Nothing looks more elegant than a flower bed filled with captivating dahlias. They reveal their blossoms in late summer and give you a breathtaking garden display all through the fall.
Butterflies and bees are frequent visitors and love dahlia blooms as much as we do.
These plants aren’t finicky over their growing conditions, which makes them even more attractive to growers, especially beginners.
One of the most important factors for dahlias is nutrient-rich soil. In this article, I’ll show you a coffee ground hack that’ll make your dahlias thrive!
Let’s get started!
The Hack Revealed
Once you make your morning coffee, don’t throw leftovers in the trash! Collect all the coffee grounds you use on a daily basis and store them in a box.
Once the growing season arrives, take a handful of this material and carefully mix it into the upper part of the soil.
You can reapply this potent ingredient weekly during the growing season but avoid using it too much because of excess nitrogen. It will cause a nutrient imbalance in the soil, which can have an adverse effect on your plants.
I highly recommend testing dahlia soil before using coffee grounds. Dahlia plant species flourish in slightly acidic growing mediums and a pH range of 6.5 to 7.0 is ideal.
Benefits Of Coffee Grounds For Dahlias
Many gardeners use coffee grounds for their plants, so what will these leftovers exactly do to dahlias?
First and foremost, this substance is rich in nitrogen and will help your dahlias display healthy and lush foliage.
Second, it also contains phosphoric acid, which aids in root formation and promotes flower production.
Finally, coffee grounds contain potassium, which will decrease the dahlia’s susceptibility to diseases and improve the plant’s overall health.
This powerful nutrient boost will ensure more blooms in your dahlias and that’s exactly our main goal!
Apart from enhancing the soil structure, coffee grounds have one more amazing feature! They can repel pests from your garden and we all know how hard these nuisances are to remove.
Coffee grounds will repel rabbits but also slugs, squirrels, and some insects that could wreak havoc in your garden. (1)
Therefore, there’s no need to use chemical pesticides to treat pests on your dahlias. Coffee grounds save the day!
References
1. Hollingsworth, Robert & Armstrong, John & Campbell, Earl. (2002). Pest Control: Caffeine as a repellent for slugs and snails. Nature.