Are Coffee Grounds Good for Calla Lilies?

Calla lilies are flowering plant that produces more blossoms when regularly fertilized. Using slow releasing balanced fertilizer is recommended by gardening experts.

Apart from store brought organic fertilizers, you can actually use kitchen leftovers to enrich potting soil of calla lilies.

Instead of throwing leftover coffee grounds, you can add them to potting soil or compost pile to add nitrogen.

Though name suggests, calla lily doesn’t belong to lilium or lily family. It is native to Africa and grown from rhizomes.

Calla lily plant does well in warmer climates and you can grow as a houseplant in winters.

It’s easy to grow calla lily plant at home. You just need to ensure well-drained soil, full sunlight, regular watering and fertilizers.

Calla lily produces multi coloured blossoms that can make your space look gorgeous.

You need to feed this plant to bloom.

This bring me to the question, can you use coffee grounds for calla lilies?

To some extent it can benefit, but don’t expect instantly thriving results.

Using nitrogen rich fertilizers may help your plant to grow but on cost of flowers.

Your calla lily plant may produce fewer blossoms if you use nitrogen rich fertilizers.

Important: To know whether to use coffee ground on calla lily or not spend few more minutes to read below lines.

Also Read: Calla Lily Light Requirements

Nutrients Required to Grow Calla Lily Plant

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are three essential nutrients required to grow healthy calla lily plant.

Along with macronutrients, micronutrients residing in fertile soil contribute in strengthening roots, food production, blooming and forming green foliage.

Calla lily is grown for its ornamental value.

A balanced NPK fertilizer will help the plant produce more blossoms, strengthen its roots, grow bigger and resistance towards pests.

When to fertilize calla lily plant?

You must fertilize your plant during spring. This will boost plant growth and blossom production.

You can use granular or liquid fertilizer to enrich calla lily growing soil.

Home available elements like bone meal, coffee grounds and decomposed compost can be used to fertilize calla lily.

Are Coffee Grounds Good for Calla Lilies?

It is easy to grow this ornamental plant at home.

You must only care to provide regular watering, indirect sunlight, well-drained soil and feed the plant with nutrients to boost flowering.

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium housed in coffee grounds aren’t in a state to enrich the growing soil instantly. You must decompose them for months before to be used to fertilize the calla lily plant.

Benefits of coffee grounds for plants are surrounded by myths and facts.

There are many gardening experts who experimented on coffee grounds use and concluded it may do more harm to the crop when used directly. (Source)

Dr.Chalker Scott claims that you can add leftover coffee grounds to the compost bin, but should be less than 20 percent of total compost volume. (Source)

Let me put down findings by these experts in simple points.

• Are you thinking to gets bags of used coffee grounds from vendors? Don’t do it. It will not benefit your garden.
• Putting fresh coffee grounds around the calla lily plant will attract pests and trigger infestation.
• Though many blogs claim, coffee grounds aren’t acidic enough to improve pH value of soil. According to experts, this kitchen leftover (decomposed) is mildly acidic to alkaline in nature. As the days pass it may change.
• Using pure coffee grounds as mulch may acts as barrier due to its compact nature and result in poor plant growth. Instead, you must mix 1 inch of coffee ground with 4 inches of organic mulch.
• Coffee grounds have antioxidant and antimicrobial abilities that may harm worms that are working to decompose your compost. So, you must not add coffee grounds more than 20 % of total volume of compost.
• Use of coffee ground compost and mulch can inhibit germination of seeds and kill some young plant, but can benefit some plants.  (Source)
• You can use coffee ground liquid to fertilize calla lily plant once in a month.

Also Read: Why are my calla lily plant leaves are turning yellow?

Myths of Using Coffee Grounds

Improves soil pH

Though many claim adding coffee grounds to the growing soil can improve soil pH to make it acidic, it is just a myth.

University of Arizona state that decomposed coffee grounds is mildly acidic to alkaline in nature.

It will not be constant, it changes with time. So, if you’re adding coffee grounds to improve pH then don’t use it.

Repel Pests

Claim is that adding coffee grounds will abandon snails from the garden.

It’s a myth. Instead, coffee grounds can attract pests and lead to infection.

Mulching

If you add fresh used coffee grounds directly to calla lily plant, then gradually the plant growth will be affected and lead to fewer blossoms.

Instead, expert says to blend it organic mulch.

Composting

Dr.Chalker says if you add more than 30 percent of total compost volume, then it can ruin composting process. Eventually, it will harm your plant.

Properties in coffee grounds kill few worms that contribute in decomposition. It works fine if you add below 20 percent of compost volume.

Also Read: Do Snake Plants Like Coffee Grounds?

How to Use Coffee Grounds for Calla Lily Plant?

Coffee grounds are not an abundant source of nutrients for calla lily plant.

If you’re looking to reuse leftover coffee grounds instead of throwing them, then you can use in your garden in two ways.

1. Add leftover coffee ground to compost bin, should not exceed 20 percent.
2. Blend it with organic mulch.
3. Use as liquid fertilizer.

Adding coffee grounds to compost

Composting is a great source of making organic fertilizer at home.

Every gardener must plan to make their own compost bin. This way you can reuse garden and kitchen waste effectively.

Coffee ground though looks brown, when added to compost work as green element.

But, don’t overuse it.

Limit its use to less than 20 percent of compost.

Check this out: Best Potting Soil for Jade Plants

Coffee ground mulching

When you put fresh coffee grounds leftover around the base of calla lily plant, eventually it will block air and water flow.

Compact nature of this kitchen leftover isn’t suitable for mulching.

Having said that, Dr.Chalker says you can mix 1 inch of coffee ground with 4 inches of any organic mulch. This way you’re reusing kitchen waste and enriching the growing medium.

Liquid Fertilizer

Instead of coffee grounds, you can use coffee or liquid obtained after boiling coffee grounds.

Don’t use coffee to fertilize your houseplant.

Instead add coffee grounds to boiled water and allow it to cool. Strain and collect the liquid.

This liquid has water soluble nutrients from coffee grounds.

Though it can’t complete replace your balanced liquid fertilizer, it does help your plant.

Also Read: Does Peace Lily Like Coffee Grounds?

Calla Lily Growing Tips

Unlike vegetable plants, houseplants aren’t heavy feeders. Even without adding extra fertilizer these plants does well.

But, as calla lily plant is prominent for its ornamental value. You should fertilize them at-least once in a month during growing season.

Fertilizing will encourage them to produce more blossoms and grow stronger.

To ensure your calla lily plant blooms, you should provide adequate sunlight, moist and well-drained soil. You should also enrich the growing soil with fertilizers.

Note: Avoid excess watering your calla lily plant. Overwatering often results in root rot and plant death.

Also Read: Best Fertilizer for Peace Lily

Conclusion

Should you use coffee grounds for calla lily?

I don’t think coffee grounds can acts as a great source of nutrients for calla lily.

But, if you’re looking to reduce wastage and reuse kitchen leftover, then I would recommend adding coffee grounds to compost bin.

Having said that, you must be aware about the side-effects of adding more than 30 percent of coffee grounds to total compost volume.

Coffee grounds include macro and micronutrients that are essential for plant growth. But, they need to be decomposed before adding to the garden.

Composting is the best way to use coffee grounds in your garden.

Did you ever use coffee grounds to fertilize calla lily plant? What are the homemade fertilizers your use to enrich growing soil of calla lilies?