, radishes, and cucumbers.