c/balcony-gardeners

My mom swore that coffee grounds would kill my balcony plants, then everything went wild

So my mom visited last spring and saw me dumping used coffee grounds around my basil and cherry tomatoes on my 6th floor balcony in Brooklyn. She freaked out and said coffee grounds are way too acidic for container plants and would burn the roots. I listened to her for like 2 months and stopped using them. My plants looked fine but nothing special. Then I ran into my neighbor who has this insane balcony jungle and asked what her secret is. She laughed and said she dumps coffee grounds on everything and her plants love it. So I started again last June and within 3 weeks my basil doubled in size and the tomato plant had like 15 flowers instead of 3. Now I'm wondering if my mom was wrong or if it just depends on the plant. Has anyone else gotten totally opposite advice from two people and seen which one actually worked?

1 comments

drew_thomas9•3d ago

Almost lost my tomato plants to that heatwave on Jennings Street

Last July I was out on my balcony on Jennings Street in Dallas and didn't realize the concrete was cooking my pots from underneath. By 3pm the soil temp hit almost 120 degrees and my tomatoes started wilting bad. I put down those cheap foam floor tiles under the pots the next day and it dropped the temp by like 15 degrees. Anyone else had their balcony floor fry their plants in summer?

1 comments

parker543•4d ago

Called my marigold experiment a failure until I saw the bees going crazy on them this morning

I was about to rip out the whole container because they looked scraggly and half dead after two weeks, but then I counted 7 bees hitting each flower in under 10 minutes, so I guess ugly plants still serve a purpose on this tiny balcony... anyone else keep something just for the pollinators?

c/balcony-gardeners

My mom swore that coffee grounds would kill my balcony plants, then everything went wild

Almost lost my tomato plants to that heatwave on Jennings Street

Called my marigold experiment a failure until I saw the bees going crazy on them this morning

That neighbor's advice about overcrowding pots nearly killed my tomatoes

My self-watering pot grew mold instead of herbs

TIL I was drowning my balcony herbs for 8 months

I went with fabric pots over plastic nursery pots for my balcony tomatoes

That plastic shelf I inherited from my neighbor collapsed yesterday

I visited a friend's high rise balcony garden in Chicago and felt bad for my own

I swear by those cheap plastic pots from the dollar store even after a catastrophe last July

Left my tomato plant in a deep pot by accident and got a jungle

Picked terracotta over plastic pots for my herbs and learned a hard lesson about watering

Thought vertical gardening was just a fad... I was wrong

Vent: My rosemary bush almost became a skipping rope

Hit 50 plants on my balcony last week and now I'm scared of the weight

Vent: My tomato cage collapsed under the weight of one decent plant

I finally looked up how much water my balcony plants actually need

Was I wrong about fabric pots being a gimmick for balconies? They seem messy but my neighbor swears her tomatoes doubled in size after switching from plastic.

Just swapped all my balcony plants to self watering pots and I'm mad I didn't do it sooner

Hit 200 herbs this season and I'm shocked

Debate: Bottom watering vs top watering - which actually works better for balcony tomatoes?

Switched to fabric pots for my balcony herbs and wow what a difference

Rant: My "vertical garden" collapsed because I ignored the weight limit

Hit 50 different herbs on my balcony... never planned it

My tomato seedlings got leggy until I pointed a desk fan at them...