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ByRose Okeke/
It comes as no surprise that strawberries are one of America's favorite fruits, and it's no wonder that many people opt for growing and caring for strawberry plants right in their own yards. This way, they can always have them when they need them. When planting these red, juicy fruits, you may be mostly preoccupied with the variety that you will go with and if it's disease-resistant. However, you should first take a look deep into your soil. While strawberries aren't particularly difficult fruits to grow, you have to be mindful of their soil and whether it can support the berries or not. One kitchen ingredient that can help your strawberries flourish is coffee. While this may sound incredulous, your strawberry plant might have a lot more in common with you than you realize and, yes, we are talking about sharing your early-morning caffeine craving.
Strawberries require acidic, well-drained soil in order to thrive. If your soil is heavy, compacted, and less acidic, it will impact your chances of a quality yield. Roasted coffee grounds are very acidic due to their chemical composition. They host a number of acids, including lactic and glycolic acids, which make them the perfect candidate to provide your growing strawberries with low-pH soil. The key is knowing how to do this without putting your yard in jeopardy.
Turn coffee grounds into compost
Coffee grounds are a great, no-hassle ingredient that can boost the growth of your strawberry plants. However, this doesn't mean you just pop open a can of fresh ground beans and toss them over your soil like candy from a piñata. While some gardeners choose this direct approach, if you are planning to use coffee grounds as fertilizer in your garden, then you should process it accordingly.
Coffee grounds add enough acidity to the soil whether they're fresh or not. They also provide essential nutrients and minerals like nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil, some of the basic ingredients for any good fertilizer. However, to offset the effect of caffeine on the soil flora and fauna, composting the grounds is the best way to go.
You can add used coffee grounds to your compost pile along with the coffee filter as well. YouTube compost page @subpod simply adds the grounds to a worm-laden compost pile. Once it gets good and broken down, you can scoop it up and mix it into the soil around your strawberry plant like regular compost. If you want to apply the grounds directly to the soil without composting first, make sure they are saturated with enough water. Fresh coffee grounds have a greater level of acidity than grounds that have been brewed already. Once water hits them, they neutralize to a more stable pH.
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