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?

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1 Comment

charliew998h ago

Your mom confused green grounds with the used ones. Spent coffee is basically neutral.