tea / coffee helps to make the soil more acidic + nitrogen, that is why it is good on roses and gardenias.
hippi's do like acidic soil, but flower better with low nitrogen fertilizers.

Paxfleur, I was wondering the same thing. Big time coffee drinker here and I compost the grounds, but was wondering about the acid likes of hipps.

Zubababy, thanks for the info, I'll continue to compost the grounds.

I mix some composted tea leaves and coffee grounds (at least a year old) with my potting mix for the more mature/established bulbs. My ammies love them.

Zubababy, thanks for the info! I found it very helpful. =)\

Chaz, I drink coffee and tea like there's no tomorrow so I would love to recycle all the waste if possible.

Maria, will it be a issue if the tea is fresh? Is the one year composition necessary? The reason being is I drink a lot of coffee and a good amount of iced tea, so I have bags of coffee and tea grounds but I'm not sure if I can wait a year! =)

Whoa...typo. I meant will a year's wait of DEcomposition be necessary for the coffee/tea grounds? Thanks! =)

I knew we all had more in common than just gardening! We drink so much coffee that we bought a 2 burner Bunn coffee machine at Sam's Club many years ago! It takes up a lot of kitchen counter space, but it's worth it! In winter I don't save the grounds, but in summer I throw them on the compost heap, along with all the tea bags from iced tea. I like the real thing better than the powdered stuff.

I'm happy to learn that the bulbs will benefit from a bit of composted coffee grounds and tea bags!

hippi caffiene addicts huh? My mother used to warn me about y'all!!!! LOL

Jodi, I just put my grounds in plastic bags during the winter and wait until a thaw to put them on the pile.

I had a friend who kept a large garbage pail filled with soil out his back door, just added kitchen stuff to it through out the winter, turned the contents once in a while bringing the bottom contents up and then used it as needed through out the year. Never had a smell other than a mild coffee scent. Not your ideal compost but it worked for him.

I just happen to have access to several large plastic drums with covers, about 40 gallons a piece... I could set one outside the kennel or heated garage door, keep adding kitchen waste to it, and if I want it to thaw so I could turn it or use some, I could just pull it inside the heated garage or kennel overnight. Another great idea shared... thanks, Chaz!

I could get a pail (5 gallons) of tea leaves and coffee grounds every 3 days if I want to. A friend of mine works in a Chinese restaurant. I used to just dump them in this huge blue plastic container(20-25gallons)with white plastic rope handles that I got in Save a Lot. It was fine in the first months but would stink once the decomposition starts. It would produce this dark red/brown juice that you would not want your plant roots to get. It will become very sticky too which would not be good for your potting mix. So I decided to dump the whole thing in a pile outside where it got rained on and the juice drained from it. Once it becomes 'crumbly', it is ready for use. You can also use big pots with drainage holes. It takes a year, more or less, for them to decompose here in my area for they get frozen during winter time and halts the decomposition process. They can be used with practically any kind of plants. Hippies LOVE organics. They contain elements that most chemical fertilizers cannot provide our plants.

Chaz...Your jumbo Minerva will be on it's way next week.

Maria, on its way to you I assume? I'm so happy to know it'll be coming my way soon. My all time favorite for sentimental reasons.

You too, Chaz? I just adore Minerva... as I'm sure you know, I only bought the bulb because the name on the box was the same as my precious Minerva, my bulldog. It was that first box kit with its bulb that got me interested in hippeastrum... it was my dear "Minnie" that inadvertently led me here, and to all of you!

Chaz, my original Minerva bulb is positively HUGE! I think she qualifies as a Jumbo at this point, and has a baby... she just began growing new leaves a few weeks ago... she should bloom soon!

As for the coffee/tea compost... I also have several 2 and 5 gallon buckets with covers... I can fill one of those with the used grounds and then dump it out on one of my large compost heaps to rot down... last year, I pulled beautiful compost out from under the oldest pile! I used it mostly to mix in with the soil that filled the raised veggie beds, and I amended parts of the perennial beds with some, too... the plants just love it!

I use my compost all year even when it is frozen, so does my mother. When the indoor pail (Lee Valley Tools) is full I send Seth out to the pile (one wood pallet deep and two wide!) to add to it. The odd time I have problems with the neighborhood stray cats but they keep the rodents down. I do not add meat or bone to the compost ever.

I saw someone asking about ammi stakes. Lee Valley Tools had some when I was there a week ago. Try online.
Dana

Dana, I love what compost does for the garden so much that I started a second compost pile about a year after the first was begun. I used pieces of wire fencing, and just made rings. They're both down the driveway by the horse barn, so the mess isn't really visible when you pull in!

I throw yard and garden waste in both piles, plus the occasional pitchfork full of horse barn or aviary cleanings! Some manure from the horses, the goat, and the fowl goes in the piles... we sort of layer it... garden waste, then some manure, then more yard waste, and so on...

I was amazed at the size of the veggies I grew last year, and I know it had to do with the amount of compost I used mixed with the soil. I didn't fertilize the raised beds once last year! The green peppers were enormous!

I just couldn't imagine not putting all that waste to work, and making it into fresh compost! It's free, it's easy, and it's so good for plants! And, it's an easy way to get rid of all that yard and garden waste that some people bag up and throw out for the garbage truck!

I've been looking for some decent priced bulb or plant supports, but I solved the problem by stealing my husband's welding rods and bending them into the shapes I needed!